We’re planning on renting an apartment for 6-8 weeks (April-May) in Florence. I have found a couple of apartments in the Santa Croce neighborhood. One is managed by Trip Adviser, the other I am emailing directly with the owner. I haven’t yet contacted Trip Adviser, preferring ( I think?) to deal directly with owner. Any pros or cons either way? Things to be aware of? Is a rental agreement a necessity? How much and how to pay (credit card, bank transfer....)for reservation? So many questions and probably some I haven’t thought of. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17244 posts
How did you find the one with direct contact? Is it listed anywhere on sites like VRBO/Homeaway or Airbnb? Or do they have their own website? Are there reviews that sound genuine?
We rented an apartment in Lucca directly from the owner (she had a website for the flat). It all went fine, but there is a potential for scams with owner-direct rentals, so you need to know how to protect yourself.
As for TripAdvisor, we rented a very nice apartment in London through them ( it used to be FlipKey). We also rented our Rome apartment through TripAdvisor. There is some protection from fraud that comes with their rentals, as with Airbnb and other platforms. Not foolproof, but better than none at all.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7916 posts
Going through a known app or company does give you some guarantees and protections that you may not get with a direct deal.
Nothing wrong with going direct, but it comes with a healthy dose of "buyer beware".
This is especially so if they want a hefty deposit or prepay up front, usually in some form of cash equivalent (Money transfer). Many small individual owners choose not to take credit cards or Paypal, leaving money or bank transfers as the option for pay. For the balance of the rent, they will usually want cash, which to get euros here will cost you, to exchange there cost you more, to use an ATM will likely run into daily limits.
Not sure about Florence, but many locales also have clamped down on short term rentals to protect local rents. If you go direct, there may be a registration number you need to verify they have, otherwise if you have issues, the local authorities may consider you a "persona non grata" and be unable to help.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2257 posts
If you get to the point that you need to do a bank transfer, look into Transferwise - much easier and less costly.
Posted by
OP
Farmington, MI
5 posts
The site I found the two direct is www.longtermlettings.com.
Posted by
Williamsburg, VA, USA
12 posts
I am booking an apartment through Booking.com. I have had good luck with them and I have asked questions of the owners directly though them. They seem to answer quickly, things like how many stairs etc. I've booked on VRBO or HomeAway previously and had great luck. One in Paris was really helpful there were 4 of us traveling (women) and he gave us some good information and had to come to the apartment twice due to problems with getting in, a tricky lock.
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
1059 posts
VRBO seems to be handling the money more and more. It's on your credit card (except city imposed tourist taxes) and vrbo (which is also HomeAway) guarantees everything. Look for their rating of the owner, and check reviews. Sorry, I won't stay where there are no reviews or no reviews over several months old, and if it's for summer time I look at reviews from the same time period over the past couple of years.