ONE FINE STAY

My husband and I prefer to stay in a vacation rental than a hotel.  We like the privacy and exclusion that a rental provides over a hotel.  Truthfully, when I stay in a hotel I keep the "do not disturb" sign on the door the entire time.  When we got married, we rented a huge house in Los Olivos and invited our friends and family to stay, drink wine, and hang out.

Now there are many vacation rental options and more people are dipping their toes in.  My friend regularly lists her Santa Monica apartment (with cat) on airbnb.com.  Or you can stay in a Snow Dome outside of Moscow.

We've had good experience with the original and old stand-by vrbo.com, where Nate rented a cabin in the North Georgia Mountains and proposed.  Or choose a beach villa in Maui.

You can also visit boutique-homes.com and find anything from expansive villas in the south of France to this vintage airstream rental in Big Sur.  

London even has it's own site, onefinestay.com, that allows you to "live like a local" in a place like this Clarendon Road apartment.  I also like this site because you can get a peek into all the impeccably decorated homes without the slightest intention of visiting London.

While I may never remove the "do not disturb" sign from my door, I will be taking others up on their offer.

Do you prefer to stay in a hotel with all the amenities or live like a local in a vacation rental?