Vacation rental is a fully furnished property, such as an apartment, condo, villa, cabin, townhome or house, often referred to as villa rentals in Europe. The client/traveler arranges to rent the vacation rental property for a fixed period of time, many rent on daily/nightly basis similar to hotel rooms, although the more prevalent vacation rental industry practice is typically weekly/monthly rentals.
In American portals (Specially in North America) are slowly making 'vacation rentals' the most recognized and popular term for describing self-catering accommodations.
However, in some other Countries 'vacation rentals' are still known by other terms such as villa rentals, apartment rentals, holiday rentals, self catering rentals, holiday cottages, tourist rentals, etc...
In France they are called "gites".
In Germany they call them "ferienwohnungen".
In Italy they call them "agriturism" or "bed & breakfast".
In Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific they are called "baches".
In Europe we don't use the phrase 'vacation rentals'. In fact, the English word 'vacation' is used in very rarely. Similarly, most people in the UK and Europe would have no idea what is a 'condo' or 'condominium' is.
The most widely used phrase for vacation rentals in the UK is 'holiday rentals/ holiday villas' and this generally refers to holiday accommodation in the Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, France, Italy etc). The phrase 'holiday cottages' is widely used for vacation rentals within the UK, where as the property is detached,however,"holiday apartment" or "self catering apartment/flat" is used when the property is in a building containing lots of units..
In Spain there is a huge market for 'Casas Rurales' where an old rural building is converted into holiday accommodation. This is very similar to the French 'gites' concept.
The concept of 'rural tourism' is growing rapidly in Europe.
