Looking for a house to stay in

[hatteras]

Hi Kim. I'm glad that you are going back to Aruba. I'm looking forward to reading your trip report, or should I say novel? I read your reports about your trips to St. Thomas and Cozumel. Any cruises in your future plans? None for us right now. Hubby is not ready to get back on a ship. Enjoy!! Dianne

[LisaGrn]

What a great tip, Robin!

A little thing that may save people some money. If you are on AirBNB, VRBO, Homeaway etc. and see a house or condo you are interested in, check to see who is managing it. If it is not listed by the owner, but rather a management company, go directly to their own site to check out the price. It will usually be less expensive to book direct than through the third party sites.

[Aruba4ever]

Great info! I want to say places like Expedia charge the owner 30% or so.

A little thing that may save people some money. If you are on AirBNB, VRBO, Homeaway etc. and see a house or condo you are interested in, check to see who is managing it. If it is not listed by the owner, but rather a management company, go directly to their own site to check out the price. It will usually be less expensive to book direct than through the third party sites.

[cbowen]

My preference is to use a local agency as opposed to AirBNB. As was mentioned, in many cases you'll find the property is available from a local agency. We've not found them to be significantly less expensive, but at least the money is going to an Aruba company rather than having a big chunk off the top going to AirBNB or some other gigantic corporation. We used Aruba Happy Rentals on our last trip. We've booked Casa de Aruba with Bon Cas for the first two weeks of March next year. Found both listings on AirBNB, but ended up booking direct instead.

[55greenchevy]

Greetings, like you, we stay in private VRBO/AirBNB rentals (if applicable) whenever we travel whether it's just the two of us or a group of 4+. I'll never stay at a hotel or resort setting again. We use them in the USA, Italy, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean..... and we have yet to have a bad experience. Yes it takes research time to find the best fit and gem, but well worth it IMO. The upsides are many....cost effective when with multiple people, privacy, additional bathrooms, private decks-verandas-porches, private pools and hot tubs, private parking, relaxing family rooms, pool-beach gear provided, reliable wifi, security measures (safes and alarm systems) and nice oversized well stocked kitchens. Another upside, in most our rental instances, we have been able to successfully book directly with the owners which saves some sizeable fees. Again, this takes time to search out and coordinate, but well worth it if the owners that agree to such. The downside (which isn't for me), most private rental places need a rental car to access and get around. This represents an additional vacation expense and some people are not comfortable driving around unfamiliar locations.

Not selling anything here, but just calling out three very positive and excellent private villa experiences in Aruba and would not hesitate to stay at:
Villa Aramis Aruba (located in Noord) - one of our favorites, excellent three bedroom villa with everything you need. Shahab & Gurvinder Ravery are the owners.
Villa Chuchubi Aruba (located in Noord) - nice three bedroom villa with all the bells & whistles. Sue Gibbs and hubby are the owners.
Hidden Hills Condos (located in Noord) - one bedroom, one bathroom settings. Three private condos managed by Sartini.

We'll be down over New Years for 10 days and then coming back in mid-February for a week. Looking forward to some much needed warm weather and beach time.
Stay healthy!

[Andrea J.]

welcome to the aruba.com community forum

thanks for posting the rental info!
very useful info.

Greetings, like you, we stay in private VRBO/AirBNB rentals (if applicable) whenever we travel whether it's just the two of us or a group of 4+. I'll never stay at a hotel or resort setting again. We use them in the USA, Italy, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean..... and we have yet to have a bad experience. Yes it takes research time to find the best fit and gem, but well worth it IMO. The upsides are many....cost effective when with multiple people, privacy, additional bathrooms, private decks-verandas-porches, private pools and hot tubs, private parking, relaxing family rooms, pool-beach gear provided, reliable wifi, security measures (safes and alarm systems) and nice oversized well stocked kitchens. Another upside, in most our rental instances, we have been able to successfully book directly with the owners which saves some sizeable fees. Again, this takes time to search out and coordinate, but well worth it if the owners that agree to such. The downside (which isn't for me), most private rental places need a rental car to access and get around. This represents an additional vacation expense and some people are not comfortable driving around unfamiliar locations.

Not selling anything here, but just calling out three very positive and excellent private villa experiences in Aruba and would not hesitate to stay at:
Villa Aramis Aruba (located in Noord) - one of our favorites, excellent three bedroom villa with everything you need. Shahab & Gurvinder Ravery are the owners.
Villa Chuchubi Aruba (located in Noord) - nice three bedroom villa with all the bells & whistles. Sue Gibbs and hubby are the owners.
Hidden Hills Condos (located in Noord) - one bedroom, one bathroom settings. Three private condos managed by Sartini.

We'll be down over New Years for 10 days and then coming back in mid-February for a week. Looking forward to some much needed warm weather and beach time.
Stay healthy!