Are there good Europe/Italy-specific home rental websites I should be checking? We are hoping to rent a house for a week with family either in Bologna/Parma/Modena area or Tuscany or maybe near Genoa/Cinque Terre. We're not tied to a specific place, just want it to be rural and quiet with a pool and near some interesting day trips. Would need to be big enough for 8 people. Thank you!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16080 posts
www.booking.com is actually the largest of all. (VRBO and AirBnB are 2nd and 3rd respectively).
Italians use the same ones, although Wimdu, CaseVacanza, HolidayLetting are also popular. CaseVacanze is an Italian site affiliated to www.immobiliare.it, Italy’s largest real estate website.
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2555 posts
You can google the tourism office for any of these specific cities. They will likely have a link for accommodations, including vacation home rentals. Here is one example: https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/information/this-is-bologna?gclid=Cj0KCQjwi46iBhDyARIsAE3nVrZdNqiItRYPDwC3d2c8LPXwNtaBz9QR10Nv-ptYtAKHhGemWnQEiocaAmwBEALw_wcB
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4656 posts
Not for Italy, but when I was looking for Spain, what dissuaded me was a large initial down-payment, then full payment before arrival. Also often a security deposit in Cash returned after staying was hesitant with releasing all the money sight unseen and then all the cash. Exchange rate to convert to auto, then back to Cdn$. No way was I going to hold on to hundreds of Euros...for next time.
In the past VRBO allowed host to determine payments and deposit methods and timing. I think more of a AirBnB model now. I prefer AirBnB as I know that the company holds the security deposit from my credit card and they don't pay the host until 24 hours after arrival, so of there are issues, there is more incentive to correct them quickly.
You may also want to Google 'Bologna short let villa' or look for property management companies in your city. They may have listing to consider
Posted by
686 posts
Yo WW,
Plum Guide has been tryna make a name for itself and we used it for London last year. It turned out to be a great home rental, funky-boho-quirky and like that. They have many Italian listings too.
For our rental in Bevagna several years back, we went through a real estate agent. That proved to be a good choice. Her name: Luana Zingarelli.
Recently on Ischia and also in Minori, we went directly with the owners. That is often the best route.
Booking.com still owes us an apology (at least) for their having dropped the ball for our Uzes rental a few years ago. They called us to suddenly cancel (??!!) a few days before departure, with the most opaque excuses we'd ever heard. Eventually we dealt with the owners, who settled that nonsense forthwith. Those owners claimed then that there'd never been any reason for us to have been cancelled.
We now try to avoid booking.com whenever we can.
I am done. the end
Posted by
686 posts
Just a brief note to say that Plum Guide's latest promo features their Italian properties list.
I am done. The end.