Linda T.

Homeaway WORKS, if you know how to take your own precautions. ASK FOR MORE PHOTOS. BUILD UP AN OWNER-RENTER RELATIONSHIP and use YOUR JUDGMENT. ALWAYS phone the owner using the phone number provided on the ad and speak several times to the owners about the property and amenities and confirm the dates. Call for instructions on how to get to the property etc. You will easily be able to check and especially if you ask for a few more photos of the property, than provided on the site. Agencies may visit the property to take photos, but they do not control the properties, so do not expect an agency to be able to guarantee everything is perfect. You have to ask owner to take photos himself of an area not shown on the ad, for instance. Be SMART! The correct owner with standards will be happy to communicate additional important information as the owner too, needs to be feeling 'safe' about the renter. WORK TOGETHER on the choice of suitability.
The REAL crooks are the rash of British agencies which charge 20% -40% commission on the rental and put the price up without offering anything more than you would get from Homeaway as they have most of the time not seen the property themselves EVER and do not care about the damages to the properties or the problems of the owners. If they have a problem they just remove the property from their listings. The worst agencies are the ones pretending to be 'exclusive' which are based in a Tax Haven! They really are not to be trusted!
We have rented with Homeaway since 2008 and they provide the best selection of properties in the world for the least cost to owner and renter. The agencies charge both 4 times more and do not protect either the owner or the renter when there is a problem. They just call themselves 'exclusive', charge and drop the property if there is a problem caused by the renter! THAT is far more dishonest.
It is always better to rent DIRECTLY from the OWNER and it is essential to contact them before you book. Owner and renter must talk directly to each other and this is what Homeaway is for and why we definitely prefer them to the pompous agencies we have used to rent our property.