The trend that has seen increasing numbers of travelers finding their true vacation paradises in elegant, vacation rentals instead of standardized "hospitality industry" hotel rooms is likely to escalate substantially within the next 5 years.

The growing popularity of private villa and vacation home rentals is the result of two developments that just happened to coincide. The first is the desire of many people to get out of a pre-packaged vacation environment and into something with more luxury, something personalized and private. The second development has been the rapid advance of the internet as a commerce facilitator. The web enables companies like Masterpiece Rentals to offer luxury vacation home renters and owners a chance to find each other at little cost and in real time.

The key to finding perfect luxury vacation rentals is to carefully consider what makes a vacation special to you and yours. Travelers can find almost every kind of vacation accommodation conceivable on Masterpiecerentals.com. The important thing is knowing what you want to do on your vacation. If your idea of a perfect vacation is snorkeling and beachcombing, a million-dollar mountain top chalet is not a place you'd be happy in. If you enjoy golf, a perfectly wonderful tree house on a deserted island is probably not for you.

Depending on individual interests and needs, other important factors in choosing a vacation rental can include area restaurants and nightspots, outdoor recreation activities, cultural attractions such as museums and art galleries, international airport access, and availability of family fun places such as theme parks. The reality is that there are private, luxury vacation homes for rent in far more places than there are five-star resorts. Many of the most desirable beaches and picturesque villages in the world are hundreds of miles from the nearest high-rise, 7,500-room hotel, but they virtually all have vacation homes for rent.

MasterpieceRentals.com makes it easy to find and book your ideal vacation rental. Unlike many other portals, we provide visible phone numbers on each listing so that you can easily call and talk directly to the property owner. We display even the smallest details on our listings so that you can make the most informed decision when you book your next vacation home. You can search for properties by type, price and number of bedrooms. You will also be able to refine your searches to find only vacation homes that allow smoking and are pet friendly. » Read More

Miami, FL September 10, 2007 – VRWD.com announces the launch of the Trusted Vacation Rentals Seal. The Trusted Vacation Rental Seal allows vacation rental owners to display VRWD.com’s trust in their rental listings, providing a great platform to earn the public’s trust and increase rentals.

“Our Trusted Vacation Rental Seal is a great benefit to vacation rental owners and consumers alike,” says John Romano, founder of VRWD.com. “When a rental listing has this seal, consumers know that the listing is approved by our site, the world's first and only marketplace that reviews and rates vacation rental Web sites and rentals. In turn, vacation rental owners that post listings on VRWD.com can reap the benefit of the public’s trust.”

Vacation rental owners that place the Trusted Vacation Rental Seal on their Web site and link to it in e-mails provide consumers with instant access to their reviewed, rated and trusted vacation rental listing on VRWD.com, the first and only vacation rentals directory that provides a single gateway to thousands of vacation rental Web sites around the world.

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According to several recent industry surveys, high-end vacationers are increasingly finding the elegance, pleasure and privacy of a beachfront villa, hilltop castle, island cottage and other vacation rentals  preferable to the standardized amenities and pre-fabricated romance of traditional high-end resort hotels.

"My boyfriend and I live in Manhattan and we take vacations to get away from people, not stand in line for elevators and restaurants," Michelle Delio, a technology consultant and author, told one pollster. "It doesn't really matter whether the people in those lines are wearing plastic pop beads or antique pearls around their necks, they're still an unpleasant reminder of our Big Apple home-sweet-urban-jungle-home."

In one recent survey of 36,000 upscale vacationers, nearly 60 percent reported that they planned to book a vacation home, rather than a hotel or resort, for their next vacation. Even more impressive was a separate poll which found that more than 95 percent of 3,000 travelers who had experienced the advantages of vacation home rentals preferred them to all other forms of holiday accommodations.

"Frankly, we are not at all surprised by the level of enthusiasm for luxury vacation rentals shown by these independent polls," commented vacation rental pioneer Heidi Alexian, founder of Masterpiece Rentals, the web's number one portal connecting luxury vacation property renters and owners. "They completely mirror the reactions we get from our own site visitors once they are exposed to the advantages of living like kings and queens in a private paradise instead of faces in a crowd of hotel guests.

"With vacation rentals you have total control of your environment," Alexian added. "If you want to be the only family on a deserted island, you can use our site to find a delightful beachcomber cabin fit for a millionaire at a very resort-comparable price. If, on the other hand, you want to spend a weekend or a month in a penthouse overlooking the Las Vegas Strip or Jamaica Bay, you can usually find that, too."

The de facto world leader in bringing luxury vacation rental owners and renters together, Masterpiece Rentals' website contains an unparalleled collection of villas, condos, castles, mansions, cabins, cottages, chateaus, chalets, townhomes and executive homes being offered to discriminating singles and families seeking the ultimate in vacation accommodations. For more information, visit MasterpieceRentals.com. » Read More