Renting a vacation home, without AirBnB

To some people, Airbnb is an innovative service that is shaking up the hotel industry by offering interesting alternative places to stay. To others, Airbnb is viewed as a tax-dodging scourge that lets tenants violate their leases’ subletting rules in return for a quick buck.

Recently, both sides squared off in an election in San Francisco, where voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have limited its services. In some other areas, Airbnb is restricted or barred from doing business. But if the service is unavailable for the city you’re vacationing in, there are some great alternative apps.

I recently used the HomeAway app to plan a trip to Paris in December. HomeAway, which said recently that it would be acquired by the online travel company Expedia for about $3.9 billion, is similar to Airbnb, with hosts offering houses and apartments for short-term vacation rentals. The app is focused on properties from homeowners, which means it circumvents some of the subletting issues that have troubled Airbnb. HomeAway’s offers are also diverse, with more than 1 million properties in more than 130 countries.

The app lets you search by location and dates. You can refine the results with a few taps to show only places priced at a certain level per night or week, or those that have a certain number of rooms or facilities like a pool. When you find a promising property in the search results, a quick tap reveals photos and detailed information, including maps, a text-based description, a list of reviews and so on. To reassure renters, there is information about the property owner, with languages spoken, contact numbers and a note about how long that person has been an active member of the site.

When you find the perfect property, you can easily book and pay through the app, and you can even chat with the property owner to sort out the details. HomeAway’s app is visually clean and it’s a breeze to use, although the way you filter the search results to find suitable properties can feel awkward. The app is free on iOS and Android.

HouseTrip is another Airbnb alternative, with around 300,000 properties. Though the app’s search results are heavy on European locations, it also has properties in the United States and elsewhere. HouseTrip’s listings include a photo and basic information like rating, price and bed space so you can scan and spot promising properties at a glance.

Filtering and sorting through the search results is a little simpler in HouseTrip than in HomeAway. Finding a property starts with a location-based search. Once you have decided where you want to go, you don’t have to enter definite dates, making the app great for spontaneous vacations.

HouseTrip’s app is visually attractive with a minimalist interface. I like how you can see previous guest ratings for features like cleanliness, ease of check-ins and other features. Property hosts have to use a separate app to manage their rentals, and this is free on both iOS and Android. Oddly, if you’re a renter, there’s only an iOS app.

If searches on these apps don’t turn up any properties you want to rent, check out the Roomorama app, free on iOS. It works in a similar way, with an image-centric design, an easy-to-navigate interface and properties worldwide. The app also has a handy “near me” feature that lists properties close to your current location.

Roomorama has as many features as its peers, including booking, paying and chatting with hosts through the app, but it offers fewer properties. The app hasn’t been updated by its makers in a year, which may mean it’s prone to bugs. If you book through Roomorama, contact the property hosts to check that the listing is current.

Lastly, if you’re staying in London, Los Angeles or Paris and you want to splurge on a rental, check out Onefinestay. Properties found through this app cost more, but they are luxurious and in great locations. The app won’t let you book vacations, but it seamlessly passes you to the website, where you can find and pay for rentals.

The app also acts as a digital concierge, informing you about everything you need to know for your stay, such as how to operate appliances and what to do and see in the area around the property. Onefinestay is impressive, but remember: Though the app is free on iOS, the rents can easily be more than $1,000 (Rs 65,860) a night.

Always check insurance, payment and cancellation policies when you use these apps. The way each app works and the way you pay varies, so make sure you know the terms of your deal before zipping across the globe.