What is the most effective way to post a review for a vacation rental property that lacks a name?

Question

Some vacation rentals lack a name, so they can't be searched on trip advisor or yelp. How do you publish reviews for such properties?

---

I recently stayed in a vacation rental listed on VRBO. There are only positive reviews on the property's VRBO listing. The newest positive review is about 15 months old. Today, the property is in poor repair (broken furniture, non-working appliances, broken plumbing fixtures, doors that don't close, broken kitchen cabinets, no windows coverings in the master bedroom, old paint cans stored by the entrance, a rusty metal staircase, sliding doors that won't lock, old broken lawn chairs and beach toys haphazardly strewn about the property, etc). The price per night would be on the high end for the type of and location of the property - even if it were in good repair. Needless to say I was rather disappointed and feel ripped off.

I would like to submit an up-to-date review to hopefully warn other potential renters of the current state of this property, however, I am confounded by two things:

1. VRBO apparently does not publish negative reviews. I haven't found a way to confirm this, but that would definitely explain the lack of any recent or negative reviews on this property's listing.

2. The property does not have a name, only an address and VRBO listing number. This makes it difficult to find or create the property on a site like yelp or trip advisor.

So, what is the most effective way to review this property so that others can make an informed rental decision?

Answer 1

Post in your blog if you already have a blog or create a blog on a free blogging service if you don't already have one (like WordPress or Tumblr) and post your review of the place there with as much detail as you can (such as address, VRBO reference number). Chances are that if someone is searching for reviews of the place with specific terms, it will show in Google Search. While this is not as 'central' a place to post a review such as TripAdvisor, the point is that the information is out there. (Blogging about your travels can be a fun way of documenting your travels if you love writing anyway.)

At the end of the day, how much time and energy you want to spread the word about one place depends on you. I can see it making sense for a hotel (which you presumably get much traffic due to its capacity) but with a vacation rental, I see it as a case of learning about caveat emptor how much variation can exist with accommodation that is not run as a business for the purposes of travellers.