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| A Spectacular Place To Spend A Family Thanksgiving - The Caribbean! |
Our daughter Whitney started medical school at American University of The Caribbean in August of 2012. As soon as we found out this exciting news I began searching for a home exchange in Sint Maarten where we could stay for awhile and enjoy the gorgeous white beaches of the Caribbean, while also spending some time with Whitney during any free time she might have. (free time in med school. . . . not much!) Once the rest of the family heard the news everyone wanted to come and visit Whitney! Who doesn't want to go to the Caribbean? We decided to make it an island Thanksgiving this year and have the entire family join up in Sint Maarten, it being my job to now find the perfect home exchange to accomodate six of us.
I first checked my favorite home exchange site, HomeExchange.com and then the newest home exchange site I recently joined, Home Exchange 50 Plus (for those of us over 50 who love to do home exchanges). Unfortunately, after using both of these sites I was unable to fine a home close to the University which would accomodate all of us. There were several gorgeous homes on the other side of Sint Maarten, but we wanted to be as close to Whitney as possible for this trip.
Maybe next time I might try one of these places found on Homeexchange.com:
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| Beautiful Island Home In Grand Case, Close To Wonderful Pinel Island |
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| Luxury Villa In Marigot - Would Have Loved This Patio! |
Having had no success in finding a home exchange I decided to try and find a rental home, which I really hated having to do, as I am extremely spoiled with home exchanging! I had heard good things over the years about the vacation home rental site VRBO which has over 140,000 vacation homes advertised by owners all over the world, so I decided to check it out. There were lots of properties available on VRBO which would suit our needs, so I just had to find the right one for us with the best price. Porto Cupecoy, just minutes from The University proved to be just the right fit!
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| Porto Cupecoy Marina A Lovely Development Which Reminded Us Of Our Home In Costa Rica |
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| A Dining Table With A View Perfect For A Thanksgiving Feast In Porto Cupecoy!
Our Porto Cupecoy rental home came with the option of either renting two or three bedrooms, along with a sofa bed in the living room. I decided that we could probably get by with two bedrooms, and Simona, the property manager who was a delight to work with, gave me a price for the use of two bedrooms for ten nights. Upon arriving in Sint Maarten Simona met us at the local grocery store on the property and showed us to our spectacular home for our holiday. She ended up giving us the three bedrooms for our stay for the price of two bedrooms, which was a wonderful surprise, and made it much more comfortable for everyone. Even though we received a great deal for a beautiful three bedroom bay view condominium, it just couldn't beat a free home exchange! Oh well, next time I will snag one!
When planning your next vacation or family reunion and have unsuccessfully searched for a home exchange, don't end up in a hotel room, go ahead and give VRBO a try. Lots to choose from, and hopefully you will be as lucky as us in finding the perfect place to make your vacation a dream come true!
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Go ahead and jump right into home exchanging, or if you must - vacation home renting
with VRBO. You won't regret it!
with VRBO. You won't regret it!
6 comments:
beautiful pictures! We also exchange our home. So far we have exchanged with friends, but during the christmas holidays we decided to make a blog with our house and other useful info on our city. We are also thinking of being enlisted in an exchange site. we'll see. Anyway, I couldn't agree more that home exchange is the cheapest way to travel, especially when there are kids in the family.
Thank you for your comments. I would highly recommend joining Homeexchange.com if you are interested in exchanging. I have been a member for 5 years and have done over 20 exchanges, all of which have been great!
Love your photos! Really does make us miss it and want to go back!
Such a great trip!!!!
Thanks for these great photos and even better tips. We have a vacation rental in Oregon but have only used VRBO or our own website to rent it. We are on the verge of both of us being retired so your advice is timely. Thanks, Shelley!
Your place in The mountains Laura would be a great home exchange!
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