Does this sound like you? You dream of a real vacation in some resort destination that’s wonderfully different – such as Hawaii, or the Caribbean, or the Mexican Rivera. Maybe even a place really exotic, like Thailand. But your income is stretched as it is, and the thought of how expensive just the accommodations would be, let alone having money left over for activities outside the hotel room, makes you close the book on your dream and put it away.

There’s a secret to how you can have your dream vacation. It’s called timeshare rental. Many people are unaware that when timeshare owners can’t use their weeks, they’ll list them for rent. This allows people like you who are looking for a budget-friendly vacation to get a great deal.

Timeshare ownership is still going strong for a reason. Instead of a cramped hotel room, you get spacious accommodations that include separate bedrooms, a living area, a dining area, a patio or balcony, and even a full-sized, fully-equipped kitchen. And the resorts are luxurious.

So, you ask – if I can’t afford even a hotel room, how can I afford to vacation at a timeshare resort? As we said, the secret is renting the timeshare.

Since the 1960s when the timeshare concept began in Europe, timeshare resorts have sprung up all over the globe, so that today there are over 6,000 world-wide. You can find a timeshare resort just about anywhere you would want to go, and many will have a timeshare rental available.

Let’s just take a look. In Hawaii you can rent a timeshare on each of the four main islands. For example, stay on Oahu or Maui for just $79/night. In the Caribbean there are numerous choices: Aruba for just $86/night and the Bahamas for no more than $100/night.

Even Thailand – Forget the exotic hotel prices of $400-500/night – you can stay on tropical Phuket Island for an amazing $170/night.

Besides saving money on the accommodations themselves, and on meals since you have a kitchen, you’ll also save on activities. Many of the resort’s amenities will be included in your low rental price. These can be multiple swimming pools, often with waterpark features, hot tubs, kiddie pools and children’s playgrounds, tennis courts, and even arcade game rooms. The larger resorts can cover several acres, such as one in Orlando that has 135 acres of on-sight fun (and by the way, timeshare rentals start there at just $56/night).

You can even find timeshare resorts in the middle of big cities. Just a few examples are Las Vegas, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., downtown Manhattan in New York City, and even London, Paris, and Rome. You won’t find resorts here, but the cost of nightly accommodations can be up to 50% less than the hotels in the heart of a city.

Now, when it comes to vacations you can dream big – because you know the timeshare rental secret!

Alice Perkins is a timeshare travel blogger for RedWeek.com, the largest online market place for timeshare rentals, where vacationers can find luxury accommodations for less than the cost of a typical hotel room.