What Is It Called When You Rent Someone's Home for Vacation?
- Chase Gillmore
- Jun 5
- 17 min read
Renting someone's home for a vacation is called a vacation rental, also widely known as a short-term rental (STR). The two terms are used interchangeably in everyday conversation, though short-term rental technically covers any stay under 30 nights, while "vacation rental" implies leisure travel specifically. Either way, you are booking a privately owned house, apartment, condo, or cabin rather than a hotel room.
A vacation rental (also called a short-term rental or STR) refers to a privately owned property rented to travelers for stays typically under 30 nights, according to the Glossary of Terms Related to Vacation Rentals.
Platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com aggregate millions of these listings globally; Vrbo alone lists over 2 million bookable properties.
Hotels and vacation rentals are fundamentally different products: hotels sell individual rooms with standardized service, while vacation rentals sell entire private spaces with kitchens, laundry, and more square footage at a comparable or lower per-person cost for groups.
Nashville welcomed 16.9 million visitors in 2026 and is projected to host 17.8 million in 2026 according to Visit Nashville and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, making it one of the fastest-growing short-term rental markets in the South.
As of 2026, Nashville has roughly 9,300 active short-term rental listings, with median annual revenue around $50,000 per unit (Airbtics).
First-time renters worry most about trust, safety, and hidden fees; this guide addresses all three head-on.
If you have never booked a vacation rental before, the terminology can feel like a maze. "Vacation rental," "short-term rental," "holiday home," "self-catering accommodation": all of these describe the same core transaction: you pay to stay in someone else's private property for a fixed period. The experience looks very different from a hotel, and understanding the landscape helps you book with confidence, avoid surprise fees, and choose the right property for your group size and budget.
This guide covers everything from the basic vocabulary to platform comparisons, guest protections, local taxes, and why direct-booking platforms increasingly offer a better deal than the major OTAs (online travel agencies). At Stay Nashville, we have hosted hundreds of groups across Nashville and have seen the full spectrum of what works and what frustrates guests. The advice here reflects that experience directly.
What Do You Call It When You Rent Someone's House for Vacation?
Renting someone's house for a vacation is called a vacation rental. The term refers specifically to a privately owned residential property, such as a house, apartment, condo, cabin, or villa, that is made available to travelers for short-term stays, generally for leisure purposes. In industry and regulatory language, the same arrangement is often called a short-term rental (STR).
The distinction between the two terms is subtle. "Vacation rental" traditionally describes a second home or investment property that an owner rents occasionally to holidaymakers. "Short-term rental" is the broader regulatory and tax category, covering any residential unit rented for fewer than 30 consecutive nights, regardless of purpose. For practical travel planning, both terms point to the same product: a private home you book instead of a hotel room.
Other names you will encounter include:
Holiday cottage / holiday home: The standard British term for a small privately rented property, typically in a rural or coastal area.
Bach or crib: New Zealand slang for a modest holiday house, particularly a beach shack.
Holiday house / weekender: Common Australian terminology for a vacation property.
Self-catering accommodation: A broader hospitality term, used primarily in Europe, for any lodging that provides cooking facilities rather than full hotel meal service.
Tourist rental: A regulatory category in some jurisdictions distinguishing properties primarily licensed for tourism from second homes rented occasionally.
In the United States, "vacation rental" and "short-term rental" dominate. Airbnb popularized the casual usage of "home rental" or "stay" as a verb (as in, "we're Airbnbing it"), but the legal and tax category is always short-term rental.
What Is Another Name for a Vacation Rental?
A vacation rental goes by several names depending on the context, country, and platform used to book it. The most common synonyms in the U.S. market are short-term rental, home rental, private rental, and holiday let. Each term reflects a slightly different framing of the same transaction: a traveler pays a private property owner for temporary, full-access use of a residential space.
Platform-specific language has also shaped how people refer to the product. Airbnb guests often say "Airbnb" as a shorthand for any home rental, the way "Uber" is used for any rideshare. On the host side, operators use "listing" to describe an individual property. Property management companies working in the space typically refer to their portfolio as short-term rentals or STRs.
Here is a quick reference table of the most common terms and their context:
Term | Primary Usage | Common In |
Vacation rental | General leisure travel | United States |
Short-term rental (STR) | Industry, regulatory, and tax contexts | United States, global |
Holiday let | Residential lease and tax contexts | United Kingdom |
Holiday cottage / holiday home | Consumer travel | United Kingdom, Ireland |
Self-catering accommodation | Hospitality classification | Europe, UK |
Bach / crib | Informal, consumer | New Zealand |
Holiday house / weekender | Informal, consumer | Australia |
Home rental / private rental | General consumer | United States, global |
For Nashville travelers in 2026, the terms "vacation rental" and "short-term rental" are interchangeable. The city's permit system uses "short-term rental" in its official licensing framework, but guests searching for places to stay will encounter "vacation rental" on most booking platforms.
What Is Renting a House for Vacation?
Renting a house for vacation means booking a privately owned residential property for a set number of nights, typically fewer than 30, in exchange for a nightly or weekly fee. Unlike a hotel, the guest has full private access to the entire property, including the kitchen, living areas, outdoor spaces, and any amenities like hot tubs, game rooms, or rooftop decks. No shared lobbies, no front desk, and no housekeeping mid-stay unless arranged in advance.
The mechanics are straightforward. You find a listing on a platform like Airbnb, Vrbo, or a direct-booking site. You review the property details, photos, and house rules. You pay a nightly rate plus any applicable cleaning fees, service fees, and local taxes. The host (or a co-host acting on their behalf) provides a check-in code or key. You arrive, use the space as agreed, and check out.
What you get in exchange for that process varies enormously by property. At the budget end, you might be renting a spare bedroom in someone's occupied home. At the premium end, you are booking a professionally managed property with hotel-quality linens, a stocked kitchen, dedicated host support, and amenities no hotel in that price range would offer.
Take Underwood Manor in Nashville as a concrete example of what "renting a house for vacation" actually looks like in 2026. The rustic modern farmhouse sleeps up to 10 guests across 3 bedrooms, with a speakeasy game room featuring an 8-foot pool table, a 7-person hot tub under bistro lights, a karaoke machine, Pac-Man arcade game, and a king suite with a rainfall shower. It is 5 minutes from downtown Nashville by Uber. That is not a hotel room; it is a private compound built around your group's experience. For more on properties like this, see our guide to luxury Nashville vacation rentals with hot tubs.
What Do You Call a House for Vacation?
A house rented specifically for vacation purposes is most commonly called a vacation home, vacation house, or holiday home. These terms describe the property itself, while "vacation rental" describes the act of renting it. In practical usage, the distinction rarely matters: if you are booking a house for a group trip to Nashville, you are booking a vacation rental, a short-term rental, or simply a "rental home," depending on who you ask.
Property type matters more than terminology when you are actually planning a trip. Vacation properties span a wide range:
House: A standalone residential property with private outdoor space. Best for groups of 6 or more who want a backyard, fire pit, or hot tub.
Apartment or condo: A private unit within a larger building, often with shared amenities like pools and fitness centers. Best for smaller groups or couples who want a walkable downtown location.
Cabin: Typically a rural or mountain property with a rustic character. Associated with ski destinations and national park areas.
Villa: A larger, often resort-adjacent property, common in warm-weather destinations, with premium finishes and outdoor living space.
Duplex or townhouse: Two connected or adjacent units, bookable separately or together. Ideal for combined groups like bachelor and bachelorette parties who want proximity without total overlap.
In Nashville, the most in-demand vacation home type in 2026 is the group house: 3 to 8 bedrooms, private outdoor space, game room, and a short rideshare to Broadway. Properties like The Herman Haven, a 3-bedroom boho-chic house under 2 miles from downtown, and the Ultimate Bach Pad, two side-by-side luxury duplexes sleeping up to 24 guests, represent opposite ends of that spectrum. Both are vacation homes. The right choice depends entirely on your group size and what you want to do when you are not on Broadway.
How Is a Vacation Rental Different from a Hotel?
A vacation rental differs from a hotel in four fundamental ways: ownership structure, space, experience, and cost model. Hotels are commercial properties operated by hospitality businesses, offering standardized rooms, on-site staff, and service amenities. Vacation rentals are privately owned residences offered to travelers, providing full-home access, cooking facilities, and a living experience that varies significantly by property and host.
The space difference is the most immediately practical. A standard hotel room is typically 300 to 400 square feet. A 3-bedroom vacation rental for the same number of guests might offer 1,500 to 2,500 square feet of living space, a full kitchen, a dining table, a living room, a backyard, and a hot tub. For a group of 10 traveling together, that math changes the entire trip dynamic. Instead of splitting across five hotel rooms on different floors and meeting in the lobby, everyone gathers in one space.
The cost model differs in ways that favor vacation rentals for groups. Hotels price per room. Vacation rentals price per property. A 3-bedroom home at $400 per night for 10 people costs $40 per person. A comparable hotel in Nashville's SoBro district during a busy weekend might run $200 to $300 per room, putting the same group at $100 to $150 per person for smaller, separated spaces.
The honest trade-off: hotels offer daily housekeeping, front desk service, and standardized quality guarantees. Vacation rentals ask you to manage your own experience within the property. If the hot tub stops working at 11pm, you message the host rather than calling a maintenance desk. Reputable hosts and professional property management companies like Stay Nashville bridge that gap with responsive communication, detailed digital guest guides, and direct host contact during operating hours. For groups doing a Nashville bachelorette trip or a birthday celebration, that host relationship is often a feature, not a gap: reviewers of Underwood Manor specifically note the host checking in daily and providing a Red Phone Booth Club code as a perk you simply cannot get at a Marriott.
Which Platforms List Vacation Rentals, and How Do They Compare?
Vacation rental platforms are websites or apps that connect property owners with travelers seeking short-term accommodations. The major platforms operating in the U.S. market in 2026 include Airbnb, Vrbo (which launched in 1995, making it one of the earliest platforms in the category), Booking.com, and HomeToGo. Each platform operates as an online travel agency (OTA), collecting a service fee from both guests and hosts in exchange for listing visibility, payment processing, and dispute resolution.
Here is a practical comparison for travelers:
Platform | Best For | Guest Service Fee (typical) | Notable Feature |
Airbnb | Apartments, urban stays, couples | 14: 16% of booking subtotal | Largest inventory, instant book |
Vrbo | Whole-home rentals, families, groups | 6: 12% of booking subtotal | Entire-property listings only |
Booking.com | International travelers, mixed inventory | Varies; sometimes included in rate | Hotels and rentals in one search |
HomeToGo | Price comparison across platforms | Redirects to source platform | Aggregates listings across OTAs |
Direct booking | Any property with a direct site | None (no OTA service fee) | Lower total cost, direct host contact |
The direct booking option is worth understanding clearly. When a property has its own booking website (like The Herman Haven), booking directly eliminates the OTA service fee entirely. For a $1,500 booking, that might save $150 to $240 in guest fees alone. Direct booking also gives you immediate, unfiltered access to the host rather than routing communication through a platform's messaging system.
The legitimate concern about direct booking is trust: how do you know the property is real? Professional operators address this through verified ID collection, signed rental agreements, and transparent security hold policies, all of which Stay Nashville manages through Happy Guest, a secure platform that requires no account signup. Other tools like Guesty, Lodgify, and Hosthub serve the host-side of property management without affecting how guests experience the booking process.
What Are Your Rights and Protections as a Vacation Rental Guest?
As a vacation rental guest, your core protections come from three sources: the booking platform's guest guarantee (if you booked through an OTA), the signed rental agreement between you and the host, and applicable local consumer protection laws. Understanding which protections apply to your specific booking is essential, because a direct booking and a platform booking carry different coverage levels.
When booking through Airbnb, guests are covered by AirCover, which includes rebooking assistance if a host cancels within 30 days of arrival and a 24-hour resolution window if the property does not match the listing. Vrbo offers a Book with Confidence Guarantee covering similar scenarios. Both platforms hold payment in escrow until 24 to 48 hours after check-in, providing a recovery window if the property is misrepresented.
For direct bookings, protection rests on the rental agreement. Professional operators include cancellation policies, security hold terms, and damage coverage in writing. At Stay Nashville, the process for properties like Fern A and Fern B includes a signed rental agreement and ID verification through Happy Guest, with a security hold (a pending transaction, not a charge) as the default, plus an optional non-refundable damage waiver from a third-party insurer as an alternative. Neither option is unusual in the Nashville STR market, and both are disclosed upfront rather than buried at checkout.
Key guest rights to know before any vacation rental booking:
You are entitled to a property that materially matches its listing. Photos, amenity lists, and stated guest capacity must be accurate.
You have the right to know about local occupancy taxes before booking. In Nashville, Davidson County imposes a 10% hotel/motel tax on short-term rental stays, collected by the platform or host.
Nashville's STR regulations require hosts to display their city-issued short-term rental permit number on each listing. You can use that permit number to verify the property is legally licensed.
The IRS has established that if an owner rents a property for fewer than 15 days per year, they are not required to report rental income, per IRS Tax Topic No. 415 on renting residential and vacation property. This rule does not affect your rights as a guest, but it explains why some properties operate outside the typical host-income reporting framework.
How Do Local Taxes and Regulations Affect Your Vacation Rental Stay?
Local taxes and regulations affect vacation rental guests primarily through the total price you pay and the compliance status of the property you book. In Nashville, Davidson County levies a 10% hotel/motel occupancy tax on all short-term rental stays, collected either by the booking platform automatically or by the host if operating outside platform collection. State sales tax may also apply depending on the booking method.
Nashville requires all short-term rental operators to hold a city-issued STR permit, comply with zoning and building code requirements, and maintain smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, and accessible emergency information for guests. Properties in some residential zones face restrictions on the total number of days they can be rented annually, with some neighborhoods capped at fewer than 180 days per year. These limits exist to balance tourism supply with neighborhood character.
As a guest, the most practical implication is this: always verify that a Nashville listing displays a valid STR permit number. Licensed operators like Stay Nashville display their permit numbers directly on their Airbnb and Vrbo listings. The Luxe Loft SoBro 916 listing, for example, carries permit number T2022050187, and the Luxe Cowgirl 538 carries permit number 2018074801. A missing or unverifiable permit number is a red flag worth investigating before you send any payment.
Tax and regulatory compliance also matters for pricing transparency. A well-run vacation rental in Nashville should show you the full breakdown at checkout: nightly rate, cleaning fee, service fee (if booked through an OTA), and applicable taxes. Nashville's 2026 tourism market is projected to welcome 17.8 million visitors according to Visit Nashville, and the city's regulatory framework has tightened accordingly since 2026. Guests booking in good faith through licensed properties are protected; those booking unlicensed listings take on meaningful risk if a dispute arises.
Is a Vacation Rental Better Than a Hotel for a Group Trip to Nashville?
For groups of 6 or more traveling to Nashville, a vacation rental is almost always the better choice over a hotel block. The decision comes down to three factors: per-person cost, shared space for group activities, and the overall trip experience. Hotels split groups across multiple rooms, charge per-room rather than per-property, and offer no private outdoor space. A well-chosen vacation rental puts everyone under one roof, includes a full kitchen for saving on meals, and often provides entertainment amenities that drive more of the evening's entertainment before the group even leaves for Broadway.
For couples or pairs traveling without a large group, the math shifts. A downtown Nashville loft 3 blocks from Broadway, like Luxe Cowgirl 538 with 2 king bedrooms, a private balcony with skyline views, a glam vanity room, karaoke machine, and access to a resort-style pool, competes directly with boutique hotel options in the SoBro corridor. At 8 guests maximum and a 4-minute walk to Broadway, the location advantage alone justifies the comparison.
The Nashville market in 2026 reflects this preference. According to Airbtics, a typical Nashville short-term rental generated around $50,000 in revenue over the 12 months ending in early 2026, with occupancy rates around 60%. That demand signal reflects real traveler preference, not just supply. Nashville's short-term rental inventory has grown to roughly 9,300 listings citywide, keeping options competitive and prices reasonable relative to hotel rates during non-event weekends.
The one scenario where a hotel wins: last-minute solo or couple travel when you want zero coordination friction, daily housekeeping, and a no-questions-checked-out experience. For everyone else, particularly the bachelorette group of 12 who would otherwise need 4 to 6 hotel rooms across two floors of a downtown Marriott, the vacation rental wins on cost, space, and experience simultaneously. See our guide to Nashville's best neighborhoods for families for specific area-by-area analysis.
What Should You Watch Out for When Booking a Vacation Rental?
Booking a vacation rental involves a different set of potential pitfalls than booking a hotel, and knowing them in advance prevents the most common frustrations. The top issues experienced vacation rental guests flag are: misleading photos, unexpected fees at checkout, unclear cancellation policies, unresponsive hosts, and listings that misrepresent proximity to key attractions.
Here is what to check before confirming any booking:
Read the full fee breakdown before committing. On OTA platforms, the nightly rate displayed in search results rarely reflects the total. Cleaning fees, service fees, and taxes often add 30 to 50% to the visible nightly rate for short stays. Total price mode (available on both Airbnb and Vrbo) shows the full cost before you click through.
Verify the permit number for Nashville properties. Licensed Nashville STR properties are required to display their city permit number. Cross-reference it if you have doubts.
Check the cancellation policy before the booking window closes. "Strict" cancellation policies on Airbnb offer no refund within 14 days of check-in. If you are booking months out, moderate or flexible policies give you more protection if plans change.
Count the actual beds for your group size. "Sleeps 10" sometimes includes pull-out sofas and air mattresses. Listings that break down sleeping arrangements by bedroom (as Nashville STR operators are required to disclose) are more reliable than those listing only total guest count.
Understand the security hold versus damage deposit. Many Nashville properties use a security hold (a temporary pending charge that releases after checkout) rather than a traditional non-refundable deposit. These are materially different. A security hold does not charge your card unless damage is claimed; a deposit may not be returned quickly even without damage.
Test the host's response time before you book. Message a question before confirming. A host who takes 48 hours to respond to a pre-booking inquiry will not suddenly become available at 10pm on arrival night. Nashville STR best practice is response within a few hours during stated operating hours.
For a Nashville-specific booking, distance claims deserve particular scrutiny. "Minutes from Broadway" covers everything from a 4-minute walk (true of Luxe Cowgirl 538 at 0.2 miles from Lower Broadway) to a 12-minute Uber ride (true of several properties in the 2 to 3 mile range, including The Herman Haven at 2.3 miles from the Broadway District). Both can be accurate. Only one is walkable. Check the actual map distance, not the marketing copy.
For bachelorette groups planning a Nashville trip, the Nashville bachelorette party house rental guide covers group-specific booking logistics in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the official term for renting someone's home for a short vacation stay?
The official term is vacation rental or short-term rental (STR). A vacation rental refers to a privately owned residential property rented to travelers for leisure stays, typically under 30 nights. The terms are used interchangeably in the U.S., though "short-term rental" is the preferred term in regulatory, tax, and licensing contexts. Other regional names include holiday let (UK), holiday home (UK/Ireland), and self-catering accommodation (Europe).
Is there a difference between a vacation rental and a short-term rental?
Yes, but the difference is subtle. A vacation rental specifically implies leisure travel: someone renting a beach house, a mountain cabin, or a city home for a getaway. Short-term rental is the broader legal and tax category, covering any residential unit rented for fewer than 30 consecutive nights for any purpose, including business travel or temporary relocation. In Nashville, the city's STR permit system uses "short-term rental" for all licensed properties regardless of the guest's reason for travel.
How do vacation rentals work compared to hotels?
A vacation rental gives you full private access to an entire property, including all bedrooms, the kitchen, living areas, and any outdoor amenities like a hot tub or yard. Hotels sell individual rooms with shared building access and standardized service. Vacation rentals are priced per property rather than per room, making them significantly more cost-effective for groups of 4 or more. The trade-off is that hotels provide daily housekeeping and front desk service, while vacation rentals expect guests to manage the space themselves during the stay.
What platforms list vacation rentals beyond Airbnb?
Vrbo (Vacation Rentals by Owner, launched in 1995) is the largest dedicated whole-home platform in the U.S. and lists over 2 million properties globally. Booking.com aggregates hotels and vacation rentals in a single search, useful for price comparison. HomeToGo aggregates listings across multiple platforms. Many professional property managers also operate their own direct-booking websites, which eliminate OTA service fees entirely. In Nashville, several properties within the Stay Nashville portfolio are bookable directly, saving guests 6 to 16% compared to OTA pricing.
Are vacation rentals in Nashville legally licensed?
Nashville requires all short-term rental operators to hold a valid city STR permit and display the permit number on every listing. Properties must meet safety requirements including smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers. Nashville's Davidson County also collects a 10% hotel/motel occupancy tax on all STR stays. Before booking, verify that the listing displays a permit number. Licensed operators like Stay Nashville display their permit numbers directly on Airbnb and Vrbo listings.
What taxes do I pay when renting a vacation home in Nashville?
Nashville levies a 10% hotel/motel occupancy tax on short-term rental stays in Davidson County, in addition to applicable Tennessee state and local sales taxes. On Airbnb and Vrbo, these taxes are typically collected and remitted automatically by the platform. When booking directly, the host is responsible for collecting and remitting taxes, and a reputable operator will include the tax breakdown transparently in the total cost. Always confirm the full tax-inclusive price before finalizing a direct booking.
Is it safe to book a vacation rental directly instead of through Airbnb or Vrbo?
Direct booking is safe when the host uses a verifiable rental agreement, transparent security hold or damage policy, and secure payment processing. Professional Nashville operators use platforms like Happy Guest, which provides a secure guest portal, signed rental agreement, and ID verification without requiring guests to create an account. The main trade-off compared to OTA booking is that you forgo the platform's dispute resolution layer, so the rental agreement becomes your primary protection document. Review it carefully before paying.
What is the best type of vacation rental in Nashville for a large group?
For groups of 10 to 24, a dedicated group house with multiple bedrooms, private outdoor space, and built-in entertainment amenities is the strongest option. Properties like the Ultimate Bach Pad (8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, dual rooftop decks, and 2 hot tubs for up to 24 guests) and Underwood Manor (3 bedrooms, speakeasy game room, and 7-person hot tub for up to 10) are designed specifically for this use case. The key metric is sleeping capacity per bedroom, not total guest count, since the latter sometimes includes sofa beds and air mattresses.
Ready to Book a Nashville Vacation Rental?
Understanding what a vacation rental is called is the easy part. The harder question is finding the right one for your group, your budget, and your Nashville itinerary. In 2026, Nashville's short-term rental market is more competitive than ever, with 17.8 million projected visitors competing for roughly 9,300 citywide listings. The best properties, particularly large group houses with hot tubs, rooftop decks, and game rooms, book weeks or months out around CMA Fest, the Rock n Roll Marathon, and major stadium weekends at Nissan Stadium.
Stay Nashville's portfolio ranges from a walkable downtown loft steps from the Ryman Auditorium to side-by-side duplexes that sleep 24. Every property is professionally managed, permitted, and designed around the actual experience of a group trip rather than just a place to sleep. For groups curious about Nashville's live music landscape beyond Broadway, the Nashville live music venues guide covers 15 local favorites worth building your itinerary around.
The vacation rental you choose sets the tone for the whole trip. Choose one that earns its place in the itinerary.
If you are planning a group trip to Nashville and want a home base that does more than just hold your luggage, Underwood Manor is worth a serious look. The speakeasy game room with an 8-foot pool table, darts, and a whiskey barrel bar tends to become the unofficial first stop of the night before the group even calls an Uber. Browse all available properties at Stay Nashville to find the right fit for your group size and dates.
Written by Chase Gillmore, Owner & Operator at Stay Nashville
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