The present trend is more and more holidaymakers prefer holiday homes instead of hotel accommodation for spending their vacation. The principal reasons are rental homes provide a lot more freedom and comfort, greater degree of privacy and a host of amenities. Besides, if your family or group is somewhat large, availing vacation home rentals will also be more cost-effective.

The other advantages are vacation homes offer multiple bedrooms and ample floor space and a full-fledged kitchen where you can cook your own food. Remember that regularly eating out during the vacation period can prove expensive. It is often said - and rightly too - that vacation homes are homes away from homes.

Successfully choosing a vacation home rental need not be a daunting task if certain tips are followed.

* To select the right vacation home, you must plan your holidays in advance. When you book your vacation home early, you will have a much wider choice and can also avail early bird discounts sometimes as high as ten percent.
* As opposed to booking hotel rooms, booking a vacation home is a binding contract between you and the homeowner. Therefore, make sure you read and understand all that is in fine print. Check for what furnishings are provided, if housekeeping services are available, quantum of refundable deposit, hirer liability, property insurance etc. Make sure there are no hidden charges.
* Insist on seeing photographs of the interior as well as exteriors of the rental home to satisfy whether the interior ambience and external surroundings are in keeping with your taste. Get the list of amenities that will be provided like television, music system, DVD, computers with broadband connection, air conditioner, heater etc
* See whether the vacation home is close to local transportation, shopping malls, eateries and restaurants so that you are not required to spend too much money on transportation and waste time commuting. Check whether the vacation home has facilities for leaving the pet behind when you go out on your sightseeing trips.
* Never ever pay anyone money until you have finally signed your rental paperwork after thorough scrutiny. It is necessary to check out the vacation home you are doing business with. Ask for references, and study their Web site and their track record. Also, avoid paying with a check as scams are aplenty. Use a credit card to effect payments.
* Please be cautious as most rental homes will vaguely state 'everything is included,' but you have to double-check to be sure that utilities, Internet and cable charges are included. For instance, if you are renting a home with a pool, make sure the pool is actually heated and find out beforehand who pays to heat the pool, because that can become quite costly during winter months.
* More importantly, you should check the terms of the refund policy - in the event you have to postpone your vacation or change your vacation destination or shorten your stay at the home. Most vacation rentals will demand cancellation charges while some may totally refuse refund.
* Do not fail to obtain particulars like phone number and email id of the person/s to be contacted in case of emergencies. Your contract should indicate a time frame for fixing any major problem that you may encounter. You cannot obviously pay the rent if you cannot avail the amenities that are in disrepairs.

We are living in the age of computers and identifying the right vacation home on the Internet will not be difficult with the availability of such extraordinarily resourceful sites. With their wide network of agents, they offer a range of vacation homes in many parts of the world. All you have to do is to enter your basic requirement on the search form on their home page, and you will be presented a choice of properties for you to make your pick.