Twice before we booked a VRBO for Manhattan. So I had no worries about the apartment we rented for my parents 25th anniversary trip. A nice two bedroom, two bath, in the Theater District.
Then, it came. The dreaded cancellation email. TWO DAYS BEFORE WE LEFT FOR NYC. We were spending two days at Niagra Falls so this email came just hours before we hopped on a plane to Buffalo. I tried not to panic and felt better when I saw that we still had some comparable apartment choices in approximately the same area of town. I emailed the ones that fit our needs and waited. And waited. And waited. The place we booked through apologized for the emergency, a supposed accident the owner was in. He now needed the apartment to recuperate. The only back up options he gave were NOT in the same area, were the same price, and had only one bathroom. That was a clincher for us. Who wants to share a shower on an anniversary trip?

We were contacted by about 1/3 of the “available” places, saying they weren’t available. One guy emailed back a day later saying he had a place, in the right area, with the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms, for more money. We had finally received our deposit from the first place so felt a little better about this. We scrambled to send him our info as we took off from Buffalo, flying to JFK. We hoped when we landed that we could sign the contract and all would be well.

We landed, signed the contract before we deplaned, and breathed a HUGH sigh of relief. Then we started getting texts from different numbers about meeting us, and how the apartment wasn’t actually free, they were painting, and that we needed to meet a different unit. Not quite as nice as the initial rental, with no credit. At this point, what could we do? Spend double what we had anticipated at a hotel?

The apartment was at 9th and 54th was called a three bedroom, 2 bathroom. We made do. It certainly wasn’t awful, it worked, but I was disappointed. Initially we had been told the apartment wasn’t available for our whole trip, only the first 3 nights. So when we realized this apartment might be since it was switched, we inquired. There was no discount offered and we decided it wasn’t worth it to give them more money. So we booked our last two nights in two rooms, with a view, at Park Central Hotel. Now that was a GREAT decision!

So, I don’t know if it’s Manhattan, or VRBO in general, but be ware if you’re booking an apartment in Manhattan. We’ve stayed twice before in different apartments with no problem. And we’ve stayed all over the world in other VRBO rentals with no problem. Just make sure you read the reviews, or you might be scrambling, and happy to settle on something that was really not what you were looking for.