Travel Tip 171
How to spot red flags in vacation rental descriptions
If the description says the rental is “uphill” from the plaza, you need to know exactly how far uphill.
This follows last week’s travel tip about the top three red flags to look for in photos of vacation rentals. If you missed that travel tip, you can read it here.
Ready to get an apartment or a house for your next trip?
There are plenty of benefits to having more than a hotel room, but it takes more time to research because there’s a lot less standardization for private vacation rentals than for hotels.
I’m not here to sell you a particular rental company, just to warn you what red flags to look for on all these platforms. Some have better quality control than others, but all have misleading listings, even unintentionally. One of the most popular platforms recently reported that they had removed 200,000 listings and odds are that somebody booked, or tried to book, most of those before they were removed.
The top 3 red flags to watch for:
1. Vague descriptions
All descriptions should be specific and detailed. Vague descriptions could be a sign of details that the owner wants to hide, or an inattentive host, both of which you want to avoid. One of the most frustrating things about sifting through vacation rental descriptions is that you usually don’t get the exact address until after you book. The owner should know that and should write detailed descriptions so you can make informed decisions even without the address.
Both properties above have a “view” but you need a photo to go with any claim that a place has a view. A five-minute walk from the museum you want to visit is very different from a 45-minute walk, yet technically either can be just “minutes” away.
The description of this place said it had a minibar. Turns out that in Peru the word minibar means mini-fridge. It was unplugged and empty.
2. Short descriptions that don’t give you enough information.
A detailed description of the kitchen, even if short, is important, but if that’s all you get, it’s not enough. You need to see a description of every room that is included in a listing. I once rented an apartment that seemed vague, because it was listed as a one-bedroom apartment but there were photos of three bedrooms. Buried in the details, the description clearly stated that any unused bedrooms would be locked – and when I arrived one bedroom was open and the other two had padlocks. Odd, but practical, I guess. Hosts should err on the side of writing too much, so people who have the time to read the whole description can get all the information they need.
The description of this place in Medellín, Colombia said there was a “courtyard garden” but this is what I found on arrival.
3. Negative reviews that are very detailed.
Always read the reviews! The combination of vague descriptions from the host and detailed negatives reviews is something to avoid. Detailed reviews are also helpful because if the complaints are all about the kitchen, but you plan to eat out every meal, then you can ignore those reviews. Also, beware the reviews that give five stars, or whatever the top marks are, but then are full of negative details. They could have clicked five stars when they intended to give one, or the trip overall was five stars, and they wrote only negative things about the apartment because they loved the trip more than they hated the apartment.
What to do?
Dig deeper on any property you’re interested in before paying a deposit: read all the descriptions for the apartment, neighborhood, restaurants, attractions and walkability. Read listings on other platforms of similar properties and check if the same place is listed on more than one platform. Try to read between the lines of reviews and contact the host with specific questions. The host should reply promptly with detailed answers. If they don’t reply promptly before you book, you have to wonder how attentive they’ll be if there is an issue after you’ve paid.
Northern Peru Blogs
This week I’m thrilled to be back in Chachapoyas, which I visited in September last year and loved. The highlights of last year were Kuélap, Gocta Falls and the Marvelous Spatuletail Refuge. I’m so excited to be going back to all three and also to announce that on October 20 a major publication will publish my article about why Kuélap is so amazing. I’ve been sworn to secrecy on where it’ll be published so check my published articles pages on the 20th to see where it is!
How to Visit Kuélap
I loved everything about Kuélap: the citadel’s location, the fascinating ruins, the fun cable car, the lack of crowds and the fact that it costs a tiny fraction of the cost of going to Machu Picchu. It’s also about a thousand years older than Machu Picchu.
Gocta Falls
One of the tallest waterfalls in the world with two drops that together measure an impressive 771 m / 2,530 ft.
The Marvelous Spatuletail Refuge
This is the best place to reliably see this unique hummingbird. Of course, wildlife is unpredictable, but if you want to see Peru’s most famous endemic hummingbird, this place is your best bet.
