Tips on renting a vacation home

Here, based on my own adventures and conversations with several experts, are 14 things to know about vacation rentals.

1. Know whom to call when the AC breaks down: Get your host’s cellphone number -- and his handyman’s. Sure, it’s nice if your host leaves behind some ideas of local attractions and restaurants, but chances are you’ve covered a lot of that ground with your own research. Better that your host -- who probably lives hundreds of miles away -- should leave you some domestic reassurance. If you know what number to call to reach a relevant human being when the pilot light dies and the dishwasher spews on a Saturday night, you’ll be happier. This is a double imperative if renting through a management company, because those arrangements often add one or more players to the game of telephone.

2. Not every picture is worth a thousand words. If you’re looking at photographs on a website, be sure to ask how old they are. What has changed since they were taken? You may want to ask for customer references, and if you have a friend who can do a drive-by, all the better. It’s safest to assume that the website running those tempting for-rent-by-owner ads will take no responsibility for its accuracy. (The HomeAway.com website says as much and goes on to implausibly suggest that “potential renters visit properties in advance to confirm all terms of their intended rental.”)

3. Pay with a credit card or beware. Some legitimate owners ask for PayPal ( www.paypal.com) payments or money orders, and some accept personal checks or other types of payment. But one of the best ways to protect yourself from shady operators is to pay by credit card. Even though accepting credit cards costs homeowners a sliver of their revenue (usually 2% to 5%), more have decided it’s the best way to assure customers a safe transaction. Homeowners generally ask for an initial deposit (usually 10% to 50%), plus a refundable cleaning deposit, with the balance of the cost due well before you arrive. Get your rental agreement in hand before sending any money, and make sure you understand the cancellation policy.

4. Ask about linens. Everyone has a different way of handling the sheets-and-towels issue. Never take any broad statement about linens at face value, and pay no attention to any rhapsodies regarding high thread counts. (Given variability of fabric, weave and wear, you might as well go by your host’s shoe size.) Call and ask: Do bathroom towels come with the house, and if so, how many per person, and where are the extras kept? What about towels for beach or pool? If somebody is going to sleep on a fold-out couch, where will those sheets be? Extra blankets? Do we need to wash them at the end of our stay or just throw them in a single pile somewhere? And while we’re on the subject, ask: When, dear landlord, did you last buy new sheets and furniture or paint the place? With busy rentals, that may need to be done yearly.

5. MapQuest is your friend. So is Google Earth -- and other sites (such as Zillow.com and Trulia.com ) that show houses in satellite photos. Using those sites, you can see a home’s surroundings more thoroughly than a homeowner could ever describe them. How far is the beach? The freeway? Does the guy next door have a collection of Buicks up on blocks?

I learned the beach lesson two years ago, when we rented a vast home in Fort Bragg. It sat on a sleepy street within easy view of the coast and slept eight of us in great comfort and quiet. What we didn’t realize until arrival, however, is that at the end of the block, private property blocked our access to the water. To reach the beach, we had to drive, not walk.

6. Get consensus. Got something specific in mind? Forget it. Very few rental houses look as enticing as a fancy hotel room (and lobby, and restaurant) photographed by a pro. And if you found a house that looked that good, would you trust your children in it? Anyway, you’ll never find the one in your mind’s eye. Instead, be alert to possibilities you haven’t considered.

Six months ago, searching for a snowy mountain retreat in Idyllwild to accommodate four couples and four preschool daughters, our friend Ellen discovered a geodesic dome, painted lime green on the outside and orange on the inside, at the edge of a steep slope. I know, I know. Yet it called to her -- and to us. While we scrutinized the relevant Web pages, Ellen made repeated calls for explanation and amplification. Then we went.

It was a triumph -- the smallish kitchen adequate to our needs, the vast living room ideal for parading princesses, the patio Scrabble-friendly, the hot tub steamy, the vistas broad. True, the bedrooms were not all created equal (see No. 7), and we never did figure out how to work the pellet-fed stove properly.

Also, those rounded walls did have some startling acoustical properties. But we’d all signed on for some adventure and gone in with our eyes open. And we came out ready to rent it again.

7. Get there first. Weekend trip with friends or family? Get there ASAP. If you’re not the first one in, you may not get first choice of bedrooms. The difference between the master suite and that fourth bedroom they’ve added next to the garage can be massive. (And if you’re the sort who believes in different prices for different bedrooms, get that said before the front door opens or forever hold your peace.)

8. Take no devices for granted. Many rental owners have realized that it pays to have a DVD player and at least a modest movie library. But music is a different story. Just last month, I stayed in a splendid Paso Robles home with commanding views and a big television, yet if there was a stereo on the property, I never found it. I wound up using the DVD player to listen to CDs. If music or a big screen makes a difference, you need to ask. The same goes for kitchen gadgets and mixing utensils.

9. Relax about the hot tub. Most landlords have done the math and discovered that a hot tub will pay for itself in its first six months -- especially if they’re trying to tart up a humdrum house. Think more about the location and the home itself, less about the plumbing on the patio.

10. Relax about the home gym too. Christine Hrib Karpinski, who rents out several vacation homes, ranks this at the top of the list of things people ask about and then don’t use.

11. Do not relax about that spill in the living room. The maid isn’t coming, not until you leave, and you have a cleaning deposit hanging in the balance. Furthermore, if that stain sets, you won’t be sticking it to some faceless corporation; you’ll be annoying that nice man or woman who put up with all your phone calls and questions.

12. There’s always next year. In many ways, the best time to browse for next year’s rental is while you’re on this year’s vacation. On beach walks and scenic drives, keep an eye out for cool prospects bearing rental logos or phone numbers.

13. You know how some people are colorblind? Others are that way about lamps, paintings and plastic plants. You think you’ve seen it all, but you haven’t. The home-rental world seethes with Day-Glo flowers, wide-eyed waifs and anatomically incorrect horses. The maritime living room with the Old Salt lamp. The Hawaiian bedroom. But remember: Unless the art in question is a pointy bronze sculpture -- and I have seen those in rental houses -- it probably can’t hurt you. Also, as long as the stuff is unharmed and in its place when you leave, you can temporarily redecorate a little. Inspired in a thrift shop, I once laid out $7 to add a truly memorable painting to a Santa Cruz rental home. (The owner’s thank-you note to me was apparently lost in the mail.)

14. Expect the unexpected. Just as there was for that Santa Cruz landlord, there will be a surprise for you. Maybe several. It’s practically built into the process. Trawling Vacation Rentals by Owner ( www.vrbo.com), our friend Andrea once discovered a big house in Santa Fe, N.M., within walking distance of downtown. The photos looked good, the price was right, so we booked it. On arrival, we discovered it wasn’t really a big house -- it was two houses, merged with remarkable success under a single roof. Two full kitchens. It sounds awkward, but for us it worked. I still remember it fondly -- a long dining-room table, room for barbecuing on the patio, heavy Southwestern furniture upon which we slouched for hours, pawing the Sunday papers.

But my favorite surprise came while staying in another Southwestern house, a 1930s adobe home by the 29 Palms Inn. Along with its walled yard, covered patio, bedroom and bunk room, kitchen and fireplace, it came equipped with a dictionary -- a 100-year-old dictionary, about 100,000 words thinner than a contemporary edition -- which became the arbiter of words in a bitter and historic Scrabble game. No “television.” No “atomic.” No “beatnik.” No end to the fun. And it never would have happened in a hotel room.