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Provider of rent-by-owner vacation properties in the United States.The company operates a Website that provides a list of various vacation rental properties available worldwide. It provides a service for vacation property owners and rental managers to expose vacation homes, condos, cabins, and various privately owned vacation properties to the vacationing public.

VRBO is an online platform that allows users to book vacation rentals posted on the platform by owners. Vrbo's headquarters is in Austin, Texas. Vrbo has been a Subsidiary of HomeAway since Jun 2006. Vrbo's main competitors are Onefinestay, BoutiqueHomes and Garden City Realty. As of August 2019, Vrbo has 1.4M fans on Facebook and 19.0K followers on Twitter

Vrbo: Booking processes, cancellation policies, and cleanliness guidelines

Vrbo, which stands for vacation rental by owner, has been renting vacation homes for 25 years and is now owned and operated by Expedia Group.

Vrbo rents both whole properties and private rooms in guest houses and B&Bs. Vrbo tends to be the better-known brand compared to HomeAway, according to internal data from the company, while HomeAway is typically more popular in the UK, where Vrbo isn't available yet.

The two platforms are identical in all but name and share the same properties, cancellation policies, and COVID-19 protocols, with millions of homes around the world. A range of lodging is available, with cozy cabins proving especially popular in the pandemic, as well as these 10 cities for holiday weekend getaways.

The platform is also especially popular with families: 87% of Vrbo guests travel with a family member, according to a recent internal survey. While Airbnb has plenty of small city flats and studios that are great for solo travelers and couples, Vrbo properties tend to run much larger and with more offerings in non-urban destinations. According to a Vrbo internal analysis, 70% of Vrbo and HomeAway properties are big enough to include two or more bedrooms and the average listing sleeps six.

Like Airbnb, there are plenty of filters to help guests narrow down their ideal stay or expand the search. Here's how Vrbo works:

The Vrbo Booking Process

• Handy search options include being exact or flexible on the number of bedrooms, the ability to search a whole country, and filters for nearby activities like hiking and winery tours.
• Search for properties specifically recommended for families, and other filters based on location, price, date, amenities, property type, and more.
• Vrbo recently launched specific new search filters so guests can easily find stays aligned with their personal COVID-19 boundaries which include those that are "Highly Rated for Cleanliness," specific cleaning practices outlining buffer window between guests and check-in policies (amount of host contact, if self-check-in, etc.), vacation rentals with the highest cleanliness reviews from travelers, and flexible cancellation policies.
• A new "staycation" landing page encourages guests to conduct searches close to home and highlights local destinations and properties.
• According to the company, partners who encourage travelers to break local laws or dismiss COVID-19's severity can get kicked off both Vrbo and parent company Expedia's platforms.

Vrbo Cancellation Policies

• Vrbo responded to COVID-19 with an emergency cancellation policy for bookings made before March 13 for stays scheduled to take place between then and June 30. It continues to apply until July for bookings that need to be canceled due to government-implemented travel or lodging restrictions.
• The company is encouraging partners to provide full refunds or flexible rebooking credit to those who must cancel bookings, with a partial refund strongly encouraged if a credit can't be accommodated.
• 100% of the money Vrbo makes from traveler service fees gets refunded if travelers have to cancel a trip due to "local governments enacting laws that restrict travel or prohibit stays in vacation homes due to COVID-19."
• While the company makes clear that property hosts aren't obligated to go beyond their stated cancellation policy in the case of COVID-19 related disruptions for bookings in these windows, those who offer more generous refunds get rewarded with increasing amounts of visibility in booking searches. According to Vrbo, the "vast majority" of hosts and property managers have gone outside of their policies to help travelers. To check on the cancellation policy for an existing booking, log into your account, go to "My Trips," select your booking, and navigate to the "Details" tab.
• Bookings made after March 13 or beginning July 1 fall under the host's normal cancellation policy, which can be one of several options. Normal cancellation policies range from relaxed to no refunds for any reason, and you can easily find them both on the bookings sidebar or detailed in the "Policies" section of the listing's page.
  • Relaxed: Bookings canceled at least 14 days before the start of the stay receive a full refund. Those canceled at least seven days in advance receive a 50% refund.
  • Moderate: Bookings canceled 30 days or more from check-in receive a full refund. Two weeks or more from check-in and guests can receive a 50% refund.
  • Firm: Bookings canceled 60 days out receive a full refund; then guests can receive a 50% refund until 30 days before check-in.
  • Strict: Bookings canceled 60 days before the start are refunded in full.
  • No refund: No refunds are possible for any reason.

Vrbo Cleanliness Guidelines

According to the company, COVID-19-specific cleanliness guidelines for homeowners, property managers, and homeowners were put in place after consultation with government, travel, and medical experts, and have been reviewed by an expert through the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Vrbo was also part of the team that helped the US Travel Association task force and Vacation Rental Management Association develop guidelines.

The extensive suggested guidelines for Vrbo properties are based on the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization recommendations and include the following:

• Guidelines for property managers and homeowners about how to disinfect high-touch surfaces.
• Contactless, self-check-in, and check-out.
• Training for house cleaners.
• Supplying soap and hand sanitizers to guests, including at property entry points.
• Building in time so there aren't back-to-back stays.

Keep mind, however, that these guidelines aren't mandated: "There is no way for Vrbo to repeatedly inspect millions of properties, so the most helpful thing we can do is to arm our homeowners and property managers with information and instruction on what to do, and arm families with the information they need to feel comfortable booking a place to stay," says a spokesperson for the company.

Guests can also message a host using the platform to ask about cleaning practices. According to the company, former guests have already provided cleanliness reviews on 900,000 Vrbo properties.

However, if a place is found to be misrepresenting the level of cleanliness and hygiene they claim to uphold, Vrbo will take down that listing's cleanliness badge to be more responsive to guest feedback.