A resort town is a funny place where the worlds of the tourist and the local tend to be separate, but parallel. On a typical Friday night a tourist and a local will go out for dinner, drinks, and dancing. The difference, however, is where these two parties ultimately end up. I myself live in a resort town and actively avoid tourist spots. When I travel and switch into tourist mode I yearn to hang out where the locals do. Don’t get me wrong there is always a time and place for taking a picture in front of the ever popular tourist gimmick or buying a t-shirt to immortalize your trip, but the local experience tends to outweigh the trappings of the tourist experience especially when it comes to value for the price. People choose vacation rentals for the exact same reason people seek out local hangouts: value for the price. Value for vacation rentals comes from privacy, space, and amenities.
Another perk is the ability to “live like a local.” Vacation rentals afford you the opportunity to be part of a neighborhood and area that doesn’t always come with the price tag of staying in a hotel. Maybe there is a coffee shop down the street from your rental where local business meetings happen or a grocery store whose deli can give a New York delicatessen a run for its money? Searching out these types of hangouts gives your vacation dimension, and more importantly they tend to be cheaper than tourist equivalents. So next time you book your lodging remember that vacation rentals provide you a long list of benefits including the cultural and cost-effective advantages of living like a local.
