“Take vacations. Go as many places as you can. You can always make money. You can’t always make memories”
“The world’s most amazing vacation rentals” is currently a two-part series that features vacation rentals focusing on different areas and types. This series features Luis D. Ortiz, a real estate agent who focuses on luxury rentals; Megan Batoon, the DIY designer who focuses on budget-friendly rentals; and Joanna Franco, the traveller who focuses on unique rentals. They are three friends who suggest vacation rentals based on different categories and share their experiences through this Netflix series. All three are open to trying other things, allowing them to pick exclusive vacation rentals.
The first season consists of eight episodes, and it starts by introducing itself and stepping right into the experiences of different vacation rentals. Each episode looks at different types of experiences in different places. The first episode focuses on Bali. This is the only episode that fulfils the intention of the series. Episode one checks the mark in terms of budget-friendly, unique, and luxury vacation rentals. The most important requirement that was consistently overlooked throughout the series was mentioning the negative aspects of each vacation rental. This made the entire series look like a promotion series, which went against the sole purpose of the series, “The world’s most amazing vacation rentals.” The series truly depicts some of the unique vacation rentals in the world. Every episode is divided into three parts.
- Check-in
- Experience
- Review
For every vacation rental, they’ve tried to cover how to get there, the overall amenities offered to the guests, budget, number of bedrooms and toilets, the number of guests a rental can accommodate, and the overall experience. But to critically review the series, “The world’s most amazing vacation rentals,” let us look at it from different perspectives.
From an architect’s perspective, the vacation rentals featured in the series have unique design features that can be useful for inspiration and can be suggested for the must-watch Netflix series. Most of the budget-friendly and unique vacation rentals featured in the series are proof that traditional materials and construction styles fused with modern technology can be converted into amazing vacation rentals. Some of the designs use sustainability as a part of the entire experience of the vacation rental and even use reclaimed construction materials. This Netflix series provides unique ideas and Megan explains some of the design aspects while Luis explains the cost-efficiency compared to the current United States costs, which may not be relatable for people from other countries. Though this series comes under the category, “architectural series”, it covers only the parts that are accessible by any guest. They haven’t maximised the potential of the series, which could have been very useful for architects. As they are making a series with a DIY designer, they could have really gone into the details and shown how the entire design came to be. The whole design aspect explained in the series was very superficial and could have been easily learnt from the internet, which is not something any architect wants to see in an architectural series.
From a traveller’s perspective, the featured vacation rentals are a few of the must-visit places in the world. But as a traveller, there are a few checkpoints that must be ensured before visiting any vacation rental. Yes, the series provides various options to look at. But one of the key points of the series is to suggest vacation rentals that people can afford at a low cost and achieve that wow factor. However, each budget-friendly vacation rental feature has a high cost, which is inconvenient for any traveller because the stay is part of their itinerary. They could have easily understood what any traveller would want in a vacation rental as they had a traveller in the series. But, it was sad to see that the series felt purely like a promotional video and did not cover the negative aspects of any of the vacation rentals. They had covered very few negative aspects in the entire series, which was, of course, part of the experience in the “unique vacation rental” category. But not every traveller would be comfortable with it. Most of the negative aspects were appreciated and it was not pointed out that it may not be the case for everyone. The series could have easily mentioned the positive and negative aspects from a traveller’s perspective using checkpoints, which could have been very useful for even an amateur traveller. The most disappointing part is how they covered the budget aspect properly only in the first episode, which would make the viewers want to see the other episodes. As a series that covers amazing vacation rentals, they could have created a category that focuses on the number of guests as well.
The conclusion of season 1 is not very different from all the other episodes. Every episode has a simple template that has not been swayed from. The cinematography is simple and clean. Presenting a collage of images as an introduction to every episode gives the viewer a basic idea of what to expect from every episode.
In general, the series,” The world’s most amazing vacation rentals”, has a lot of potential that could be used to capture the viewer’s eyes. It is indeed important to appreciate everything around us. But not everything is perfect. It is very important to include both the positive and negative aspects of every amazing vacation rental which would make any viewer interested in watching a series.
References:
- Title: The world’s most amazing vacation rentals. Available at: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81060530?source=35. Released on: 18/06/2021. Accessed date: 30/07/2022
- Title: The Most Inspiring Vacation Quotes That Will Make You Happy. Available at: https://www.sunsetvacations.com/post/the-most-inspiring-vacation-quotes-that-will-make-you-happy/. Published on: 11/02/2019. Accessed date: 30/07/2022
