15 Reasons to Book Hotels & Resorts Over Vacation Rentals

Lately, we've seen a growing trend of travelers using vacation rental sites instead of booking with hotels. While some may have their highlights, there's also a lot of risks associated with places like Airbnb. Are you really ready to take a gamble on your vacation for a slightly better deal? Beyond just looking so much prettier, hotels provide higher quality services that most vacation rentals just can't compete with. We spoke to multiple travel agents on why else hotels and resorts are the safest way to go.

Hotels are known for having a customer satisfaction guarantee. When something doesn't meet guests expectation, staff members are trained in how to handle these situations. If something is wrong with your room, staff can easily accommodate a change of room or can even cancel your reservation and reimburse you.

When something doesn't go right with a vacation rental property, there is a long process of haggling out details to find out who is in the wrong, whether the vacation rental owner was upfront about things or the guest just had too high of expectations for their stay. There is no guarantee that there will be any quick resolution or compensation if something does not meet guest standards.

One of the biggest appeals of vacation rentals is the number of people that can stay together at one rental for what many consider to be a low rate. But have you tried working with a travel agent to book a group deal? Not only can they get you the best rate for accommodations, but they can also plan out other aspects of your trip as well-like how you're getting to and from your destination and things you can do once your party arrives.

Traveling to a new place can be a little intimidating. If you're booking a rental, you don't always know if it's in a safe area or not. Hotels can guarantee your safety with key-card access only elevators and entrances. Plus, having staff members on the clock 24/7 means there's always someone you can turn to if you feel unsure about a situation.

On the other hand, Airbnb has recently been under fire after a family found a hidden camera in their vacation rental. The sheer fact of not knowing how many people have a key to the house you're staying in should make you uneasy.

Although many times customers will receive contact information for the homeowner, it's not a guarantee that you will be talking with them if something isn't right. Instead, guests may have to call the 1-800 customer service number, resulting in you speaking to someone who most likely has never been to the property you're staying at.

When you're staying at a hotel, guests can simply walk down to the front desk to talk to someone in-person about any problems they may have. What's more, they can lead them directly to their room to show them first-hand what the issue is.

Hotels spend thousands on researching an area. It's simple-hotels want to make money, so they take the time to make sure an area is ideal before building their location. Prime locations, like in major cities or beachfront locations, also mean a higher property cost-something hotels can afford with their constant rate of return. Vacation rentals in these areas are just fewer in number or come at a higher cost in comparison.

Let's face it-sometimes something comes up and you have to cancel that long-awaited vacation. Whether it's an issue out of your control, like an expected illness, death in the family or a canceled flight, plans just sometimes don't go the way we want them to. Airbnb leaves the cancellation policy up to the homeowner, meaning you may not be receiving a full refund, especially if it's within a week of your travels.

Hotels, on the other hand, are easier to work with. If it's more than 24 hours in advance, guests can normally just cancel their reservation online for a full refund. Or you can contact the hotel to update any unforeseen trip amendments that you may need to make. Some companies even offer a 'cancel for any reason' policy which makes things very easy.

Walking into a hotel, especially one that is apart of a chain or hotel group, should mean that there are no surprises for guests. Pictures of the property are normally posted online along with online reviews from people who have no connection to the hotel. Company standards have to be met, and there's always a chain of people guests can contact if something does go wrong.

Vacation rentals should be the same, but sometimes that's not the case. Looking through reviews, you begin to wonder if they are from people who actually stayed at the property or if they are just family/friends of the owner. Plus with recent online scams of illegal Airbnb listings, how can you be sure that the property you're looking at online even exists? The last thing you need on vacation is showing up and finding out your accommodations aren't valid.

Hotels can also offer more amenities to guests than a traditional vacation rental. Whether it's a simple pool or gym on site or the full all-inclusive experience with multiple restaurants and swim-up bars, hotels and resorts bring far more value to the trip.

In comparison, Airbnb has very basic rules for someone to list their home as a vacation rental. These seem like such bare requirements, giving vacation rental owners a lot of freedom in what they provide-or don't provide-for their guests, leaving a lot of room for uneasiness for those who are just hoping for the best when they book their vacation rental. But these guidelines also explain why some vacation rental owners are stricter with their cancellation policy.

Some vacation rentals are for rooms in people's homes while the owners are staying in the rest of the house. Sometimes you'll even find rentals with communal living spaces like bathrooms and kitchens. Maybe it's just the world we live in now or my cynical nature, but this does not seem safe to me in any way. Even if you're renting out an entire house for your vacation, there's just the feeling that you're in someone else's house and therefore have to be on your best behavior.

Hotels are just more understanding that accidents happen. One time I turned the shower on and the shower knob came off in my hand. I called the main desk because I could not turn off the shower water, but they assured me it was no problem and sent a maintenance worker to fix it in a matter of minutes. If that happens at an Airbnb property, the owner may not respond, thus creating a major headache.

Not everyone has the same level of expectation when it comes to cleanliness. Without any strict rules from vacation rental corporations, this can leave a lot of room for error. Hotels have to report to a whole chain of managers, therefore having a level of cleanliness that must be adhered to at all of their properties. Some hotels may not reach your personal satisfaction, but luckily, you can just walk down to the main desk to talk to someone about it.

There is so much grey area when it comes to vacation rentals, mainly because the idea is still relatively new and companies are still ironing out some of the details. But that also means that homeowners can get away with a little bit more-like charging hidden cleaning fees that guests may not realize until after their stay.

With a hotel, all fees have to be noted upfront-including any resort amenities, parking, etc-and are usually reiterated on the company's website.

One of the best things about staying at a hotel, or becoming brand loyal, is that guests can actually earn points for their next stay. Doing simple things like turning down room-service can even get extra points. Some hotels even allow you to use your points for program experiences, like touring a distillery or having your own private concert.

Some vacation rentals require that you stay on their property for so many nights at a time, or require you to arrive a certain day of the week. This means you have to book your travels around their schedule and not your own, or you have to pay for nights you might not even be staying. Hotels are the opposite-you book your stay according to your travel schedule.

Going to a new place can be fun and exciting, but it can also leave you a little unsure of where to go or what to eat. Almost all hotels have a friendly staff that is more than happy to direct you to some of their favorite spots around town, or they may even have their own concierge service that can arrange excursions for you and your family.

With vacation rentals, you're lucky if the owners leave you a local newspaper or printout of things to do in the area.

Have you ever had to take a late-night flight and not arrived at your destination until the wee hours of the morning? Your arrival time doesn't matter much when you're staying at a hotel as there's always someone there covering the front desk to help you out, check you in or store your luggage until your room is ready. With vacation rentals, if you arrive too late and can't find the key or aren't able to get into your rental, you're going to be hard-pressed to find someone to help you.