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By Mike Keesling
You've finally decided you and your family on going to take
that long awaited dream vacation in Hawaii. You've decided
that
you want to go the vacation rental route for numerous reasons:
privacy, comfort, location and cost effectiveness. Next, you
probably Googled Oahu Vacation Rentals and are faced with the
daunting task of choosing among some 175,000 web sites. Where
to begin? Here's two secrets that will help you make the right
choice so you can enjoy your stay in Hawaii to its fullest.
Secret One: Use a reservation service. There are several
reasons for this. First, a single property vacation rental
listing by owner will severely limit you to the dates that you
can take your vacation. Vacation rental properties in Hawaii
run nearly 90% occupancy, so unless you know your travel dates
six months to a year out the odds are high that their property
won't be available for the travel dates you had in mind.
Second, the owner is only concerned with booking their own
property so they will extol the virtues of their vacation
rental and not mention any of the faults.
Secret Two: Make the right choice of reservation service. Make
sure it is locally owned and operated. Websites like vrbo and
findrentals (for instance) don't have a clue about geography,
weather, attractions, events and the other necessary
information required to give you the property that best fills
your needs. For instance, let's say you want to whale watch
but
also want to vacation on Oahu. Your reservation service should
be able to tell you that you need to stay on the windward side
of the island if you want to see the whales. Another tip-off
of
services to avoid are those that do automated, credit card
bookings. Steer clear of these services as this implies they
aren't interested in talking to you, they just want your
money.
Be wary of sites that have more than 100 properties….there
aren't that many decent selections on Oahu, or any of the
other
Hawaiian islands, on the market. The more a service exceeds
100
properties, the greater the odds you'll end up in an
overpriced, undesirable vacation rental. Here's another great
hint. If a reservation service states that they have hotels or
condos available in Kailua, or will have them soon, choose
another service. Since, by zoning law, Kailua does not allow
hotels or condos, you should realize that once again, this is
a
service that wants your money, not your piece of mind. Always
ask the reservation service person you are talking to where
they are located. Someone based in Las Vegas or Los Angeles
won't have a clue about how to give you the best property for
the vacation experience you have in mind.
With the standard vacation rental property terms being no
refunds after you've paid your deposit, you absolutely want to
make sure you make the right choice. A good reservation
service
will ask you questions about what you want to do and see on
your
vacation and will actually try and talk you out of a property
you had in mind if they don't think it appropriate to what you
had in mind. This is not an attempt to upsell you, it's more a
matter of matching your vacation desires and needs with the
perfect choice of vacation rental venue. One vacation rental
reservation service that meets all these requirements is
Pacific Islands Reservations. They are owned and operated by
Ingrid Carvalho, who was born and raised in the islands, as
were her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. She has
been serving visitors to Hawaii vacation rental needs since
1996. She currently represents ninety vacation rentals on Oahu
and another 90 vacation rentals on Maui, Kauai and the Big
Island. She has actually been to each and every property she
represents--she even took most of the photographs of the
vacation rentals you see on her web sites. She doesn't take
credit cards but she's happy to spend time talking with you to
make sure you get the right property to maximize the value and
enjoyment of your vacation.
About The Author: Pacific Islands Reservations is Hawaii's
premiere provider of vacation rentals and best and breakfast
accommodations on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big
Island of Hawaii. Visit Pacific Islands Reservations at
pacificislandsreservations.com before you visit Hawaii.
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