Some lodging websites such as iStopOver and Airbnb let you rent rooms in homes or apartments and live like a local, but HomeAway takes a different marketing angle -- with HomeAway you can vacation like an Obama.
President Obama and family are expected to head to Hawaii in the next couple of days and stay for the third consecutive year in Kailua, Hawaii, at a luxurious, five-bedroom, five-bathroom 4551-square-foot estate listed on HomeAway.
There are lots of glam-photos to go with the HomeAway listing and you can click to contact the owner and send an availability request through an online form if you want to stay there in 2011.
The property, 15 miles from Honolulu Airport, lists for $3,500 per night, and an availability calendar on HomeAway shows it is already booked through Jan. 19, 2011, although the Obama family is expected to head back to Washington well before then.
"While the home doesn’t come with secret service, it’s situated in a quiet residential neighborhood providing privacy from the crowds of Waikiki and the North Shore," says HomeAway spokesman Victor Wange. "Other notable extras in this beachfront estate include a lagoon-style pool with tropical waterfall, a chef’s kitchen, and surround sound media room."
I highly recommend living like a local on vacation sometimes to get away from the tourist crowd, but sometimes it's nice to live like a President, too.