The first type is the general vacation rental website. There are many of these available, and they are perhaps most suitable when you haven’t decided where you want to go. You can browse these sites for ideas on where to go and the larger sites may well have a reasonable choice of homes in certain destinations, particularly the most popular ones. These homes may be advertised by the individual owner, or by companies who manage multiple rental properties.

However, these sites have their limitations. You will rarely find any information about each destination, since these sites typically cover the globe, albeit with varying levels of inventory available in any one resort or location. Also, the site is really nothing but an advertising venue; it takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information posted by the owners who use it, and you will have no comeback to the operator of the website if it turns out that the property is misrepresented, is not available when you turn up even though you have paid or, in the worst but by no means unknown case, does not even exist.

The second type of site is often advertised as ‘by owner’. These sites may be global, or they may be destination-specific. Such sites frequently claim that by dealing directly with owners they are cutting out the middleman and saving you money, and in certain areas owners who market their properties directly can escape some types of tax. However, these sites also have drawbacks. As with global vacation rental sites, ‘by owner’ sites provide no guarantees about your holiday; they are just a way of putting you in touch with the owner. Furthermore, the owner is not worried about the credibility and reputation of the site as a whole; their main concern is to promote their own property. Finally, if the property becomes unavailable for any reason, the owner may be restricted in their ability to provide an alternative. So be cautious with these sites.

The third type of site belongs to a property manager with an inventory of homes in a individual destination. He does not usually own the homes but rents them out on behalf of the owners. He does not mind which home you choose, so his incentive is only to find the property most suitable for your group. If, exceptionally, your property becomes unavailable for your dates, he will be able to find you an alternative from other properties he manages. Finally he will have consistent quality systems in place to ensure that your place is in perfect condition for your stay. So if you want to be sure of the quality of your vacation rental, choose a property management company which specializes in the resort of your choice.

There are a lot of ways to save energy especially in one’s household and being environment friendly can be easier than you think.

Here are a few suggestions on how to make your holiday home environmentally friendly and still allow for a great vacation rental opportunity:

Make a list of eco-friendly “house rules” for your guests to follow once they are in your vacation home:

- Ask your holiday home guests to make sure air conditioners are off if doors are open or they are going out.

- Ask holiday guests to turn down (in colder environments) the heating thermostat by at least a degree Celsius, this will help save energy and decrease harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide.

- Ask holiday guests to turn off lights and switch appliances off when they are going out or not using a room.

- Advise guests to take advantage of the holiday sunshine when washing their clothes instead of using machine dryers – provide a clothes line so that clothes can be dried outside.

- Tell guests to use any recycling bins provided so they can separate biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.

- Rainwater is better for garden plants than tap water, and can easily be collected and stored – provide your
vacation home with some method of collection of rainwater, water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource.

- As appealing as they can sometimes appear, try not to provide a gas patio heater as they use a huge amount of energy.

- For the swimming pool area, use eco-friendly products for the swimming pool, as much as possible buy products with fewer chemicals.

- Be sure your holiday home is well insulated; many state or local building codes include minimum requirements for home insulation. Be sure your new home or home addition meets those codes. It will save you money in the long run.

- Replace old appliances as they can consume a lot of energy; these days many appliances are efficiency tested – try to invest in energy efficient appliances.

- If the holiday property is empty make sure appliances are unplugged – many home electronics still consume energy even when they are turned off. Many devices on “standby mode” will continue to draw down power and help increase your electricity bill. Also, chargers and power adapters continue to draw power from the wall socket even if the device is not attached. Unplug these devices or use a power strip to turn off multiple units, when they aren’t being used to make sure that you are not wasting energy.

- Replace conventional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They cost a little more, but last up to 10 times longer, use two-thirds less energy and give off 70 percent less heat.