r/vrbo

I’m a new VRBO host (6 months) and could use some honest advice from other hosts/travelers on how you would handle this situation.

I had a 7-night booking for about $9k during college graduation weekend in a college town, so probably our busiest weekend. Unfortunately my cleaner/property manager dropped the ball badly before check-in. The guests arrived and found:

tools/power washer left outside

landscaping not fully cleaned up for the season

food left in the fridge/freezer

hot tub dirty and low on water

The guests called me upset shortly after arrival. I immediately responded and had someone at the property within about 1 hour to start correcting everything. I also offered:

immediate remediation

Full dinner reimbursement to the most expensive restaurant in town, so we could fix these issues while they're at dinner. I initially said I could offer a $1k refund and they asked for a 50% refund ($4.5k). I said I thought it would be best for us to show up, access the property and fix the issues before offering a refund that large.

When we showed up the guest was very upset and decided to leave the property before remediation was completed and opened a formal VRBO complaint requesting a full refund for the unused stay. We even gave them a $100 bottle of champagne, which they took, as they left.

A few additional details:

The listing photos accurately reflect the property/grounds (it’s more rustic/natural landscaping, not manicured). They said the biggest issue was the landscaping. However, It's on a lake and the woods are protected lands, they complained about leaves and not being able to safely walk through the woods that face the lake.

The house itself was usable and not unsafe in any way. They even said it looked nicer than the photos.

This happened last night and they did not spend the night, I am now writing this in the morning.

I fully acknowledge the turnover issues were unacceptable especially for an expensive stay and I’m not trying to avoid responsibility for that. I’m just trying to understand realistically:

Does this sound like a full refund situation?

Was offering 50% already too much?

How would VRBO likely handle this?

Would you try to settle further or hold firm at this point?

Looking for honest opinions from hosts or experienced travelers as I already have about $50k of bookings through VRBO this summer and I am afraid a bad review might jeopardize that.

my friends and I booked a home back in advance (october 2025) for 4 days and 3 nights in July 2026. We booked in advance because we are attending a festival and knew prices would rise A LOT. the host contacted us saying the “home owner is selling the home” and she had to cancel all future reservations. There are 10 of us that booked this house because it would fit everyone and is close to where we need to be. Now, she is offering to transfer us into another home hosted by her but it isn’t available on the first day that we arrive in the city. If we all book a hotel for the first night and go to the other house after it will end up costing us what we spent in total for 4 days 3 nights. Cancelling and getting refund is possible but booking a home for all of us now, less than 2 months away will cost us DOUBLE what we paid. What should we do??? We booked so far in advance so we didn’t have to pay insane prices.

I have a question for seasoned Vrbo guests or hosts.

I have used short term rental platforms, especially Airbnb, for many years. This is the first time I've encountered this.

The VRBO house instructions say you can get a "discounted" cleaning rate if you do certain tasks on departure. One of those tasks is not only to strip the bed, but to remake it with clean linens. I probably over 100 stays, I have never seen such a thing before.

Apart from it being unusual, why on earth would I as a guest trust that the former tenant had changed the sheets. Why would the host assume that?

Has anyone heard of this policy before? You have the option to refuse to do it (along with the usual extra tasks like taking out the trash, stripping the bed, washing dishes) though you incur an extra $50 fee, but that's not really the issue.

Interested in experiences! I'm now paranoid that the former tenant didn't change the sheets. I don't have evidence of that, but how do I know?

Owners charging ridiculous cleaning fees but expecting me to strip the beds, collect towels, place sheets and towels in and start the washer, load and start the dishwasher, & take out the trash. VRBO needs to get a handle on this. It’s starting to cheaper to stay at a hotel

My small group was looking at renting a 3BR place 9 months from now. I find a VRBO listing that looks good. Price is $2000. I share the link with the other people who will be renting. We agree it looks great. I return to VRBO 36 hours after I found the listing. Now the price is $3200! I ask a friend "hey can you look at this listing and tell me what it's charging you?" It told them $2700, cheaper than me but not the original $2000.

I contact the renter and they confirmed they had recently enabled dynamic pricing. I told them I'd rent at the original $2000 price but they told me they couldn't disable the dynamic pricing (or didn't know how).

The original host lost our sale. We moved on found a comparable place for $2200 and booked it after the first view with only me vetting the place.

How are groups supposed to plan trips with the BS going on? I'm pretty sure no one or very few people were looking at this place with that 36 hour window except our group, yet the dynamic pricing model went wild and jacked up the price more than 50%.

I typically use Airbnb and only leave reviews if they’re positive. First time using vrbo and considering leaving a review but worried that it’ll affect the host negatively. The rental was basically a small log cabin in the countryside. It had everything you needed and looked like the pictures. The only problem was the amount of bugs there were. Now I understand that some bugs are inevitable and expected in the countryside. However, it seemed there was no effort to minimize the amount of pests that got in. There were a lot of earwigs and small spiders, one almost crawled onto my leg when I was sitting on the sofa. I also killed a giant brown spider - research says it’s very unlikely to be venomous in this location but that was still unpleasant to deal with. I’m also pretty sure that it dropped an egg sac which bursted after I opened my suitcase on it (so fucking gross). Now probably the biggest health concern were two bird droppings that I found in the cabin (very likely to be birds since it had that white part in the poop). These droppings occurred during my stay as they were not there when I got there. One fell on the sofa and another on the carpet. I’m not sure if these fell through the roof of if there was an opening for the birds to get in. I just feel like if you’re charging a close to $600 for three nights this shouldn’t be happening. It would be a good place if the hosts addressed the pest situation. Should I leave a review politely mentioning this point or just leave it as is? They have less than ten reviews and they are all great 😐

I booked a 3 week stay, got the confirmation email, credit card was dinged for the deposit, and then an email directing me to a contract that needed signing.

There wasn’t anything in the agreement that stood out (other than an undefined ‘cleaning fee’ assessed on checkout), but is a contract a normal thing?

Being a first-timer, I thought everything was spelled out in the Vrbo pages.

Hello, I'm buying a successful VRBO that will close in 2.5 months. How does VRBO handle a sale? I really want the seller to keep taking reservations as this will be the peak time for income. I understand I cannot assume his listing, etc. (or can I?). How does VRBO handle the future reservations and deposits, etc? Do I have to make a new page for myself after the sale? I understand the reviews can transfer. Would love to know how this is handled as I just went under contract. Thanks to you all!

Spirit went under and my flight tomorrow is long gone. Replacing it at short notice would cost me 1000 extra. I can't afford that. Unfortunately it's 24 hours before check in at my VRBO. What are my options?

If cancellation is not an option is a reduction possible since no cleaning will need to happen?

Can we try to find someone else to stay there? I've never had this happen before, so any advice is welcome.

I booked a house for a friend’s birthday weekend that clearly states 16 adults on the listing. We’re a week away from the rental and the property manager sends a contract that says 14 adults. I have folks traveling in from other states for this weekend and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, fined, or having to cancel their reservation. Should I just sign and say two folks are kids or push the management and risk having them stick to the 14 adults max?

Trying again with more specifics: At a recent stay, my friend discovered two (one on each side) of the property’s hot tub. She called customer service after reading that such cameras needed to be disclosed. Customer service messaged the host who said that they were not their cameras. The cameras were on their building and pointed at their private yard, so who else’s cameras could they be? Customer service then wanted to close the ticket, but it seems like the hosts should have to admit they are their cameras and disclose them in the listing. If customer service can’t do anything, should she just mention the cameras in the review? Thanks for any advice!

I could really use some advice here because this situation doesn’t feel right.

I booked a beach house through Vrbo that was listed as having three bedrooms. The listing description and photos clearly showed all bedrooms located in the main part of the house. However, when I arrived, I discovered that the “third bedroom” was actually in a renovated garage on the ground floor, something that was never disclosed. The listing specifically described that space as a game room, not a bedroom, and there were no photos showing a bed in that area.

On top of that, the condition of the property was unacceptable. The garage “bedroom” had a strong mildew smell and visible mold spots. The house overall wasn’t well cleaned (dust and mold on vents), and most concerning, there was what appeared to be blood on the couch in the main living area.

I reached out to the host and Vrbo support, but neither has been helpful. The host dismissed my concerns, saying I have “high cleaning standards,” which I don’t think is fair expecting no mold, mildew, or blood seems pretty reasonable. They also insist the game room has always been the third bedroom, despite the listing and photos suggesting otherwise.

Vrbo support told me they can’t issue a refund and that only the host can, offering me just a $100 credit instead. I paid a significant amount for this stay (using Klarna for payments), and I didn’t feel comfortable staying there at all.

Am I overreacting here, or does this seem like a clear case of misrepresentation and unsafe conditions? Is it normal for Vrbo to refuse to step in like this? I feel like I’ve been scammed and don’t know what my next steps should be.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

New VRBO host here and looking for advice. I currently have all 5-star reviews, but today a guest checked in and immediately complained to VRBO (not directly to me) that the house is dirty and has bugs.

The thing is, I personally stayed at the property right before their check-in and the house was spotless when I left. I’m honestly shocked by the complaint.

I haven’t even had a chance to address the concerns with them directly because they went straight to VRBO. Is there anything I should be doing right now to protect myself as a host? Has anyone dealt with guests making complaints that you strongly believe are exaggerated or inaccurate?

I’m worried about refunds, bad reviews, and how VRBO handles these situations. Any advice would be appreciated.

I’m looking at some places in Naples, FL, and a few have no reviews - they do have VRBO’s ‘don’t worry’ comment.

So, is a lack of reviews a killer?

And I’m guessing, all things being equal, a lack of reviews should come with a lower cost than a place with a bunch of 10/10s?

UPDATE: Thank you for all the feedback! We have told the host we have no intention of returning the refund, and any issue should be raised with VRBO. Will be buying an SD camera and dry bags for all future trips!

Recently stayed at a property in Morocco booked through VRBO and two issues arose during the trip. Wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and how they resolved them through VRBO or arose where.

1. Cash was taken from within wallets and bags in multiple rooms on two separate occasions during the trip during excursions that were organised by the host. Nobody else was staying in the property and the only people that were supposed to have access were the employees of the host.
2. The host refunded the stay through VRBO the morning after the second theft and requested that we pay them in cash or via bank transfer instead.

I notified the host of the missing money during the stay, and was told that this was impossible as nobody but his employees had access to the property. To add detail, I arrived one day late to the stay, after the initial theft, and upon arrival immediately joined one of the excursions, only to find 1/3 of the cash missing from my bag upon our return from the trip.

We have since left the property and the country. I have contacted VRBO to report the theft and the request for cash payment. VRBO said they would contact the host and update me on the situation, I am yet to hear anything from VRBO but have been contacted by the host via WhatsApp asking for payment via bank transfer.

The situations as it stand is that we have received the refund from VRBO, but have had no update from them since contact (5 days). The host is asking for payment via bank transfer, we have not paid the host the refunded amount and do not intend to do so unless some resolution is reached via VRBO.

Has anyone experienced anything similar or can recommend on how to proceed from here?

Our first family vacation with our toddler and dog, and yes, the dog decided to chew part way through a post in the stairwell and nibbled on a few others. It appears to be very old stained wood and there is definitely previous damage to it, but my dog did enough that this is going to stick out like a sore thumb. This is through a rental property company and their policy says must notify them asap if damage occurs, and the leaser is 100% responsible for any pet damage. Have not let them know yet as this happened on literally the first night of our stay. How screwed am I? if they need to replace all of the posts “to match” or something, can I push back to only pay for the few that my dog damaged?

Hi Vrbo experts,

My wife and I are currently staying (3 nights) at a rather pricey vrbo apartment in southern Spain, and I’d like your collective opinion as to whether the host is meeting “industry standard” expectations.

The 1 bedroom apartment is clean and spacious but it seems to be missing some things I expected during our stay. For example,
- in suite washer/dryer but no laundry detergent
- a coffee pot but only 2 decaf pods (for 3 nights)
- shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and hand soap containers were provided BUT all 4 are filled with hand soap ( we reached out to the host and were told the “hand soap and shower products may be multipurpose for convenience”)
- no paper towel
- no bottled water
- lastly, we’re being billed $60 Euros as a cleaning fee (yet are required to keep the unit clean) and are required to take out the garbage.

It is my opinion that all of the above should be provided. It’s akin to providing a toilet but no toilet paper, or a shower but no towels.

My question is….which of the above is normal and considered acceptable?
If not, what would you suggest we do to address these issues.

I look forward to your responses.

So I’m looking into booking a trip next July and messaged the host. The current price for the place is $173 a night for the 2 weeks I want. The host said as a “heads up” the rates are not “real time” and will change to almost $400 a night by July even after I book. Does VRBO allow that?

I am looking to stay in the high Desert 29 Palms or Joshua Tree area. Looking for hosts who do not use scented laundry products, which include Downey, scented detergents or bounce dryer sheets, as well as no scented air fresheners or scented Meyer hand soap products. Looking for synthetic scent free accommodations. Dr. Bronners is acceptable. No dawn dish soap. Also mattress and pillow protection that doesn’t allow for perfume, cologne, or scented deodorant transfers onto shared bedding. Thank you.