Rentals are All Completed

I have finally finished booking all the rental properties we need for the trip to Ecuador. Last week I booked a week at a high end apartment along the Salinas malecon. That was through Airbnb.

Today I secured a rental about a block away and on the front street as well. This one does not have a pool, hot tub or laundry facilities so it comes at a much lower price. I will update the information after I return so you can all get in on this location. The owner had allowed it to be booked for a single day in the middle of the month, so that threw off booking it starting on the 12th. This time the booking was through VBRO.

However all worked out as I was able to extend our first location for a few more days until we could move to this one. The original intent was to book the last half the month up the coast a ways. But because I delayed booking the one I wanted was not available by the time I went to book. The owner says it was rented for the whole month, although as of yet the dates still show as being available.

.65 km walking

IPhone cannot add pictures to the blog

There was a place up the coast of Ecuador that we were planning to book for several days. I got an email back from the owner that I could not rent it as it had been rented for most of the month including the days we wanted. Lesson here is if you want it you better grab it. She could have cancelled anyway as I see that often for no reason on airbnb.

I am still entering text from my phone. But I cannot get the phone to upload pictures or insert them in the blog. Might be a flash thing.

Update!

Several days into my trip to Ecuador I finally found an app for the iPhone that I purchased. It gives me the ability to add photos to my blog as well as make updates and new blog postings. The only thing I cannot do is change a date. Once I made a new blog posting for a day gone by and I accepted the date given. But then I realized I needed to backdate the blog. So I had to wait til I got home to Blogger to make the correction.

Another problem with this software app is the way it inserts pictures. Things may look good when you are making the page and they do display. However clicking on a picture does not show the large size that you uploaded. You can only see the display size.

If you upload using Blogger it creates a bunch of code that displays a small size thumb. But when you click on a photo it will show it in high resolution in whatever size you uploaded - subject to your monitor size. It will also make a small thumb list of all the photos on the page so you can view all the photos quickly in large size. However if a photo was inserted using the Blog Manager that photo will not be available.

Advice for Renting Airbnb and VRBO

In the past few days I have received responses from more people renting Airbnb and VRBO apartments. You see, I had messaged owners of several of the more interesting locations asking for more information.

Some owners don't fill out all the tick boxes when they list their properties. So if a section called Amenities has absolutely nothing crossed off you cannot learn anything about the property. Adding a description that says I will love their property doesn't help me much either. So I email and ask for things like internet, pool, hot tub, more pictures showing what the view is like and what the balcony looks like. You get the idea.

Some people respond right away and others take a few days. So my problem was that I was not patient enough. If you are going to ask additional questions I guess the advice is to give them all at least 4 days to respond. Next time I will be a bit smarter.

Then you can make your decision. I did receive messages and did correspond with several owners that gave me very favorable additional information. However I had already rented another place and could only turn down the new ones. That does not mean I did not get a great location in the one I picked. I got everything I wanted and will enjoy it. But I will be visiting the addresses of the others and might even meet some of the owners and begin planning for a future trip.

What do I want to see in photos of a potential rental? I don't mind several interior pictures but what is the purpose of 3 photos of each bed from different angles? The shower curtain, the toilet, the sink and the wide angle shot of the bathroom will not convince me to be a renter. What kind of deck chairs do they have and do they look comfortable? What is the view from the deck? How about a view down so I see how nice the street or beach is below the building? Public space pictures, hot tub. Beach or restaurant shots are nice but if they are not the view out the window please identify that.

OK enough. That was too much of a rant today. But from it all I did learn that there are likely several different places that one could be happy. And many of the owners are truly happy to have you in their place. The photos from many show homes not just houses- places where the owners are proud of. These are people who I do want to meet, even if I don't get to stay at their house this year.

Another Apartment Booked

I've booked an apartment on the airbnb site. We wanted a front view of the ocean along with pool, hot tub, laundry, Internet and other luxury fixings. I got us a week right on the malecon. I'll post the name when we get home.

I've also booked with someone else to pick us up at the airport in Guayaquil and deliver us right to the lodgings in Salinas.


The first three days we will be at Big Ralph's Bed and Breakfast. And that is only two blocks from the apartment so the transfer will be quick. It's always good to have someone to chat with when you first arrive, so the bnb will be great for learning about things to do in the next week.

Big Ralph's photo I took in 2013

Oh today I am attempting to input using my phone. That's all I will have once we leave. I can tell you this is awkward. Even harder to add a photo that was not in my photo album on the camera.