Virginia Vacation Rentals Launches with No Booking Fees & Complete Homeowner Control

    CHINCOTEAGUE, VA, July 05, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Citing big changes in vacation rental listing services, such as Homeaway and VRBO, a new regional website called Virginia Vacation Rentals has launched to allow renters and vacation homeowners direct contact with each other without hidden fees or interference.

"We're going back to the model of simply being a listing site for vacation homeowners," said Bunnie Riedel, President of Riedel Communications and owner of the website.

"As a vacation rental homeowner, I was driven off of sites like VRBO because it was bought by Expedia and then Expedia proceeded to treat our property like it was a hotel," said Riedel. "Their policies such as charging renters a booking fee and not allowing direct contact between renter and the homeowner are shocking."

In 2015, Expedia Inc. agreed to acquire VRBO and its family of online booking sites for $3.9 billion in cash and stock. Not long after, its policies began to change and now, two years later, vacation rental homeowners are jumping ship and looking for alternative booking sites.

"It's become a perfect storm. Bookings have been reduced by 30% to 50% as vacationers realize that they have to pay a booking fee of 9% to 12%," said Riedel. "And to make it worse, the renters do not get the owners' contact information until after they've booked and vice versa."

Virginia Vacation Rentals was created to give homeowners and renters direct contact with one another and put them in the driver's seat.

"Our goal is to provide a platform so renters and homeowners can speak directly to each other without the interference of a middle man," said Riedel. "The site has eight separate regions for vacation destinations; there really is something for every taste whether it's the mountains or the valley vineyard tours or the coastline or close in to Washington, D.C. We'll have a listing for every budget and every vacationer's dreams."

Riedel Communications, Inc. was started in 2005 as a marketing and strategic planning consulting business. Its clients include nonprofits, local, state and federal government clients and retail businesses.

Bunnie Riedel can be reached at [email protected] or 443-864-4517.

About Our Company

Welcome to Virginia Vacation Rentals! I'm so glad you are here!

My name is Bunnie Riedel and I am President of Riedel Communications. Since 2005, Riedel Communications has served nonprofits, local and federal government agencies and for profit small business in a variety of ways, from marketing and public relations to organizational development and strategic planning and board governance.

For a list of my clients, please go to http://www.riedelcommunications.com/about-us/client-list/

I also am a Licensed Standards for Excellence Nonprofit Consultant. That means I've completed rigorous training to earn that title so I can help nonprofits operate at the highest levels of ethics and standards.

I strive to provide excellence and sound advice for all my clients.

So why do I have this vacation home rental listing site? Well, because I also own a small vacation rental in Chincoteague, VA. And like so many vacation rental homeowners I used online listing sites for years as marketing vehicles without a problem. I was very happy with them.

But as you know, the industry has changed. We've seen large companies take over what were basically advertising sites and begin to interfere with the homeowner's ability to communicate directly with the prospective renter, force us into online booking, charging extra booking fees to our renters and even take tax deposits with the promise they will remit them to local government.

Many of you, like me, have realized that the right to control our property and build relationships with the wonderful people who stay with us has been replaced with online sites that separate the owners from the vacationers. And that just doesn't work. The process must be seamless, complete and unfettered communication between the vacation home owner (or their property manager) and vacationer.

That direct communication assures those vacationers that they will have a great experience!

So here's our promise:

To the Homeowners: I promise you that this site will always be a listing subscription site. That you will have complete access to your renters and you will be able to control your policies and house rules. And you will be in charge of your business. It'll be your decision to take online bookings. You will control how your occupancy taxes get paid. And whether you list one home or several, you will always be a priority.

To the Vacation Home Renters: I promise you that this site will always be free to use. That means no "surprise booking fees" no charge to you except what you will pay the vacation home owner for use of their vacation rental home. It's your vacation and it should be the most enjoyable time of your life!

As we say in Virginia, Virginia is for Lovers!

So list your property with confidence that the hospitality you strive so hard to provide will shine through.

Or reserve your long awaited vacation home with confidence that you will come away loving Virginia, its people, its regions, its food (especially its food!), its music, its culture and diversity. I guarantee you'll want to come back time and time again.

And above all, have a great time!

Bunnie Riedel
President, Riedel Communications, Inc.

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