VRBO/AirBNB/etc help with Puerto Rico and in general

[ohyouknow]

Thanks for all the advice last week on picking PR as a destination for our Christmas.  There will be 10 adults and 5 children going. I think we will actually be going on Dec 27 or 28 and staying a few days into January.  I've been looking around on vrbo.com and airbnb.com and found a few places that might work for that many people. Are there any sites I'm missing? Any advice on making sure I do it safely and don't get ripped off? Should I even CONSIDER a place with no reviews? Any advice on where to stay, or even a particular place? Any suggestions/links would be so helpful. Cost isn't the primary concern, I'd say anything up $5000 for the week is good.

Below are the ones I'm considering (I couldn't post them in the original thread). I'd LOVE to be able to walk to the beach and restaurants/bars if possible, so any input on locations would be amazing.

[ohyouknow]

www.airbnb.com/rooms/1962046?checkin=12%2F26%2F2014&checkout=01%2F01%2F2015&guests=12&s=bXUC

www.airbnb.com/rooms/883899

www.vrbo.com/3501915ha

www.vrbo.com/3720246ha#reviews

www.vrbo.com/207406ha#rates

www.vrbo.com/930910ha

www.vrbo.com/277693#reviews

[Moe]

Depends on where you want to stay.

I wouldn't choose Aguada, Rincon, Aguadilla or even Palmas del Mar unless it wasn't the first trip out there. I love the Ocean Park properties, mostly because they ARE in Ocean Park (Condado) - access to the metro area.

They're remote, and unless you are willing to just stay in the property and environs (well, at least Palmas has a lot of "tourism" based things to do - but mostly resort-ish, around their property) then you probably will have to drive A LOT.

And well... sometimes traffic in PR is a bit frustrating for first timers.

[ohyouknow]

Great tip, thank you!

[sarahsas]

Completely agree that I wouldn't stay on the west coast, rincon etc. it is nice but for a first timer staying in one place, you will have more options if you stay on the east coast. Bio bay, day trips to San Juan, Culebra or Vieques, El Yunque...

[joenali]

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