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Ed Perkins provides a good overview of the pros and cons of vacation rentals or villas. They’re great when you’re looking for more space to stretch out, for the flexibility to cook your own meals, for lodging that’s not cookie-cutter, and (potentially) cost savings, especially if you travel in a group. The downsides remain a lack of consistency, more responsibility to keep the place looking nice, and a lack of onsite amenities (like a restaurant). That, and you don’t earn loyalty points… (blasphemy!)

Many villas and apartments are rented directly from their owners, which means doing your research on the quality and trustworthiness of the facility. But that’s not always easy. My wife spent countless hours researching a Caribbean villa rental last year. It paid off in the end, but it wasn’t point-and-click.

Filling the information void are dozens of online booking services. Some, such as Vacation Rentals by Owner, WVR, TripHomes, and VacationRentals try to cover a range of regions, including urban, rural, and beachfront properties. Others specialize in just a handful of city or island locations. (For example, Woogo features properties in New York, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong. Panache only covers Paris, etc., etc.)

While renting directly from the owner keeps the costs down, since they don’t pay a commission to a booking site, the convenience of booking from a network of vacation rentals is clearly worth something to the consumer. But if you think picking a hotel is hard, then forget villas. There are dozens of sites devoted to vacation rentals, often focusing on a particular region. All these sites do a bit of the work for you by gathering lodging details (and in some cases reviews) in one place, but you still need to really, really, really read the details, such as the cancellation policy.

Now, if you want to minimize risk, maximize luxury, and don’t mind spending a nice chunk of change, you have a few luxe options in the new “villa hotel” category: Private villas that have standardized upscale amenities and are managed professionally. (”McVilla”?) Villazzo and Time and Place have a limited portfolio of properties, but it’s a brilliant idea that’s bound to grow. They offer the benefits of a private home with the benefits of a hotel, with concierge, housekeeping, and cooking services. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.