SFR Anyone used one of those Outdoorsy/RVshare type websites to rent a camper?

[Josh]

I've long wanted a little camper trailer to take the family out for some easy camping. Tents are fine and all, but somehow it's less motivating when you have to get all that stuff together just to get out of town. We have a little tent trailer, which is better. But it's still limiting, especially in the shoulder seasons. But for whatever reason (money, availability, etc) we've never gotten around to getting one.

But in recent years a number of "RV rental" websites and apps have appeared that work on the airbnb/vrbo model. AKA: you own an RV and rent it out for others to use when you aren't using it. Rvshare, Outdoorsy, Rvngo, etc. For $100-150/night, you could rent a small trailer and go camping for the 10-15 nights a year you might use it.

Has anyone used any of these companies to rent an RV/trailer? Or, for that matter, has anyone used one to rent out a trailer they own?

 

[Greg Armstrong]

We rented a small self contained RV in New Zealand and explored around the South Island a few years back. It worked great. Had to get used to a left hand drive vehicle as well as driving on the “wrong” side of a lot of narrow and winding roads, but we really enjoyed it.

There’s also boat rental outfits locally that are similar to Airbnb. I’m reminded as I think back to your boat search thread Josh, that I rented a BW Montauk 150 and liked it so much I went out and bought one for myself.
It can be a good way to see what kind of boat works for you (or RV).

 

[albula]

Interested to hear if anyone has used one of these outfits to rent out an RV. I have an Airstream that gets used about 5 or 6 weeks a year and have given thought to getting it used more.

 

[Zak]

Replying just so I get notifications. I'm curious about this, too.

 

[MT406]

My wife and I rented a sprinter van through Outdoorsy and traveled around Alaska for two weeks. I would be hesitant to list anything personally. Can’t imagine the abuse some of these vehicles see. Some people have no respect for other people’s property.

 

[Josh]

My wife and I rented a sprinter van through Outdoorsy and traveled around Alaska for two weeks. I would be hesitant to list anything personally. Can’t imagine the abuse some of these vehicles see. Some people have no respect for other people’s property.

Good point about renting your RV as an owner. But was there any issue as a renter?

 

[MT406]

overall, we had a great experience. I believe my wife paid for the highest tier insurance through Outdoorsy. Cant imagine totaling a 200k sprinter. I would highly recommend taking a bunch of interior and exterior pictures. At least that way there are no questions asked when you return a vehicle and they accuse you of breaking something.

 

[RCF]

The costs of ownership is very expensive between maintenance, insurance, depreciation and use including costs for RV park slots per night if available.

Renting, while not necessarily cheap, is much cheaper than ownership and makes it much more family friendly - gotta love hot showers and a bathroom for others. Plus you do not have to have a place to park it when not in use. When renting just make sure you understand the entire cost including daily rate, gas, insurance, mileage charge, trip insurance, etc. It is a great way to go. Have fun!

 

[Ceviche]

I saw this Japanese rig parked up in Astoria. Never found the driver. Too bad, because it was as close to my dream RV as I’ve ever seen.

 

[Old Man]

My take on this is, If you are going to shell out $100.00 to $150.00 a day I would get a motel and center it in the area you want to visit. I got myself a motel in Cle Elum And fished all over the area. About 18 years ago. I did it twice

 

[Josh]

My take on this is, If you are going to shell out $100.00 to $150.00 a day I would get a motel and center it in the area you want to visit. I got myself a motel in Cle Elum And fished all over the area. About 18 years ago. I did it twice

With how easy airbnb is, this is actually even better advice than it was back in the day. So many cool fishing adjacent properties.

 

[Old Man]

Yes, but you need to schedule the Airbnb ahead of time. You can usually get a motel when you drive through any town. I never ever stay at the expensive ones. A seedy looking one is fine. All you ever do is just sleep in them. I like hot showers and a warm bed. I just hate to camp out.

When I made it to the Hoh river a few times I got a motel in Forks. I was all set to camp out. But it was shitty weather at that time of the year.

 

[Mossback]

But it was shitty weather at that time of the year.

That's a given in Forks, the motels there have got a lot of my money over the years...September through May.
I hear it's nice in late July, early August.

 

[cody-]

Yes, but you need to schedule the Airbnb ahead of time. You can usually get a motel when you drive through any town. I never ever stay at the expensive ones. A seedy looking one is fine. All you ever do is just sleep in them. I like hot showers and a warm bed. I just hate to camp out.

When I made it to the Hoh river a few times I got a motel in Forks. I was all set to camp out. But it was shitty weather at that time of the year.

I used to think the same until the seedy one was not fine. We had two nights in Seattle at the end of a fly-in camping trip from SLC that hit Ranier, Hoh, and Sol Duc. Had two nights at the end in Seattle for the first shower of the week, a small dose of night life, another shower, then the flight out. This thing was listed as 1 bed/1 bath studio, but when we get there's no bathroom in the apartment. Turns out, there were several shared bathrooms per floor, each with their own selection of bugs. Probably my fault for not reading the description fully, but it buried in like the 5th paragraph.

Only had one air bnb that I genuinely thought was a nicer experience than even the worst hotels. I'm done with the bait-and-switch accommodations and over bearing property owners that feel the need to drop in daily.

 

[RCF]

I used to think the same until the seedy one was not fine. We had two nights in Seattle at the end of a fly-in camping trip from SLC that hit Ranier, Hoh, and Sol Duc. Had two nights at the end in Seattle for the first shower of the week, a small dose of night life, another shower, then the flight out. This thing was listed as 1 bed/1 bath studio, but when we get there's no bathroom in the apartment. Turns out, there were several shared bathrooms per floor, each with their own selection of bugs. Probably my fault for not reading the description fully, but it buried in like the 5th paragraph.

Only had one air bnb that I genuinely thought was a nicer experience than even the worst hotels. I'm done with the bait-and-switch accommodations and over bearing property owners that feel the need to drop in daily.

Cody - you were lucky you were staying at the Waldorf of accommodations. Many of the other places are worse... JK!!

Past five years I can not believe hotel prices. $300+ per night for Holiday Inn Express in Bend. $500+ per night in PDX DT (use to stay there for $89 per night). Airbnb prices track with hotel prices. Getting ridiculous..

 

[Old Man]

I used to think the same until the seedy one was not fine. We had two nights in Seattle at the end of a fly-in camping trip from SLC that hit Ranier, Hoh, and Sol Duc. Had two nights at the end in Seattle for the first shower of the week, a small dose of night life, another shower, then the flight out. This thing was listed as 1 bed/1 bath studio, but when we get there's no bathroom in the apartment. Turns out, there were several shared bathrooms per floor, each with their own selection of bugs. Probably my fault for not reading the description fully, but it buried in like the 5th paragraph.

Only had one air bnb that I genuinely thought was a nicer experience than even the worst hotels. I'm done with the bait-and-switch accommodations and over bearing property owners that feel the need to drop in daily.

I used to live in an apartment in Ballard that had a small bed room and a kitchen eating room No bathroom. You shared the toilet and tub with two other people. Rent was just about right. 50 bucks a month. All I did was sleep there. I was single and living the single life. Sometimes I wish I stayed single. When you looked in my ice box all that was in there a case of Olys.

 

[Banned user]

Only had one air bnb that I genuinely thought was a nicer experience than even the worst hotels. I'm done with the bait-and-switch accommodations and over bearing property owners that feel the need to drop in daily.

Wow, I've used AirBnb at least 100 times, and I have not yet had a bad experience, no matter the USA, France, Italy, Belgium, or The Netherlands.

 

[Chadk]

Good point about renting your RV as an owner. But was there any issue as a renter?

We did turro.com for a car rental 6months ago when in Hawaii. Was great. Rented someone's Toyota Tacoma and blended in with the locals (seemed like 1 out of 3 cars was a tacoma...) Seems like some folks rent out an extra car they have, while others purely buy a few cars just for this as business. Maybe they also have airbnb or other. Not really sure. But was pretty easy and less expensive than getting a cramped economy car from a rental agency (if they even had any available).

I've also yet to have a bad airbnb experience. But I do spend extra time reading reviews and the fine print - and ask questions if there are any doubts.