What to bring to seasonal rental?

[Kelor]

We are embarking on our first seasonal home rental in a few weeks, and I've only stayed in VRBO's and Hotels in the past. I've never been somewhere for a month.

Other than my wife's desire to bring our own bedsheets, is there anything I should plan on bringing out of the norm? Ignoring food, I'm assuming trash bags, dish soap, soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent.

It states that cable and internet are included, but I might still bring a ROKU stick.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jfn111]

If you drive like us we bring-seasonings, coffee, booze, Nintendo (for the grand kids), dvds, paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, some blowup floats for the pool, fishing poles, tackle, portable light (for night fishing in the canal), cigars and a lighter.
We're heading to Florida next week.

 

[irishgal]

Depends what they supply but the times I have done more than a month I have re-stocked their soap, TP, dish soap, etc., I usually get there and find out what I need then hit the local grocery to stock up.
If you are a coffee drinker see if they have a coffee maker because a lot of places have a Keurig which some people don't care to use, so they bring their own coffee maker.

Also find out about cleaning supplies. I have a VRBO in California, and more and more renters (why I don't know) are walking off with cleaning supplies. Had a vacuum stolen once too, so now I leave some basic stuff but nothing that will cost a lot if taken. I have found that more and more VRBO owners are NOT leaving any cleaning supplies at all for this exact reason, so you might want to get some since a month is long enough that you will probably want to clean the place a bit.
Have fun!

 

[Tom52]

Our experience, snow-birding the last 4 years, is there will be a lot of small items the rental may not have. What you take will depend on whether you are flying or driving. We take a lot when driving and there are still items you wish you brought along. Maybe a favorite pillow if that is necessary for a good nights sleep. Make sure to bring along any medical insurance cards and perscriptions.

 

[Kelor]

Thank you all. That was very helpful.

Who in the world would steal a vacuum cleaner? LOL.

 

[Gumby]

We've been renting the same summer home in Maine for 20 years. In addition to our own sheets, we bring our own pillows, and washcloths/towels. We bring our own knives for the kitchen and spices for the things we are likely to cook.

 

[Jerry1]

We've been renting the same summer home in Maine for 20 years. In addition to our own sheets, we bring our own pillows, and washcloths/towels. We bring our own knives for the kitchen and spices for the things we are likely to cook.

I’ve never been to a rental that had good knives. Not even fair. If you can bring them, bring a couple knives.

 

[Bir48die]

I’ve never been to a rental that had good knives. Not even fair. If you can bring them, bring a couple knives.

+1. Never have taken them on a vacation but it is true what you say. Assuming this is in country and driving I wouldn't take much outside of a favorite pillow and clothes. We buy coffee at Costco anyway and all supplies can be purchased at a store. If booze was cheaper I'd buy at home. I'd take a case of wine for sure.

Obviously laptop and IPads. Any drugs including covering what could potentially happen. They're light and don't take up room. No way I'd bring sheets or any bedding. Not sure if there's any maid service weekly.

Have fun

 

[Jerry1]

We brought sheets to one rental. The terms were that you washed the sheets before you left. It was a friend rental situation, no formal cleaning arrangement. So, we got there and took off the clean sheets and put ours on. When we left, we put their sheets back on and were all set. Ours went into a bag to be washed at home. Otherwise, the last couple of hours of our stay would have included laundry.

 

[Sunset]

Check the coffee maker they have to see if your filters will fit.
It super bugged me to need to buy spices on a trip as we already have lots, so now we bring them from home.

If you are driving, bring a couple of guns .. just because if you are going to another State, some are super gun friendly and have GREAT gun ranges. Like FL has some great gun ranges $10 all day and well supervised.

 

[Lucie]

Thank you all. That was very helpful.

Who in the world would steal a vacuum cleaner? LOL.

Probably the same person that stole our dryer vent hose from our condo

 

[CardsFan]

Just checked into a VRBO one month rental in FL (yay).

All of the above is good advice. Also, check with the owner/agent about what they have. We had very good responses with last minute questions about what was there. We we driving, but at some point, the car gets full, so knowing what you don't need helps.

As said above, when you get there, you will still make several trips to local stores. We needed to pick up food and beverages anyway, so we just made a list as we noted some things we needed (zip lock bags, for example).

Have fun.

 

[Splash]

It depends on how much space you have (car vs suitcase) as well as the cost and availability of items where you are going. The grocery store costs are similar at home and where we snowbird. So, we buy most of what we will consume at our destination unlike when we traveled to expensive islands in the Caribbean.

We have space since we drive so we bring our favorite beverages and snacks that are not sold in any of the stores by our rental. Granted you may not know these yet as it's your 1st year doing this. As others have mentioned, we bring spices and we have never stayed at a place that has decent knives so I may add those to our packing list.

Bring anything you can't imagine going without if you can't get it there. For example, we bring our printer. While this wouldn't be a must have for a lot of people, it is for me during the time period we are there.

 

[Athena61]

Most of my concerns are kitchen related. I love to cook and miss my “tools”. Even if I am planning on only being gone for a week at my MILs I bring my own spices, at least 2 knives (chef, utility), Instant Pot, and even some cookware that I know I’ll use. Plus, my favorite utensils like whisks, potato peeler, etc. And don’t get me started on coffee ��

 

[SheitlQueen]

If you are driving, bring a couple of guns .. just because if you are going to another State, some are super gun friendly and have GREAT gun ranges. Like FL has some great gun ranges $10 all day and well supervised.

But be careful traveling through states-most notably NY and NJ-that are not gun friendly.

 

[Kelor]

But be careful traveling through states-most notably NY and NJ-that are not gun friendly.

Great comments on spices and kitchen knives. I would have never considered them.

I'm fortunate to be driving though 100% gun friendly territory with my permit to carry, though 2 of the states are open-carry only with my permit. I will be checking each state's law carefully before leaving!

I was also told it might be wise to bring a sports jacket in case of a last minute social event or something. I don't know about this yet.

 

[PatSea]

We keep a list of items to bring and update it during our stay for the next year. Also, Dollar Tree is our friend.

 

[harllee]

We have rented many Air Bnbs and VRBOS. We have usually found that coffee pots, toasters, frying pans and grills in rentals are in very bad shape --usually very dirty. So if we are driving and have the space we bring these things. (We bring a small camping grill that folds up for travel).

We also find that most rentals do not have enough lamps for reading so we sometimes bring small reading lamps.

DH has a bad back and finds sitting chairs in many rental chairs very uncomfortable. So he has a fold up desk chair that is comfortable that he brings if we have space. If we do not have space he brings his blow up back pillow.

We are birders so we always take our binoculars.

If you are going to be near a beach you might want to take fold up beach chairs and
umbrella.

Many places we have rented have been noisy at night so we bring a small white noise machine.

 

[CoolRich59]

If you are driving, bring a couple of guns .. just because if you are going to another State, some are super gun friendly and have GREAT gun ranges. Like FL has some great gun ranges $10 all day and well supervised.

Not to get distracted, but this reminds me of a great experience I had traveling to Nebraska from very heavily regulated, un-gun friendly Illinois.

I had no idea what the rules were in another state, so I called ahead to the club and asked what I needed to bring to shoot skeet at their range. There was a pause and then the gentleman said "Your gun".

 

[Music Lover]

We have a small box we take on trips when we drive that has spices, a Bluetooth speaker and cable to connect to the TV for better sound, she brings her favourite brand of tea, corkscrew, beer cozies, extra charging cables, etc. Plus our pillows.

No matter what we bring you never know what they have so we always end up at a dollar store.

 

[JP.mpls]

We've been renting the same summer home in Maine for 20 years. In addition to our own sheets, we bring our own pillows, and washcloths/towels. We bring our own knives for the kitchen and spices for the things we are likely to cook.

Gumby,
I brought my own chef's knife, cutting board and spices, and was glad I did. They had no spices other than salt/pepper, and the cutting board was a piece of thin plastic the size of a small plate.
JP

 

[omni550]

I was also told it might be wise to bring a sports jacket in case of a last minute social event or something. I don't know about this yet.

If you have anyone in your life who may be "departing this orb" soon and whose funeral you would be expected to attend, depending on how long you are planning on being at the vacation rental, you may want to have funeral-appropriate attire with you. (FWIW, I've read that members of the Royal Family always travel with a funeral outfit.)

I now take my passport with me whenever I am traveling domestically for more than a few days, as who knows if I might need to fly to Canada or overseas, unexpectedly, on short notice. (Of course, this means I am prepared to take advantage of a cheap cruise or airfare, while I am vacationing, too.)

omni

 

[folivier]

Here's what we bring: favorite seasonings that we probably won't find. At least 2 good knives, and 2 good steak knives (hate the serrated edge kind). Our coffee mugs. Roku player (don't want to put my account info on their smart tv). Our favorite brand of coffee, etc. Our favorite pillows. Anything else we might expect the rental to not have.
Don't forget that you can pick up nice jackets, or other clothing items at Goodwill or other types of thrift stores if needed.