HomeAway Recruits Griswolds, Has $397M From Investors

(MoneyWatch)  HomeAway, an international network of Web sites to rent vacation homes, has recruited both Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo to reprise their roles as the Griswolds from the 1983 flick, "National Lampoon's Vacation" for one of its commercials. That really isn't the story -- the real story is that the four-year-old company has around $397 million from investors (mostly venture capitalists) and is paying up to $2.5 million for the spot to run during the Super Bowl.

HomeAway's chief executive Brian Sharples told the Austin American-Statesman that his company made $100 million in 2008 and estimates 2009 will bring in approximately $135 million. Not bad for a company he said relied mostly on "word of mouth, and our company doesn't have broad awareness among property owners or travelers."

HomeAway is marketed as an alternative to hotels, and if what Sharples says is true, then apparently a lot of people are fed up with hotels. (No word on whether the original Griswold children, Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron will make an appearance.)