Is It Safe To Rent a Vacation Home During COVID-19?
Over the past six months, the coronavirus pandemic has shifted from lockdowns and stay-at-home orders to a return to something closer to normalcy—depending on where you live. For many people, it upended daily life, making them rethink their ties to the office, school, and home. After summer vacations and trips abroad, fall usually signals the return to a routine. This year, though, many people are still working remotely and kids may be attending school virtually. This means vacation booking looks a bit different.
Steven Lassman, vice president of Villas of Distinction, which manages luxury villa rentals in more than 50 destinations, called the situation “a tale of two halves,” explaining that when the virus first hit, business came to a grinding halt. “However, starting about early August, we started to see a steady rise in the number of requests for new reservations—most of the U.S. market is looking to stay close to home, as they are realizing that domestic villas are the ultimate in social distancing accommodations,” Lassman tells House Beautiful, adding “With many schools going virtual, the demand for longer stays is really picking up as people can take 2-3 month stays away from home and still have their children participate in school.”
Virtuoso, a global network of luxury travel advisors, has seen similar trends. A recent survey they conducted found that 79% of travelers would take part in a travel pod (i.e. two or more households whose members have been following similar quarantine or social distancing practices traveling together) and approximately 40% are considering traveling during the holidays this year. If you’re thinking about booking a home or villa rental over the next few months, these are the things to keep in mind.
Flexible Cancellation Policies
Cancellation policies became a major pain point for Airbnb, VRBO, and other home-sharing platforms this past spring, when people began canceling their reservations en masse. In March, Airbnb expanded its extenuating circumstances policy, allowing guests who had booked prior to March 14 to cancel stays through October 31 regardless of the host’s cancellation policy, drawing some backlash from hosts. However, if you booked a new reservation after March 14, it's subject to the host’s cancellation policy, which ranges from flexible to strict. VRBO asked hosts to provide refunds or flexible credits to travelers who canceled their plans, but ultimately left it up to each individual host to make the call.
Luxury villa rental companies such as Villas of Distinction and White Key Villas, which operates in Greece, have been keeping cancelation rates low by working with guests to rebook their stays for 2021 or even 2022. According to Lassman, Villas of Distinction had a cancellation rate of less than 2%. Elena Fotiadi, the marketing manager for White Key Villas, reports that Americans have been postponing rather than canceling their trips.
“The one thing that’s really helping and the greatest barrier we’ve seen to restoring consumer confidence has been flexible cancellation and postponement policies,” Misty Belles, Managing Director of Global Public Relations for Virtuoso, says. “Airbnb is going to vary more than a villa product that’s connected to a hotel where they have an established set of policies that they need to follow.” Before booking a new reservation, be sure to read the fine print or ask about the cancellation policy.
Health and Safety Protocols
“I think it is within the right of every traveler right now to inquire what are the exact cleaning protocols taking place,” Belles says. “What’s the deep clean protocol? How much time between guests are they allowing? How often are people coming in and out of the property?”
This is another area where the policy varies from one booking platform to the next. Airbnb has created a set of guidelines for hosts with a detailed five-step cleaning process, but leaves it up to hosts to adhere to them. Some hosts provide cleaning supplies for guests to use during their stay, while others may require you to bring everything you need—including your own linens. Make sure to ask about cleaning protocols and what will be provided during your stay.
Social Distancing Guidelines
Many people prefer a home or villa rental to a traditional hotel stay because it’s so much more private and allows for social distancing. Unfortunately, bar and nightclub closures have led some people to take rowdy behavior to their rentals, leading Airbnb to declare a global party ban last month—including for listings previously declared “event-friendly” by hosts. It also limits the number of guests to a maximum of 16 at all listings. A low-key birthday party may be permissible, but be sure to check the policy of your booking platform and, when appropriate, speak with the host.
Travel Restrictions, Quarantines, and COVID-19 Testing
Now that many countries (and U.S. states) are removing travel restrictions, the possibilities for where you can go are increasing. For example, Maine eased up its strict 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state visitors provided they have negative COVID-19 test results or are residents of a handful of states whose COVID-19 handling has been deemed similar to or better than Maine’s. That said, it’s still important to look up local rules and regulations. Countries including Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Croatia, French Polynesia, Kenya, the Maldives, Mexico, Rwanda, St. Barth’s, the Seychelles, Tanzania, and Turkey have reopened their borders to Americans provided they comply with COVID-19 prevention measures.
According to Belles, there are a few important questions to ask: “What are the possibilities of this long term stay? Are they allowing it in the country? How are they handling testing and contact tracing?”
It’s your responsibility to know what the requirements and prevention measures are before you board your flight or drive to your destination. Before booking a trip, be sure to check the latest travel restrictions or work with a travel advisor to navigate the situation.
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