I went on my summer vacation in February. Every year I spend June, July and August in the Kingdom. With no conferences to attend, no visitors to meet and reduced demand for IT services, summer is the perfect time to perform network upgrades and investigate new technologies. In Riyadh, thanks to the seasonal reduction in population and consequent traffic reduction, it's possible to attend meetings in three different locations daily, instead of just two. Ramadan mornings provide an excellent opportunity to do network mapping, study online for professional certifications and agree upon new corporate IT policies and procedures - without interruptions. However, it has been brought to my attention that this year, many people have either decided to split the vacation - going out before and after Ramadan, or they won't be leaving on their annual holiday until the middle of Ramadan. So in order to inspire everyone to have a great time without spending a fortune, let me tell you what my family did on our last vacation. We went to the USA, which can be an outrageously expensive trip. But we cut costs and improved our vacation experience by staying at a private home instead of a hotel. The five-bedroom home we rented sleeps 12 people and is on more than 100 acres of private land. A wide variety of activities are available on the property in the summer including hiking, fishing and barbecuing. One morning during our stay a herd of deer walked past the kitchen window. Speaking of the kitchen, it is fully equipped including a dishwasher and clothes washer and dryer. Ladies might have started imagining drudgery on vacation. Perish the thought! A housekeeper living nearby charged $25 to drop by on request and spend a couple hours vacuuming, scrubbing pots or doing any other chore required. And by the way, since the home was so secluded, no hijab was needed outdoors. Secluded didn't mean isolated though. The vacation home came with broadband Internet and a fixed line phone for receiving calls. Most everything else, from restaurants to shopping malls, was about thirty minutes' drive away and we even went to a massive outlet mall during our stay. Now for the really good part. Our total cost per night was SR820 in the winter. In the summer when there's more demand, the total cost per night for that vacation rental is SR1300. Some family members travelled from Canada to join us and it was a delightful, relaxing experience. How did we locate our vacation home? Online of course. We used the HomeAway.com network, which offers over 950,000 vacation rental listings. It took us about two days to narrow down our choices of properties, send out e-mails to their owners with a few detailed questions and then make a final selection on where to stay. Payment was by credit card. On a recent trip to Dubai we used airbnb.com to find an apartment in one of the city's luxurious towers. We've also done vacation rentals through Rentalo.com and Flipkey.com. If you're going to Orlando, take a look at getmorevacations.com. For Italy and France there's classicvacationrental.com and for London try onefinestay.com. My family has been vacationing at private properties for about a decade now. We've never had a bad experience mostly because we research the properties before booking. The online reviews of the properties under consideration are a good way to start. If possible search for the property on a couple of different site listings and read all the reviews. It's also essential to search online about the safety of the property location. For smaller towns, search for a business nearby the proposed vacation rental and telephone them to inquire about the property. Ask to see photos and find out how the property is managed, particularly in regards to cleaning between rentals and emergency repairs. Send a detailed email with all requirements to the property owner and make sure a detailed answer is received. Don't rent any property until all questions concerning it have been clearly answered and the rental or lease agreement for the property is read and understood. Know exactly what is included in the rental and what isn't. Also check if a refund is possible in case the trip is cancelled. When staying at a private home it's important to know what the policy is in regards to damages. Some vacation rentals come with insurance for the stay as part of the rental agreement. For others, it may be necessary to sign up for travel insurance which will cover property damage, theft of personal belongings or accidents. Buy such insurance online through the vacation rental site or purchase it from a Saudi travel or insurance agent before leaving the Kingdom. Finally, before paying for the vacation rental check to be sure there aren't any negative reviews about it on travel “gripe” sites. There are many such sites online and they are often country specific. If you find even one negative post, reconsider the property rental.
