Hi from Wisconsin,
In France a great place to look for apartments and cottages is Gites de France. When in Ireland it was long the tradition to use Bed and Breakfasts that were scattered around the country side. Is there a smart or Italian (not that Italian rules out being smart) method to book places to stay in Italy?
We like to stay 5 or 6 days in a location and make day-trips out of the apartment/cottage before moving onto the next rental.
Thanks to all in advance,
wayne iNWI
We use vrbo/homeaway all the time. Excellent!
Italians are doing things according to their proper needs and decisions. They are not like the French who are rational people, so there are plenty of sites you could look:
- vrbo,
- AiBnB,
- Booking.com
http://m.casevacanza.it/appartamenti-toscana (or the region you are going to: Lazio, campania or Umbria for instance.)
The problem with VRBO which we have used and are using again this fall in France is that it is essentially the classifieds; your experience depends on the integrity of your landlord and you have to do your own due diligence. So triangulate; look for independent reviews; talk to the landlord on the phone; learn to read photos and descriptions carefully. Make sure you have photos of everything important to you. If they claim a terrace, make sure you see pictures; if you don't it will be where broken bicycles and garden furniture is stored or it will overlook a dumpster. If you don't see the bed, it will be small. If there are tons of arty closeups but no good wide shots that really show the room, there is a reason. I found a place in Paris that was in an area I wanted and looked really great with a charming garden and also an adjacent garden room for dining. Looked great. The reviews said things like 'the garden is full of trash and used for junk storage and is totally unusable' and the owner is an artist who just leaves half painted canvases, paint buckets and materials and junk all over the house making it hazardous to even walk across the room' among other delights.
One site I have found useful for reviews that are independent and by following up I have found a couple of really spectacular places is the slowtrav.com site. They run reviews of apartments and the link for the apartment is there if you find any of the reviews appealing. We found our favorite apartment in Italy there.
I have also used AirBNB but not in Italy. We have lots of friends who love AirBNB and use it and we have had some experiences with it although not in Italy. The consensus among my friends is that those places are much more of a gamble i.e. dirty places or places without good maintenance seem more common.
Often places are listed in more than one site and if you use a bit of the descriptive text and then 'reviews' in a search, you can uncover listings on more than one site and sometimes for less on some than others. It is also a way to get reviews. It is critical to discover if the particular landlord has a bad reputation as that is everything. Look particularly for people who had their trip cancelled for 'water damage' or other often bogus reasons. (water damage or plumbing problems is the code for 'we rented it for more to someone else after committing to you'. )
Jane has given you excellent insight, usable anywhere in the world!
We like to travel like you and have a base. We have used VRBO/Homeaway and Booking.com extensively with good results in several countries, but as Jane says, due diligence is important. I never rent a place on VRBO that is so new it has no reviews. I have had some good luck Googling "Apartments (or B&Bs) in _________" and have found some gems. This is especially true in smaller towns, but there is a bit more of a risk in doing that since there are unlikely to be reviews.
We have used Airbnb extensively, in many countries and only had one bad experience. We always book places with multiple positive and RECENT reviews.
Used airbnb in Italy - Venice, Rome, Atrani, Florence (and many other places at home and abroad) and almost all have been great. You really have to watch the reviews - if I see someone complaining about dirt or noise, I most likely will pass (unless all the other reviews praise the place and this person was just being cranky)
If you're talking about rural Italy, another option is a farm stay/agriturismo: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/sleeping-eating/bed-and-breakfast-europe.
I booked my Italian holiday apartments through TripAdvisor. During my research, I noticed that all of the apartments I was look at were listed on multiple sites (HomeAway, Holiday Lettings, VRBO, etc.) but I found the search tools on TripAdvisor fit my needs best. I also paid for the apartments through TripAdvisor via PayPal. Very easy and all three rental experiences were outstanding.
