Inhabit Vacations, another little gem of a travel initiative we found, is the subject of today’s featured tech review. Holiday Rentals is a straightforward and refreshing approach to listing and renting vacation spots – that vacation home of your youth.
Founded by Rebecca Rosenfelt, Inhabit came across my browser (I am not even sure how) while doing some research the other day. On landing at their site I immediately thought; “This is nice and refreshing, someone just saying what it is, in a nice way.” All the fluff and fuzziness we get into in our PR & marketing businesses has left us (and most communicators) a bit stunned – even caloused sometimes over startups. But, this one did not get a mention on the New York Times Style Magazine for nothing. Rosenfelt’s passion is reflected throughout.
Rooftop in Barbados - Sleeps 6 - a bargain when you slice it
The screen below is for a Paris rental with views of the Eiffel Tower, no less. Basically, Rebecca’s approach is no nonsense. The platform is not for the typical tourist actually, but for a special niche – actually a relief from the touristic crowd – a way to see and experience places like a local. At the very least, the startup has some killer PR and marketing writers on their side, huh?
A Paris room with a view and a local flair
One nice addition for Inhabit, aside the great listing aspect, is the custom Google map created when someone lists a property. In fact, the only negatives I could find for the service – at least at this stage – were; an upside down Twitter engagement (a viability and SM savvy issue), the neglected Blog, and the deplorable wood paneled look all throughout the website (reminds me of cheap trailer paneling). Nothing is perfect, so I expect there’s a lot more building to do for Inhabit in the future – so far its nice though. (We may even approach them to offer stays to our Argo Travel clients?)
In summary, Inhabit just made it to my A list of cool new travel tools. You can read another nice review on UrbanDaddy, and even a mention on USA Today, for some more details. The best way to experience the service though, is to visit and search properties. Good job guys, keep up the good work.
