I've rented several times in several different countries (in both Europe and North America) and used several different sites, including the popular ones like VRBO, and I have always been happy. I would have to say that the place I always check first because they do the best job of under promising and over delivering is www.interhome.com - beacuse the descriptions are written not by the owners (like they are on VRBO and some other sites) I find they tend to be a bit more consistant and factual.