Vacation House Rentals in Oahu, Hawaii

The first time we vacationed on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, we had a fabulous time. We stayed for a week at an incredible hotel and had the time of our lives. By the end of the week, we also had spent a ton of money and were so burnt out on eating out. When we were planning our second trip to Oahu, a little over two years later, we decided to try something different. This time, we would be traveling with our soon to be two year old, so we were looking for something more family friendly. I am not saying that hotels are not family friendly, but the hotels we normally stay at do not provide a fridge, except maybe in the honor bar, which is too tiny to hold anything additional. We also did not want to be at the mercy of the hotel and have to pay the inflated hotel rate for everything!

We were looking on the internet and found out that homes can be rented for vacations. I am not talking about renting a condo, I am talking about an actual house. We were very intrigued. We looked at different homes in different areas of the island and found the one that was perfect for us. The particular website we used was called vacation rentals by owner found at VacationRentals.com.

The price for one week was substantially lower than the price of one week at the hotel we previously stayed at. We booked it and mailed a deposit to the owner. Upon arrival, we paid the balance due on our rental.

We were very pleased when we arrived at our week-long home. It was even more beautiful than the pictures on the website. The home was so nice and homey. We had the most incredible view of Kaneohe Bay. We also had a pool and it was all ours for the week. Try to get the pool to yourself at a hotel! Other amenities included were satellite television, beautiful landscaping and a sun porch. All linens were provided and there also was snorkeling gear available to use.

We really enjoyed having a kitchen. We took a trip to the local grocery store and stocked up on food for the week. It was so nice to be able to cook. I really enjoy cooking and I loved the fact that we could control what ingredients were included and the quantity of fat and calories the meal contained. When you eat out at a restaurant, their food could possibly contain 1000 calories and 100 fat grams per plate. That is really scary and why many people gain weight on vacation. We did eat out two nights at our favorite restaurants, though.

The only drawback was that we were not beach front. As I stated earlier, we did have an incredible view of Kaneohe bay, but the home was on the side of a mountain, pretty high up. We did not mind driving a short distance to scenic Kailua beach. One neat thing about being on the mountain side was that you could climb to the top and walk along a trail and see the World War II bunkers that are still there!

The best thing about our vacation rental was that after each day of play and being out & about doing things, it was so nice to be able to come back to a home. We did not have to worry about noise from someone in the next room or noise from the pool outside. It was also nice not to have to pay a hefty parking fee or to be required to do valet parking. There was no one to tip!

The property owner was so nice. He gave us his phone number in case of any problems or if we needed directions or suggestions. It was really nice to have a local contact.

Renting a vacation house on Oahu was a very easy and pleasant experience. We definitely will be renting a vacation home again instead of staying in a hotel and we recommend that others check it out also.www.vrbo.com , but there were also many other sites to choose from such as www.homeaway.com , www.greatrentals.com , www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com , www.vacationrentals.com and many more.