How to avoid missing amenities
Carry a vacation rental emergency kit. If you’re staying at a rental, be prepared. Consider an emergency kit with towels, toilet paper, soap and detergent. Alana Tagliabue has learned to pack her own when she travels, particularly to Asia. “The items that are always missing are towels and toilet paper,” says Tagliabue, who writes about family travel. In Asia, she also double-checks her rental to make sure it has a Western-style toilet. That’s good advice. u Consider renting through a service. Companies such as Vacasa, Wyndham Vacation Rentals and TurnKey Vacation Rentals go beyond bare-bones listings. For example, Turnkey requires each of its rentals to have a minimum of two sets of white cotton sheets, a washable duvet cover and down comforter, among other amenities.
Just ask. Vacation rental owners can be very accommodating. If you’re missing something, just ask. I’ve done this often, and they’ve usually gone above and beyond to make up for the missing amenity. But you might not get exactly what you were expecting. Jen Colton, a marketing consultant from Oakland, recently stayed in a Spanish vacation rental without towels. She called the owner and asked for help: “A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and there stood the owner’s mom in an apron holding a stack of four ratty old towels for us.”