It's Hurricane Season... But We Are Visiting Hilton Head Island

What if a storm hits Hilton Head Island before you get ready to go on vacation? The answer is simple... stay home!

But before you unpack, just check to make sure whether the Island has been affected. We have had many tropical storm warnings over the years, but unlike Florida we've been extremely fortunate. In our opinion, the best offense is defense. We recommend purchasing travel insurance. Even the most basic travel insurance will provide some compensation if flights are canceled or the island is closed down due to a hurricane.

In 2006, the National Hurricane Center is predicting a hurricane season with 8 to 10 named storms. As residents of Hilton Head Island, we always prepare the best we can. We are constantly planning ahead. You should do the same; you need to plan ahead. While we cannot forecast the weather day in and day out, the Internet can provide help in dealing with the variety of weather conditions vacationers may face that could take a toll on Hilton Head Island. The Weather Channel site and the National Hurricane Centers site are two excellent resources.

At Hilton Head Rentals we recommend the following. Use the services of a travel professional, especially if you will be vacationing during hurricane season. When buying vacation packages through a vacation rental property management company or a travel agency, it will reduce your stress because travel professionals are your advocates and are ready to help you through difficult travel scenarios. If a vacation is booked online it may be difficult to get through to one of their representatives.

Purchase Travel Insurance.

On Hilton Head Island there are a lot of different vacation companies that offer a variety of vacation insurance plans. If you book directly with a vacation rental management company that offers homes, villas and condos, they will in all likelihood have insurance plans to offer. If you're working with a travel agent, they can assist you in determining which plan provides the best coverage for the right price. Some even offer a "cancel for any reason" waiver, allowing you to see that a hurricane might be swirling for Hilton Head. With this type of plan, your travel professionals can quickly use their resources to find an alternate resort area so your vacation won't be sacrificed.

Don't Worry, Be Happy, Rent a Villa

A family vacation to “The Happiest Place on Earth” is a rewarding experience you will never forget. With so much to see and do, it has become increasingly important to a lot of visitors that they plan accordingly and reserve comfortable and spacious accommodations. If you are traveling with children, the open spaces in a vacation home or villa will translate into added silence and downtime after a long day at the parks.

We’ve all been there before. As you’re trying to unwind in a cramped hotel room, the kids become restless of their boredom and begin to jump from double-bed to double-bed in order to work off their left-over energy. If you put enough people in a cramped space, stress levels can rise rather quickly. A single television in a small hotel room is an argument waiting to happen. Vacation homes and pool villas, by comparison, usually come furnished with televisions in each room. Today, it has become easier and cheaper for the average tourist to avoid situations like these.

Vacation homes and pool villas in the Orlando area average in the $700-$900/weekly price range. Most of these homes can sleep 6+ guests as opposed to the standard 4 in a hotel room. If you were to reserve a hotel room (or two) for 6-8 guests you may need to prepare to pay upwards of $1,500 for a week’s stay. When planning a family stay in Orlando for at least a week, there really is no other way to go.

A hotel complex may have one entertaining amenity if you are lucky: a community pool. If you and your family value privacy, most vacation homes come with a personal swimming pool in the property’s backyard. This way, parents can easily supervise their children from the comfort of home. Spark up the Bar-B-Q on the back porch and have dinner ready as the kids exit the pool for the day! Many villa communities also include tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts within walking distance.

A vacation home in the Disney World Resort vicinity truly offers the best of both worlds. The convenience of staying near Disney and the opportunity to explore everything else Orlando has to offer. You may choose to venture out a few miles and do a little shopping at the Premier Outlets just off of Interstate 4, eat out at one of the many find dining destinations in the Orlando metro area, or delve into Orlando’s buzzing downtown district. Either way you decide to plan your vacation, be sure to make renting a villa or vacation home a habit wherever you travel.

2 Secrets To Selecting The Right Hawaii Vacation Rental

You've finally decided you and your family on going to take that long awaited dream vacation in Hawaii. You've decided that you want to go the vacation rental route for numerous reasons: privacy, comfort, location and cost effectiveness. Next, you probably Googled Oahu Vacation Rentals and are faced with the daunting task of choosing among some 175,000 web sites. Where to begin? Here's two secrets that will help you make the right choice so you can enjoy your stay in Hawaii t...

You've finally decided you and your family on going to take that long awaited dream vacation in Hawaii. You've decided that you want to go the vacation rental route for numerous reasons: privacy, comfort, location and cost effectiveness. Next, you probably Googled Oahu Vacation Rentals and are faced with the daunting task of choosing among some 175,000 web sites. Where to begin? Here's two secrets that will help you make the right choice so you can enjoy your stay in Hawaii to its fullest.

Secret One: Use a reservation service. There are several reasons for this. First, a single property vacation rental listing by owner will severely limit you to the dates that you can take your vacation. Vacation rental properties in Hawaii run nearly 90% occupancy, so unless you know your travel dates six months to a year out the odds are high that their property won't be available for the travel dates you had in mind. Second, the owner is only concerned with booking their own property so they will extol the virtues of their vacation rental and not mention any of the faults.

Secret Two: Make the right choice of reservation service. Make sure it is locally owned and operated. Websites like vrbo and findrentals (for instance) don't have a clue about geography, weather, attractions, events and the other necessary information required to give you the property that best fills your needs. For instance, let's say you want to whale watch but also want to vacation on Oahu. Your reservation service should be able to tell you that you need to stay on the windward side of the island if you want to see the whales. Another tip-off of services to avoid are those that do automated, credit card bookings.  Steer clear of these services as this implies they aren't interested in talking to you, they just want your money. Be wary of sites that have more than 100 properties….there aren't that many decent selections on Oahu, or any of the other Hawaiian islands, on the market. The more a service exceeds 100 properties, the greater the odds you'll end up in an overpriced, undesirable vacation rental. Here's another great hint. If a reservation service states that they have hotels or condos available in Kailua, or will have them soon, choose another service. Since, by zoning law, Kailua does not allow hotels or condos, you should realize that once again, this is a service that wants your money, not your piece of mind. Always ask the reservation service person you are talking to where they are located. Someone based in Las Vegas or Los Angeles won't have a clue about how to give you the best property for the vacation experience you have in mind.

With the standard vacation rental property terms being no refunds after you've paid your deposit, you absolutely want to make sure you make the right choice. A good reservation service will ask you questions about what you want to do and see on your vacation and will actually try and talk you out of a property you had in mind if they don't think it appropriate to what you had in mind. This is not an attempt to upsell you, it's more a matter of matching your vacation desires and needs with the perfect choice of vacation rental venue. One vacation rental reservation service that meets all these requirements is Pacific Islands Reservations. They are owned and operated by Ingrid Carvalho, who was born and raised in the islands, as were her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. She has been serving visitors to Hawaii vacation rental needs since 1996. She currently represents ninety vacation rentals on Oahu and another 90 vacation rentals on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. She has actually been to each and every property she represents--she even took most of the photographs of the vacation rentals you see on her web sites. She doesn't take credit cards but she's happy to spend time talking with you to make sure you get the right property to maximize the value and enjoyment of your vacation.