St. John VRBO Reservations: What to Know Before You Go

VRBO stands for "vacation rental by owner," and it can be a good option for your stay on St. John, especially if you're looking to have the comforts and conveniences of home during a longer stay. Many people book VRBOs through Vrbo, a website where property owners can list their homes for rent. This might seem like a convenient option at first, but there are a few things you should know before you book your stay on St. John with Vrbo.

• There can be serious issues with the property that you don't see online, and often, Vrbo won't be much help when this happens.
• There's nothing stopping the host from canceling the reservation at the last minute, leaving you scrambling to find other accommodations. When these cancellations occur, there are no real consequences for the homeowner, and in some cases, they are even able to keep your deposit.
• Vrbo users report spending days on the phone being passed between different teams without a satisfactory resolution when they try to get help with a problem.
• Leaving a negative review of a property may not do much good, as the website tends to filter out bad reviews, meaning that it's hard to warn other renters about a bad experience and equally hard to trust Vrbo's reviews.

Luckily, you've got plenty of other options besides Vrbo. Many homes and villas on the island are available to rent, and you can rent many of them directly through the property owner. We can connect you with St. John villas that come highly recommended by island visitors and locals, so you're much less likely to encounter any issues and will be able to directly contact the property owner if you have any questions or concerns.