If you’re heading out on a big family trip soon you may need some vacation rental tips. When we went to Paris last month, I was worried about lodging. How was I going to know a rental was going to work for our family? Could I be assured that it would look like the photos said it would. Was I really going to be happy with this decision? I am happy to say that the apartment we rented was absolutely like we envisioned it!

I filtered rentals on HomeAway by the “family friendly” filter to find the best one for us.

You can actually afford to rent a castle.

I spent hours pouring over HomeAway vacation rentals before our trip to Paris. I wanted to get it right! We are used to a little luxury but yet we didn’t want to blow our entire budget on our lodging. I knew I needed a larger than average place because we are a family of six. I also wanted to be in central Paris and close to a Metro station. Using the filters I found the right apartment rental for us. Going through the process helped me come up with some vacation rental tips that can help you too. Check out a quick video of our ‘HomeAway from home’.

Whether you are looking to book a vacation rental in your hometown, across the country, or across the world, you really can find the place that is perfect for you.

9 Vacation Rental Tips for Families

1. Use a reputable site.

One of the first vacation rental tips is to go through a reputable website. HomeAway (which also owns VRBO.com and is part of the Expedia, Inc family of brands). With over 2 million unique places to stay in 190 countries, they enable families like mine to find the perfect vacation rental. It’s really about being able to create an unforgettable travel experience together in the way that you want. Want to stay in a castle? No problem. Rent a beach house? Got it. Find an affordable three-bedroom apartment in central Paris? Yup!

2. Read all the reviews.

Reading reviews told me that I would hear the bells toll at Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle at 8am everyday!

Don’t skim the reviews. Read all of them, both the good and the bad. Also read the replies the owner made to the reviews. Try to see if there are any red flags that would be a deal breaker for you. And if there are no reviews think twice about booking that property.

3. Translate any foreign language.

If you are booking a vacation rental in another country, use Google Translate to translate anything you can’t understand. Or even if you are booking in the US, there may be reviews in another language. Try your best to read those too. In the reviews, the description for the rental or the contract, assume everything is important. It just might be.

Want to update your French? Here is a cheat sheet with the phrases you absolutely need. 

4. Convert all monies due into US dollars.

One of the family vacation rental tips that are especially important when you are overseas is that you need to make sure the total price is in US dollars and not a foreign currency. Don’t get surprised. There is a huge difference between $1500 and 1500 euros!

5. Read the fine print.

Our HomeAway apartment in Paris was exactly like I had envisioned it.

Make sure you’re aware of all the fees that are associated with this rental. They are often in the fine print and could greatly affect the total price of your rental. The fine print could also include if cleaning is included (or required by you) and the time you are able to get in (and have to be out).

6. Make a profile on HomeAway.

It’s such a quick, simple task! The truth is that you are more likely to get a rental confirmed if you have a profile on the site. Just like you are doing your due diligence and checking out the vacation rental and its owners, they are checking you out too. This is their personal property. They want to know who’s staying in it. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to email owners directly with questions or to let them know you are very interested.

Read more about our dream family trip to Paris!

7. Book right away.

One of the top family vacation rental tips I can give you is that the early bird catches the worm. Don’t wait until the last minute to book your rental. Sure, there’s a chance you can still get a great place at the last minute, but the best rentals get snapped up quickly.  If you don’t have a lot of flexibility, it is especially important to get your rental booked. I waited a little too long and my first three choices were booked by the time I tried to get them. Luckily, there were a lot of choices in Paris.

8. Research the neighborhood.

I highly recommend the 2nd arrondisment for affordable family-friendly rentals in Paris.

On HomeAway, you won’t get the exact address of the vacation rental until after your booking is confirmed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t research the area. In Paris, we stayed in the 2nd Arrondisment, which is like a neighborhood. I saw which Metro Stations the apartment was near by reading the reviews and was able to get a good idea of the area. I even used Google Maps Street View to see the area for myself. No surprises!

9. Keep it simple.

While there are a lot of vacation rental tips, this may be the most important. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Go with your gut. Research as much as you can but don’t lose the “perfect” place because you spent too much time looking. Save yourself the back-and-form and look for instant confirmation rentals. This is how we finally booked the apartment where we stayed. Have a question or concern, ask it directly to the owner before you head out on your trip. And just in case, always, ALWAYS have a printed copy of your vacation rental’s address, the owner’s contact information, and the rental confirmation. Don’t rely on your memory or technology!

 Here’s a LIVE tour of our vacation rental in Paris!

These vacation rental tips are meant to embolden you to book that family vacation you have always wanted to book. When you can drastically reduce the cost of lodging, while also drastically increasing the size of your home-away-from-home, you may realize you can take a family vacation in a lot of different places. I hope you can use these vacation rental tips to make your own dream family vacation come true.