Vrbo

Vrbo – Vacation Rentals
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Vacation rental
OwnerExpedia Group
CommercialYes
Launched1995 (1995) (as Vacation Rentals by Owner)
Current statusActive

Vrbo (/ˈvɜːrboʊ/ VUR-boh)[1] is an online marketplace for vacation rentals and is owned by Expedia Group. Primarily based in Austin, Texas, VRBO was originally an abbreviation for Vacation Rentals by Owner, but since 2019 the company has been known as Vrbo.

History

The VRBO website was created by David Clouse, a programmer, in 1995 in Aurora, Colorado with the goal of renting his Breckenridge Ski Resort condo. The website soon became popular with homeowners that wanted to list their properties for short term rental.[2][3]

By 2006, VRBO had over 465,000 rental listings[4] and was adding 100 new listings per day.[3]

VRBO originally had a subscription business model in which payment of an annual fee allowed homeowners to list their properties on the website.[5]

In 2006, VRBO was acquired by HomeAway.[6][4]

On November 4, 2015, Expedia Group announced it would acquire HomeAway, including VRBO, for $3.9 billion. The transaction closed in the first quarter of 2016.[7][8]

In March 2019, VRBO was re-branded Vrbo, including a new logo, capitalization, and pronunciation.[9][1]

In May 2019, Expedia Group announced plans to streamline its vacation portfolio, naming Vrbo its primary vacation rental brand and retiring HomeAway.[10][11]

In 2022, Expedia Group and Wieden+Kennedy created an advertisement for Vrbo called "A Place for Together", which aired during the Super Bowl pre-game and featured the song "Right Where I Belong" from the 1984 film The Muppets Take Manhattan.[12] In the same year, Vrbo became a multi-year title sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl.[13][14]

In 2023, As part of Expedia Group's platform consolidation, Vrbo's consumer front end migrated onto the Brand Expedia technology stack.[15] Vrbo was also integrated into the One Key unified loyalty program across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo in the United States in 2023, expanding to other countries in 2024.[16]

Criticism

Strict refund policies during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbnb and Tripadvisor forced property owners to offer full refunds to travelers that were impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns. However, Vrbo did not mandate that hosts offer refunds to guests, leaving it up to guests and hosts to work out the details of any refunds. This prompted calls on Twitter to boycott Vrbo.[17][18][19] Vrbo did, however, prohibit hosts from downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic in refund negotiations with guests.[20] In 2024, Vrbo added a cancellation policy requiring hosts to issue refunds regardless of the property's cancellation rules during "unforeseen large scale travel disruptions". Vrbo decides whether a given situation qualifies for this policy, in which case it applies to all affected reservations.[21]

Lack of backing of guarantee

The company has been accused of not complying with its "book with confidence" guarantee. In one case, a customer claims to have lost £6,000 after the property owner of a rental property in Ibiza booked on Vrbo "disappeared". The credit card issuer did not protect the customer as the payment was made to an "agent" rather than the host and Vrbo dismissed the claim citing that it is a matter between the host and the renter. Trustpilot reviews indicate that this user experience is common.[22]

Hidden cameras in property bedrooms

In 2022 the company was the subject of several lawsuits after customers renting properties using the platform have found hidden cameras in private areas of properties, including in bedrooms. Police have also found images of guests undressed on the computers of such homeowners.[23][24]

Non-compliance with rental laws

In March 2022, Vrbo was sued by the city of Los Angeles for not complying with its rental laws, including allowing hosts to use the platform without registering under the city's short-term rental ordinance. City Attorney Mike Feuer claimed that about 29% of bookings made in a recent 30-day period appeared to violate the city's rules.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b Ives, Nat (March 27, 2019). "Vrbo Changes Its Name to Match How People Say It". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ Minor, Nathaniel (May 16, 2016). "Short-Term Vacation Rentals, A Colorado Invention, Are Under The Gun In Denver". Colorado Public Radio.
  3. ^ a b Adams, John (June 25, 2016). "Vacation rental shootout: Airbnb vs. VRBO". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  4. ^ a b "Vacation rental site lands $160M, buys competitor". American City Business Journals. November 13, 2006.
  5. ^ Green, Peter S. (July 3, 2004). "Renting out the weekend house? A few caveats". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "HomeAway Secures Record $160 Million in Financing Vacation Rental Leader Announces Acquisition of VRBO.com" (Press release). Austin, Texas: Houston Chronicle. Business Wire. November 13, 2006.
  7. ^ Schaal, Dennis (November 4, 2015). "Expedia Acquires HomeAway for $3.9 Billion". Skift.
  8. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (November 4, 2015). "Expedia Acquires Airbnb Rival HomeAway For $3.9B". TechCrunch.
  9. ^ "Vrbo Announces Tools for Planning Trips with Families and Friends as it Unveils New Look and Pronunciation" (Press release). PR Newswire. March 27, 2019.
  10. ^ Pope, Colin (May 2, 2019). "HomeAway's out, Vrbo is in". American City Business Journals.
  11. ^ Hawkins, Lori (May 3, 2019). "HomeAway, the world's largest vacation rental site, is rebranding itself as Vrbo". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  12. ^ Notte, Jason (February 3, 2022). "Vrbo Makes Super Bowl Pregame Ad a Family Affair". Adweek.
  13. ^ Forde, Pat (July 25, 2022). "Fiesta Bowl Announces New Naming Sponsorship with Vrbo". Sports Illustrated.
  14. ^ Horos, Emily (July 25, 2022). "Vrbo, Fiesta Bowl announce title partnership, sweepstakes". The Arizona Republic.
  15. ^ Expedia Group, Inc. Form 10-K For the Year Ended December 31, 2024 (PDF) (Report). Expedia Group, Inc. February 7, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  16. ^ Diller, Nathan. "The easiest reward program? What to know about Expedia Group's new One Key loyalty program". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  17. ^ Rackl, Lori (April 1, 2020). "'Our vacation was stolen': VRBO guests fume over refunds on trips dashed by coronavirus". Chicago Tribune.
  18. ^ Schaal, Dennis (March 20, 2020). "Short-Term Rental Firms Face Backlash Over Sharply Different Coronavirus Cancellation Policies". Skift.
  19. ^ Kantrowitz, Alex (March 19, 2020). "Airbnb Said It Would Give Full Refunds For Coronavirus Cancellations. Vrbo Told Renters To Go Cry To Airbnb About It". BuzzFeed News.
  20. ^ Keveney, Bill (March 19, 2020). "Vrbo plans to ban rental owners who dismiss severity of coronavirus threat to travelers". USA Today.
  21. ^ Diller, Nathan (July 10, 2024). "Can I cancel a vacation rental booking amid Tropical Depression Beryl? What to know". USA Today. Major platform Vrbo recently added a new Extenuating Circumstances policy that requires hosts to give refunds no matter the property's cancellation rules amid 'unforeseen large-scale travel disruptions,' the company said in a statement.
  22. ^ Brignall, Miles (February 26, 2022). "Friends lose £6,000 after Ibiza villa owner 'disappears'". The Guardian.
  23. ^ Russ, Julianna; Rahman, Tahera (July 6, 2022). "Lawsuit: Camera found inside Texas Vrbo rental property bedroom, homeowners sued". KXAN-TV.
  24. ^ Sperling, Maddy (July 26, 2022). "Hidden cameras in Texas ranch spark wave of lawsuits against Vrbo and AirBnb". The Real Deal.
  25. ^ "L.A. sues online vacation rental company". Los Angeles Times. March 21, 2022.
  26. ^ Replogle, Jill (March 21, 2022). "LA Sues Hosting Platform Vrbo Over Failure To Enforce Short-Term Rental Rules". Gothamist.
  • Media related to Vrbo at Wikimedia Commons
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