February 7th is National #bookdirect day! What are the benefits of booking directly with vacation rental company? Read on to find out!
There are lots of places to find vacation accommodations online. Sites like Homeaway.com, Expedia.com, AirBnB, and Booking.com, etc. are a great place to start your search. These "3rd party sites" help you get an idea of where you want to travel and what type of accommodations are available. But, we recommend ALWAYS booking direct to avoid the additional "guest service fees" that are added on to the cost of the reservation.
We believe that vacation rental homes are the best value for your vacation dollar for a number of reasons, but you can save even more and get even better service by booking directly with vacation rental companies, like Atlantic Realty.
So What Professional Services Do Rental Companies Provide?
Good question. It's important to understand that unlike an ad site, rental companies are regulated as 'real estate companies.' The Owner has to be a licensed agent and has to follow all the rules for owning a business in the county and state where their business is located. This professional and ethical code followed by Realtors ensures that you'll have the more professional experience and also gives you certain benefits that third party sites can touch. Here are a few of them.
The Best Prices 
Everyone thinks the third party sites have the best prices. That's why people use them after all. However, most third party sites aren't showing accurate prices, just low ones. When they use oddly specific language such as 'starting at' or 'as low as' followed by the price per night, what they're actually doing is taking the lowest price it can be in a year and showing you that, regardless of the season. Most often, the true price you pay for peak vacation times is double or even triple that.
Additionally, third party sites are unable to run specials like flash sales, tax free days, or Black Friday deals. These are specials that property management companies use to reward their most loyal fans and guests. You can see a full list of our current specials here. https://www.atlanticrealty-nc.com/specials
Knowledgeable Local Staff
When you call Atlantic Realty, you can be assured that the person answering the phone lives and works here. That means whether you're looking for the perfect town, a great place to eat out, or activities you can do on a rainy or sunny day, you can have the best and most up-to-date advice given by a true local.
Professional Cleaning Included
Going on vacation is fun. You know what's not fun? Having to scrub the house afterwards. Yet, with some of these third party houses that's exactly what they expect you to do; ready the house for the next renter. The ones that don't expect you to do that tack on a 'cleaning fee' that was never mentioned previously. Remember what I said about third party sites not offering the best deals?
However, when you use a vacation rental company, the cleaning fee is included. All you have to do is leave the house in broom swept condition and the professional cleaner will come in after you and take care of the rest. Best of all, you can be assure that your house had the same high standards of cleaning applied to it before your arrival as well.
After Hours Emergency Phone (For True Emergencies)
So what happens if you get to your house after hours and you can't get in? Or what if the smoke detector starts beeping in the middle of the night or if the toilet starts overflowing with an endless supply of water? Without a professional manager, you're on your own to handle these types of disasters.
However, with a vacation rental company, you're never on your own. Atlantic Realty provides an emergency after hours number for just such an emergency. You can call us anytime for the true disasters and our office between 8:30am-5:00pm for minor issues. It gives you peace of mind knowing your family isn't all alone thousands of miles from home.
Makes It Easy On You If Something Breaks
In the rare even something does break, it's up to the rental company to get a vendor over there to fix it, not you. It's also on the rental company to let them in. None of this ruining your vacation with the old 'we'll arrive between 10-3' stuff. If someone needs to wait at the house, we'll wait for the repair person. This way, you can go out, have a fun time and whatever it is should be fixed by the time you get back.
Most of the times the local repair people also put a house managed by a rental company closer to the top of the list than house managed by an individual. This is just good business. After all, who would you give preferential treatment to? A single house managed by one person or a company who manages hundreds of houses and can give you lots of business in the future?
Notifications Of Conditions That Will Affect Your Travel Plans
Let s face it, the Outer Banks is a beautiful place, but not all the time. Sometime we get weather that can adversely affect your plans. If you rented from a third party site, then it's usually on you to know the travel conditions before you arrive. And nothing's worse than traveling 12 hours only to find out the bridge is closed due to high winds. (yes, that happens.)
Fortunately, a rental company will alert you in the events of bridge and other road closures, evacuations, or anything else that will ruin your plans to arrive. And don't worry. Once the condition has been lifted, your house will be ready and waiting for you. (and in the extremely rare case that it's not, we'll help you with that too!)
Special Discounts To Local Activities
Another benefit from booking direct is the partnerships that professional managers like Atlantic Realty have with local businesses.
What does 'partnered mean?' it means that Atlantic Realty has agreed to showcase certain companies in exchange for a nice discount for all our guests. These are discount you won't find the local coupon books or anywhere else. Take a look at some of our partners, (though by no means is this an exhaustive list.)
- H2OBX Waterpark
- Kitty Hawk Kayak & Surf School
- Roanoke Island Festival Park
- Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station
- Will You Escape The OBX? The OBX's First Escape Room!
- Outer Banks Pier
- Carolina Club Golf
- Pointe Club Golf
- Dairy Queen Mini Golf
- Frisco Native American Museum
- Back Country Outfitter's Corolla Wild Horse Safari Tour
- Lost Colony Play
- Elizabethan Gardens
- Capt'n Johnny's Dolphin Watch
- Just For The Beach Equipment Rentals
- Acoustic Nights Live Music By Graham Outten
- Corolla & Duck Parasailing
- Corolla Watersports
- Bob's Bait And Tackle
- North Duck Watersports
- Pizza Stop
- Lotas Yoga
- Mmaxout Fitness
- Deja New (Art Classes)
- Shooters At The Beach (Professional Photography)
- Outer Banks Kayak Adventures
- The Pit Surf Shop
- Ocean Sands K9 Resort
- OBX Mystery Dinner Theater
- Dirty Dick's Crab House
- OBX Skim Camp
- OBX Pontoon Man
- Sea Hunter-Charter Fishing
- OBX Ghost Tours
- Photography By Geri
- Equine Adventures (Horseback Riding On The Beach)
- OBX Biplane And Helicopter Tours
- Capt Froggy's Guide Service(For Hunting And Fishing)
- Beach Masters Beach Set Up
Final Thoughts
Renting with a professional property management company will not only give you the best price, but also a low hassle vacation with great advice and discounts for whatever you want to do on your Outer Banks vacation. You'll also have someone to call in case of emergencies. And if it rains an you're not sure what do with the kids, we can make personal recommendations for that too! Let's get started booking that Outer Banks Vacation. Give one of our friendly and helpful vacation planners a call now -- or chat with us online!
