In July 2014 we took our girls to Colorado for vacation.  Our first stop was Colorado Springs, CO.  I wanted to stay somewhere besides a hotel.  I researched several cabins, but the prices were a little higher than I wanted to pay for 2 nights.  Finally, I discovered Air BnB, and I’m so glad I did.  This post contains affiliate links.  You can read more about that on our Disclosure Page.

Get a $55 credit if you book with Air BnB using my referral link.

About Air B&B

I discovered Air BnB.  One of the great things about Air BnB is the reviews on each apartment, home, and room.  We were looking for an entire home, and you can filter your search to find only entire homes in a certain area.  There are several other filters, such as price range, bedrooms, bathrooms, hot tub, pool, elevator, pets allowed, etc.  I scoured through several houses, finally filtering it down to 3.  I actually played this searching and deciding game for several days before I made my final decision.  We ended up renting a garage apartment at the base of Pikes Peak, Mountain Retreat in Cascade, CO. You may need to search for “Mountain Retreat in Cascade, CO”.  Every single review for the vacation rental was fabulous.

Why We Chose a House over a Hotel

1. I think the number one reason is the space.  It’s so nice when you have downtime or just want a day to stay around and relax to have a house over a crowded hotel room.
2. Price.  The price was not much different from a nice hotel.
3. You can prepare a lot of your meals in the house.  You can’t do this in most hotels.  This will save you more money and is more budget-friendly than eating out.
4. Privacy and Quiet.  You never know how quiet your room might be when you stay in a hotel.  Even some of the nicer ones can be noisy.  Rather it’s street noise or loud neighbors.  In a house, you are less likely to have this issue.
5. Amenities.  This can vary depending on the house/condo you choose.  Our house had a small kitchen, living area, and bedroom.  There was a hot tub and a balcony for us to enjoy.  It was the perfect spot for my little family.

Get a $55 credit if you book with Air BnB using my referral link.

Finding What You Want on Air B&B.

1. If you book on Air BnB with this link you will get $40 in travel credit if this will be your first time to book with them.
2. You can search just by city and state if you don’t know what days you want.  The main problem with this is the prices can vary quite a bit depending on the season.  So, I would make your best guess on a date span.
3. You can set up filters such as home type, number of rooms, number of guests, number of bathrooms and price range.  You can filter amenities, facilities, house rules and neighborhoods.
4. When you are looking for the houses/condos you like make sure to look at the reviews and the entire prices.  Some places have cleaning fees, refundable deposit, pet deposit, service fee and taxes.
5. Some renters require entire payment up front, and others will split it into 2 payments.
6. Make sure to read the house rules and every detail you can about your rental.  Look at all the photos.  There is a lot of information to review, so make sure you have some time to go over everything.

About Our Stay

We loved staying there, and our hosts were very friendly.  Everything we needed was provided in our little apartment.  There was a security gate with a keypad to enter.  They even provided a bottle of wine and fruit.  The peaches were our favorite!  Juicy and sweet, we devoured them.  The first evening we sat on their lovely deck, visited and sipped ice-cold local beer with our hosts, Ingrid and Robert.  They had a shared hot tub and a towel warmer for heated towels when you got out of the hot tub. My oldest and I enjoyed the hot tub both evenings we were there.  The evenings were so cool and beautiful.  All the fresh mountain air and no wind or mosquitos.  Our views were breathtaking!  I wish we had stayed longer!

We meant to relax on our 2nd day in the evening after our daytime venture out to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Helen Hunt Falls and The Garden of the Gods, but we just packed too much into that day so there was not much time for relaxing when we made it back.  Of course, my oldest and I managed to spend some time in the hot tub, to relax our achy muscles from walking all day.

Sitting area near the hot tub and a hammock to relax in.  A true retreat!

After our Stay

After our stay at the retreat, we visited The North Pole, then headed to Meade, CO to spend the rest of the trip with friends.  Luckily they have a big house with extra rooms, and we stayed with them for 3 nights.

I would use Air BnB again and recommend it to anyone!  I would also stay at our the Mountain Retreat in Cascade, Colorado again and recommend it to anyone single, couple or small family.  It was a beautiful place to stay!

Get a $55 credit if you book with Air BnB using my referral link.

Conclusion

Where’s your favorite place to stay in the Colorado Springs area?  What rental sites have you used for vacations?