I've been doing a bunch of blogging about "book direct" and trying to educate travelers about the greedy OTAs (Online Travel Agencies i.e. VRBO, HomeAway, AirBnB, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, etc.) and it's high time to do a little blogging simply about our two little short term rentals and what they have to offer!

I usually write one blog for both so you'll find the same thing that's here and then on our sister site Glenn House (https://glennhousevr.com ) but in this instance I need to change that up a bit!  Glenn House is suited for couples or roommates being that it is a two-bedroom, single family home on a corner property of approximately 7200 feet total.  The house is small at not quite 1100 but that's still got  the two bedrooms, a living room, full size kitchen, bathroom that includes a bathtub, an enclosed patio, covered parking, additional storage in shed AND a separate laundry room!  

There's a lot of different terms for us now including short-term rental, furnished housing, furnished rental, VR and vacation rental among them and those of us who are NOT listed with the "Big Boys" have a very hard time being noticed in searches as the Big Boys dominate the results.  That's our other short-term furnished rental but this blog is about Garcia House -- our fully furnished and outfitted studio apartment.

At least for the time being, we're turning more to extended stays for traveling professionals and one place we advertise is Furnished Finder which specializes in travel or gypsy nurses ( https://furnishedfinder.com ).  I'm thankful that we've got some real pluses for travel nurses and that's that we're already cost friendly and then I work up an extended stay quote depending on factors such as the time of year, etc.  The other thing that makes us terrific for a "gypsy nurse" is that we are just a short, convenient ride to Tucson Medical Center (TMC) in one direction and Banner University Medical Center ( Banner UMC ) in the other.  We're good for other hospitals but for those two, our location is fabulous.  

Another place we advertise and that's Pet Friendly NA and their sub site Pet Friendly Tucson (  http://petfriendlytucson.com/by-owner-rentals.html ).  
I'm sorry but although we will normally accept small dogs  for travelers staying with us we do not encourage this for our working guests.   There's no doggie door and no place for your furry buddy to even look out a window on to the world.  Those who are in Tucson as tourists or visiting family, etc., can take care of their buddies but those often extraordinary shifts that nurses work just doesn't allow for that.  For an extended stay for a traveling professional with a dog, Garcia House is not the place for you but there are places in Tucson and I wish you only the best finding accommodations for you and your buddy.

We are outfitted with everything a traveler could want from linens and towels, pots and pans, dishes and glasses, small appliances, high speed wifi, a TV, terrific AC & Heat, access to a washer and dryer, TWO patios -- one enclosed with a propane BBQ, utilities and wifi are included, parking is just steps from your door and I could go on and on!  It truly is a dandy of a studio apartment to rent whether it be for an extended stay or for a quicker turnaround.  

I really work hard at trying to make our Guests as comfortable as possible.  We're not fancy -- For fancy you're going to have to go someplace else -- but for clean, convenient, outfitted with vast array of assorted amenities AND easy on your wallet, we are top notch!  Feel free to contact Fran through our "contact" page -- Please do NOT text!  Admittedly, I'm not a great texter and sometimes they arrive and go unnoticed for days!  If I know one is likely, then I keep an eye out but otherwise, I miss them too easily.  Email or phone and it would be most unusual if it took more than four hours to hear back from me and probably WAY sooner than that too!  

Hope to hear from you!

If you book a vacation rental home online, chances are you will pay 15% to 20% more than you should…. There are two companies that control nearly all the google and other search engine results for vacation home rentals: Priceline and Expedia. HomeAway, VRBO, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, cheaptickets.com, trivago, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. are all own by these same two companies.

I believe these two companies have created an illegal monopoly in the market, but until our lawmakers learn to do their jobs, what is a traveler to do? One thing you can do is go to www.houfy.com and bookmark this site. This is a new, innovative upstart site that is a David attempting to take on Goliath.

It is a difficult, up hill battle, but sometimes nimble “Davids” win. Houfy (House for You) has vacation rental homes from around the world listed and there are no fees to the travelers who book. As a start-up, their selection of homes is smaller, but growing. They have other interesting features such as local “Guides” written by vacation home owners to assist travelers with planning and feeling at home in the city they are visiting.

Many travelers have learned to use the big online booking companies to LOOK not BOOK. Visit these sites to find a home or hotel you are interested in, then find the direct contact via a google search, and call and book directly with the homeowner.

Houfy is another option. You can communicate directly with the homeowners and use the platform to pay without having an additional “service fee” tacked on to your vacation.

Vacation Rental owners have speculated for some time that this would be rolling out and it finally has.  AirBnB is the first but VRBO/HomeAway and all the others WILL follow.  AirBnB is starting off tentatively and just to some  but they will get the kinks out and make this new policy across the board as will all the other big OTAs (Online Travel Agencies).

As it stands, travelers can currently recognize and attribute higher costs to the big boy OTAs and they want to hide that fact as best they can.  

This will leave the little guys looking like greedy owners who price gouge and want exorbitant rates.  

When this whole thing first began back on that fateful day in February of 2016, I said then and there that the true ultimate goal is to break the vacation rental industry and do it so that it appears to be legitimate business decisions that did it thereby no government oversight or repercussions.  I still think that's true.  The small time VR owner simply won't be able to absorb all the overhead and expenses, etc., etc., etc. and stay in business.  They'll have to price their VRs so that they aren't within a reasonable cost option for most folks and people will simply return to using hotels as their main lodging for travels.  

Big luxury homes and specialty houses will continue to do just fine on the OTAs but the small lofts, single family homes, condos, etc., etc. that accommodate up to four or five people, won't be able to keep this up and will start falling by the wayside.  It's a shame but this is a business now in decline generally.

There are some sites that are trying desperately to create owner to renter connections WITHOUT service fees and I'm there on a few of them.  Please support these sites as this is the only way the little Mom and Pop vacation rentals will be able to survive.  Book your next vacation on them or list your vacation rental on them.  Here's links to two:  Houfy:  https://houfy.com and Vacation.Rentals:  https://vacation.rentals  .  

PLEASE REMEMBER,  BOTH GLENN HOUSE VR AND GARCIA HOUSE VR HAVE LEFT THE GREEDY OTAS AND DO NOT INCORPORATE OR CHARGE ANY SERVICE FEES HIDDEN OR OTHERWISE!!! 

Here's what AirBnB sent out today to select property managers: