TRAVEL: HOT SPOTS
home & away VACATION RENTALS PROVIDE a UNIQUE ALTERNATIVE to HOTELS By M. C. SUSSMAN Headed for Paris, the Amalfi Coast or Bali? Tired of the cramped hotel room routine? For a different, more homey experience, rent a spacious home or condominium instead for a night, a week or a month. You’ll feel like a native, not a tourist. An apartment in London, perhaps? It’s not quite Buckingham Palace but you could rent a three bedroom place in Albert Hall Mansions, a sumptuous and imposing 1879 building in Knightsbridge, for about $2046 a night. Corinthian pillars, stained glass, parquet floors and chandeliers grace the hallway, and both reception rooms have terraces facing Hyde Park. According to OneFineStay.com, even “Queen Victoria would approve” of this “unhotel.” http://www.onefinestay.com/london/albert-hallmansions/description/ Vacation rentals combine the excitement of travel with the comforts of home, such as extra space, privacy and fully outfitted kitchens. On websites like homeaway.com and airbnb.com you can search, albeit at a wide range of prices and accommodations, for a single room in someone’s home or a mansion with a private chef and concierge service. Start combing the listings for that perfect villa in Tuscany, an apartment in Paris or seaside home on the Aegean sea. (On the flip side, as they do in the Hamptons, you might want to consider renting out your own home for a long weekend, a month or the summer and apply the bounty to your own vacation.) Baer Tierkel, CEO of Otalo.com, a vacation rental search engine, said “thousands of websites” advertising vacation rentals have sprouted up in the last few years. Much of the surge in vacation rentals “stems from the Baby Boomer generation using their second homes less and less as that generation ages. But rather than selling their vacation homes, as in many cases they would like to leave them to their children, they are renting them out when not in use.” Additionally, Baer said, “there has been a boon of successful entrepreneurs who want access to a luxury retreat” but don’t use it all the time. “The
36 SHAWN ELLIOTT LUXURY
Internet has made it easy for them to make their retreat available to others and make owning a retreat much more affordable.” Otalo.com lists 1.8 million vacation rentals from dozens of vacation rental websites, including a houseboat in a residential area in the heart of the old city in Amsterdam, and a two minute walk from Nieuwmarkt square with its bars and restaurants. The houseboat, for 2 or 3, has a living area with a built in kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom with a king-sized bed. From the south-facing sun deck by the front door you can hand feed the ducks, coots and swans. http://www.otalo.com/vacation-rentals/ r.php?start=72
porary housing for chic nomads.” Its collection of 272 modern and contemporary vacation rentals range from oceanfront mansion to city apartment to mountain cabin. Peruse them by architect, or by categories like “chic and cheap,” “pet-friendly” or “Eco chic/ sustainable” or by styles such as “rustic/romantic,” “simple luxury,” “mid-century modern,” or “wabi-sabi,” a collection of traditional Japanese houses. In the heart of Barcelona, a two bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of an Art Nouveau building, Cityscape Doble, rents for about $215 a night. Light and spacious, it has restored original French doors and Juliette balconies off the bedrooms and is within walking distance to the Gothic Quarter and the architectural and historic Eaxample district, home to many historic GuadiFlipkey.com, owned by Trip Advisor, posts more designed buildings. than 200,000 vacation rentals, mostly in the United http://www.boutique-homes.com/vacation-rentals/ States and European hot spots like Barcelona, the europa/spain/cityscape-doble-barcelona-spain/ Amalfi Coast, London, Nice, Paris and Rome. The site also includes sometimes helpful guest reviews For $5250 a week, an apartment overlooking the Arc and offers a calculator to compare costs between De Triomphe in the heart of Paris can be rented via rentals and hotels. elitedestinationhomes.com. A block from the Avenue On Italy’s Amalfi Coast, five star luxury and ro- des Champs-Elysee in the 16th Arrondissement, this mance is yours at the Villa Andressa in enchanting newly renovated, light and airy flat has three bedPositano for $18,515 to $24,621 a week. Perched on a rooms, high ceilings and French windows, a fireplace, cliff overlooking the azure waters of the Tyrrhenian an outdoor terrace and wraparound balcony, a comSea, this sumptuous-looking and updated home was plete kitchen, dining and living rooms along with full a small monastery in the 18th century. The original concierge service. Baroque decor complements the modern conve- http://elitedestinationhomes.com/luxuryniences including central air and heat and a fully vacation-rental/europe/paris/le-triomphe/ equipped kitchen, but don’t stress -- the villa’s per- triomphe-rates-calendar/ sonal chef for continental breakfast, lunch and dinner and other staff is included in the price. The villa’s For a more exotic locale, a two bedroom seafront spa has an indoor, heated pool with a Jacuzzi and a villa on a 40 acre resort in Bali, Indonesia, the Villa waterfall, a Turkish bath, sauna, three spa showers L’Orange Bali, rents for $300 per night through and weight training equipment. There are sweeping roomorama.com. Away from the usual tourist haunts, views of the coastline and the island of Capri can the villa is in Cucukan, a traditional fishing village be enjoyed while relaxing, sunning or dining on the with about 100 residents, about 45 minutes from the villa’s terraces and gardens. Bali International Airport and a 20 minute drive from http://www.flipkey.com/positano-villa-rentals/ the art city of Ubud. p427093/ https://www.roomorama.com/short-term-rentals/ bali/gianyar/house/19970?origin=homepage Boutique-homes.com bills itself as the site for “tem- SE