Where is the rental location. i.e. if it's in Myrtle Beach then your avatar, NGG is a good choice. If for kids, the new Deadpool Stern pro. Broad based, MMR or upcoming MBR.

Are you looking for new or used and what era? for a rental something fairly new would be best maybe as less issues and maintenance. the new Deadpool or GOTG would appeal to the kids big and small. Maybe even a music pin like AC/DC or Aerosmith. If I was doing something from the 90's I would say Fish Tales is a fun game for the family setting that a rental would be. Just my 2 cents.

Fishing vacation rental, yeah Fish Tales or WhiteWater.

Wipeout!

Anything Pirate is a hit at the beach if that’s where the vacation rental is.

Just saw this... mountain home = big buck hunter!

Yeah and that should be reliable. Good game.

WhiteWater.

Can even pair it up with the big buck hunter arcade!

I have a Family Fun cocktail, a 60-1 video game, and a pool table at my house in Blue Ridge, GA. Not sure they get a lot of use, but I like having them when it's raining.

Don't put anything really nice in your house - no way would I put a new or classic machine in a rental. Even high-end rentals take a lot of abuse.

It's amazing how stupid and or inconsiderate people are:
Let's use the new cookware in the fire place
Lets rewire all the audio/tv equipment
Lets put bubble bath in the hot tub
Let's give the kid a sharpie and let him run around the house
Let's flush towels down the toilet
Let's steal the LED light bulbs
Let's cut down that tree, its blocking the view of the house next door
I could go on and on

I have a great management company, so I don't deal with much of these directly, but it annoys me when I have to replace something because someone was stupid.

You need to also consider how often or quickly you get to the house. If something breaks on your machine, people will keep trying to play it and may damage it more in the process.

We use the house about 1 weekend a month and major holidays and rent it out the rest of the time. The goal was to help defer some costs, but it now pays for itself.

Ive had TZ, STLE, TAF, METLE and TRON in my vacation rental at various times. I also have a BBH Arcade. My recommendation? Don’t do it. There were CONSTANT problems. It was such a pain in the ass. One little thing goes wrong and it needs a fix, and the guests can’t fix them. Pin sits unused.

I would highly recommend a good quality MAME or similar and a BBH Arcade or Golden Tee. Way more dependable and people LOVE them. It also helps that even something like a Game Gate is only 1/3 of what most of the pins you are talking about.

White Water or Indiana Jones. Or maybe a four player arcade like TMNT? Just playing together all at once could provide lots of great memories. Just my opinion.

Afm or mm, maybe mb. Those are nice neutral titles. Pac man and centipede together make a nice classic arcade option possibly in addition to the pins.

And as much as I hate to say it, put the newest Xbox in for kids. They may wreck it or steal it, but parents will appreciate alone time when it’s rainy out. Could always screw it down if theft is a concern. Just tack on 10 bucks a night and throw the money in a kitty for when it goes missing.

I love vacations as much as your idea of having a machine in rental house.
Personally I would like a 60 in 1 arcade and being a wilderness getaway I think Big Buck Hunter pinball would be cool.
-Mike

Wh20 1st choice and 2nd Frontier perfect for a manly mans cabin

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I'd seriously only choose 2 pins: TSPP or Spider-man.

Whitestars are pretty reliable in my experience.

Only issue I see in a short term rental is keeping it up and running is going to be huge. You don’t want 2 star rating because “the pinball machine wasn’t working” the extras are cool, but there is quite a maintenance difference compared to a pool table. Broken or worn items make people feel things are bad overall. That being said a new pin is the only way to go. I think in a nice vacation rental everything is expected to be in tip top shape. Older worn game will not be received well unless they are pinheads IMO

I have short term rental property as well, however no experience in have a pin in one.

I did a short term rental that came with a free private arcade: my basement. Only about half of the 10 games (mix of pins and vids) were working at any time (because that's where broken stuff goes to get fixed). I'd say about 30-40% of the bookings were driven by the arcade alone.

It was in my basement so going to fix something wasn't a concern...however, in years of doing this I never once was called to fix something. There were probably a few issues, but I would address them after guests left. I never got bad reviews for games not working, though occasionally a guest expressed disappointed that a certain game that was there wasn't working.

(Also, this was a small rental, only one or two guests at a time. No kids ever).

Also, I operate games on location, and most games will go many hundreds, if not thousands of plays without issues. If you're there once a month, you can fix stuff. I don't think it matters what game you choose...just pick something reliable.

All of that said, it's possible that video games would be an even bigger draw than pinball...but I haven't A/B tested that.

I think an inexpensive pin and a 60-1 arcade would be great for a rental house. We are renting a house in the outer banks and I wish it had a pin!

Here's my take on it - Get a family friendly game without breaking the bank - Ones that come to mind are RCT and Monopoly. Something older like Pinbot, Comet, or High Speed should be reliable as well. Make sure the flippers are good, put on silicone flipper rubbers/slings and you really shouldn't have a problem. NBA Fastbreak is a sleeper also.

MV