Travelers Will Pay More for Trust, Not Just Luxury, New Vrbo Research Finds
VRMA Staff
9/14/2026
For years, vacation rentals differentiated themselves by offering something hotels couldn’t: more space, more privacy, and amenities that made family vacations, group trips, and longer stays easier.
According to Vrbo’s 2026 Built to Stay Report, that’s no longer enough.
After surveying more than 1,700 travelers across seven countries, Expedia Group found that travelers increasingly view vacation rentals as a mainstream lodging option—and they’re bringing higher expectations with them. Cleanliness, reliable amenities, transparent pricing, responsive hosts, and accurate listings have become baseline requirements rather than competitive advantages.
The report found:
- 86% of travelers would pay more for a higher-quality vacation rental.
- 81% would pay more for stronger trust signals, including verified reviews and recent guest feedback.
- 66% said unclear upfront pricing is their biggest booking dealbreaker.
- Among Gen Z travelers, expectations are even higher, with 92% willing to pay more for quality listings.
For Tim Rosolio, vice president of vacation rental partnerships at Expedia Group, the findings reinforce a trend the company has been watching for some time.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I was surprised, but I was certainly reassured,” Rosolio says. “There’s always been an assumption that people choose vacation rentals mainly to save money, yet we’re finding more and more that travelers will spend more for quality stays.”
He said the research confirms that quality has become “not only a differentiator for many, but a baseline expectation now that travelers are willing to pay for.”
Reliability Has Become the Competitive Advantage
The report argues that vacation rentals have entered a more mature stage, where travelers compare properties side by side and have less tolerance for uncertainty. Instead of focusing primarily on luxury features, guests increasingly judge properties on the fundamentals that make a stay dependable.
Those expectations have risen most around:
- Reliable amenities
- Cleanliness
- Fair and transparent pricing
- Host responsiveness
- Accurate listing photos
Rosolio says those changes reflect broader shifts in traveler behavior.
“A few years ago, a vacation rental may have won on novelty and location alone,” he says. “Today, travelers arrive with hotel-level expectations for consistency and quality.”
He notes that travelers increasingly expect dependable amenities, transparent pricing, responsive communication, and listings that accurately represent the property.
Responsiveness, in particular, represents an opportunity for managers because it’s entirely within their control.
“More than half of travelers now expect a host to respond within an hour if something goes wrong,” Rosolio says. “Being on top of guest communication is an easy lever to build confidence.”
The report similarly found that 56% of travelers expect hosts to respond within an hour when issues arise during their stay.
Trust Starts Before Guests Arrive
The research suggests travelers evaluate trust long before check-in.
High review scores, recent reviews, verified guest feedback, accurate photos, and clear pricing all influence booking decisions. Travelers increasingly want evidence that a property consistently delivers on its promises—not simply that it performed well in the past.
Rosolio says professional listings remain one of the most effective ways to improve booking conversion.
“Make sure the book matches its cover with accurate and professional listing photos,” he says.
He noted that Vrbo has seen new properties with 25 or more photos convert up to 9% better than listings with fewer images.
Reviews also play an increasingly important role.
“Travelers want evidence that the stay has delivered for others, and recency of reviews makes a big difference,” Rosolio says. “Managers should make review generation and feedback a regular part of a guest’s stay.”
Clear Pricing Still Matters
While quality and trust influence whether travelers choose one property over another, pricing transparency remains essential.
According to the report, two-thirds of travelers consider prices that are not clearly displayed upfront to be a booking dealbreaker. High or unclear cleaning fees, additional amenity charges, and incomplete listing information also discourage bookings.
Rosolio says those findings reinforce the importance of reducing friction throughout the booking process.
“Travelers have this many options, and it’s easy to compare them side by side,” he says. “Differentiation is critical.”
Rather than relying on luxury features, he believes consistency and reliability have become the strongest competitive advantages.
“Clean sheets, working Wi-Fi, accurate listing photos, and a host who is easy to reach are easy ways to deliver on that.”
Promotions Work—When the Fundamentals Are Already in Place
The report also found promotions continue to influence booking decisions, with 91% of travelers saying discounts or special offers affect their choices. However, the research suggests promotions work best after a property has already established quality and trust.
Rosolio cautions against viewing promotions as simply discounting.
“Our Vrbo data shows hosts see an average 15% uplift in incremental net booking value across promotion types,” he says. “This isn’t a race to the bottom; it’s actually a pathway to the top.”
Different Travelers Have Different Concerns
Although the report found quality and trust matter universally, it also identified meaningful differences based on destination type.
For example, lake travelers worry more about cancellations and restrictive house rules, while countryside travelers are particularly sensitive to high cleaning fees. Beach travelers place greater emphasis on accurate listings, while mountain travelers value well-equipped kitchens and personalized recommendations.
Rosolio says managers should understand the specific concerns of their guests rather than assuming every traveler evaluates properties the same way.
“The same core expectations around quality and trust exist across the board,” he says, “but the specific anxieties shift with the type of trip. Tailoring the listing to address these concerns is a real advantage.”
From Differentiator to Expectation
The report concludes that professional property managers have an opportunity to improve performance by focusing on the fundamentals travelers value most: accurate listings, dependable amenities, responsive communication, strong reviews, and transparent pricing.
For Rosolio, the broader takeaway is that the vacation rental industry has evolved beyond selling aspirational experiences.
“I think our industry, including Vrbo, has at times made the mistake of marketing glamour and mansions rather than what the vast majority of our trips are—a trip to the beach or ski mountain at a price most families can afford,” he says.
Today’s travelers, he added, aren’t simply looking for impressive properties. They’re looking for confidence that the experience will match the promise.