From the travel desk: Skip hotels, rent vacation homes

Anyone who has ever opted for a vacation home rental rather than a hotel knows the appeal: You can prepare meals, send the children to bed in their own room and often save money in the process.

I do it every summer on Wisconsin's Madeline Island, and last winter I rented a privately owned efficiency in Maui, where breakfast out can easily ring up at $20.

I felt smart eating my papaya and cereal, both bought at the nearby grocery store, while overlooking the ocean from my deck. Turns out, I was just part of a growing trend.

TripAdvisor's fourth annual vacation rental survey found that 49 percent of U.S. travelers have stayed or will stay in a vacation rental this year. Travel industry research firm PhoCusWright recently released a report on the subject that found demand for vacation rentals is high, and that, increasingly, people are booking online. Online booking of vacation rentals jumped from just 12 percent of the vacation rental market in 2007 to 24 percent last year.

Minnesotans looking for a regional getaways can easily click their way to a vacation spot. Lake Place offers rentals from Michigan to North Dakota (www.lakeplace.com). For a cabin on the North Shore, check with Cascade Vacation Rentals (www.lake superiorrentals.com). On Madeline Island, I have rented through Madeline Island Vacations (www.madelineislandvacations.com) and the Inn on Madeline Island, which rents privately owned vacation homes and cabins around the island as well as its own condos and hotel rooms (www.madisland.com). You can also search www.vrbo.com by location.

Wherever you land, be sure to bring you breakfast, papaya or otherwise.