Privately owned holiday homes, available for rent have been around for years. Before the days of the internet many owners advertised their holiday homes in print publications such as Dalton’s Weekly or The Lady, and many still do.
The internet gave rise to a holiday home owners setting up personal websites to showcase their holiday homes in more detail, displaying lengthy descriptions and multiple photos of the holiday rental to back up the small 25 word printed advert by included a website address.
With the growth in general use of the internet, an abundance of sites now cater for holiday rentals. A simply Google search for “book a holiday home” reveals over 81,000,000 results! Now no-one wants to search through that many results, you would need a holiday just to recover.
Known as “Portals”, the most respected feature prominently in the top of any search result. You can test this by entering two or three keyword searches such as “Villas in Florida”, “private holiday homes”, “book an apartment in Spain” and see who comes up repeatedly.
Alternatively if booking directly with an owner isn’t your cup of tea, a number of legally bonded tour operators act as middle men and offer you the added protection of being ABTA or ATOL bonded. In the UK James, Meon and Style all offer you private holiday villas owned by individuals.
As with the evolution of the internet, so the holiday rental industry has evolved. Holiday rental portals can offer a variety of search criteria and booking methods. If you are looking to book your holiday home on-line, you can choose holiday rental portals that allow you to contact the direct owner through a dedicated enquiry form, will take your booking directly with the use of a credit card, and even bid on auctions for specific durations in a multitude of holiday homes.
Although as some of the largest sites boast over 220,000 holiday homes worldwide! Narrowing down your search becomes a necessary evil. Start out by deciding on the country you want to visit and set a limit to how much you can afford.
Pay close attention to the exact location of the holiday home, some are located miles from anyway and require car hire. Set expectation for your holiday accommodation, amenities like private pools, air conditioning and dishwashers will normally be highlighted within each listing and many holiday rental portals allow you to search by these. Be careful to check out TV stations if you intend to watch it during your stay, not all holiday homes offer international channels and local TV stations will broadcast in their native language.
Check the price for the date you want to travel and look for special offer boxes and discounts, being flexible by one or two days could bag you some savings.
Asking questions is best, to guarantee you book the holiday home you want. Holiday rental owners are more than happy to answer these, avoiding complaints later on. If you are unsure of something in their advert or don’t see what you are looking for, don’t assume. A classic example; distances provided by the likes of Google maps can be misleading. They tend to be as the crow flies and what could look like a 5 minute stroll could turn out to be a 20 minute cab ride. By asking the owner specific questions like “how long does it take to walk to the town centre” will give you specific answers to help you make your decision.
Many sites limit the number of photos displayed for each holiday home, so ask the owner if they have additional photos that you can view. This will help you build up a picture of exactly how the holiday home looks, down to bathrooms, halls and outside spaces.
With the increase of holiday homes for rent, comes an increase in the number of people who are looking to scam you. Make sure you talk directly to the owner or their representative and if something smells fishy it normally is. Making a phone call to the person you are dealing with is always a good way to put your fears to rest. To help elevate concerns, many holiday rental portals now provide a feedback and rating section for each holiday home. Have a read through and see what others who have stayed there have to say. If there are no reviews, try Googling the name of the holiday home or the owners to see if anything comes up.
Make payments that offer protection such as through your bank, PayPal or with Visa and then if you do have a dispute they will normally offer assistance in pursuing a refund. If booking in advance, most will require a deposit and be sceptical of anyone asking for full payment so far in head. If travelling within 8 – 10 weeks of confirming the booking, it is common for owners to request full payment, however any further out will normally only be a deposit. Beware that most also ask for a security or damages deposit in the form of cash, cheque or credit card. This is refundable on your departure as long as you have adhered to the terms.
Most owners provide terms and conditions at time of booking. Make sure to read these and know where you stand, some may have clauses that could be easily broken if you have not paid attention.
Finally always provide feedback or a review on the holiday home you stayed in, so that others can have the assurance of your review when they too are looking to book.
And above all else make sure you have a fantastic Holiday!
Keely Capel is a well known and respected member of the Holiday rentals industry who offers valuable and insightful tips on Travel and Holiday Topics. She owns and operates bidabooking.com -your on-line auction dedicated to holiday rentals. Simply, Look, Bid and Book.
Great tips of advices here Keely, I love how you pointed out that asking questions thing. It is really good to ask questions before hand of before booking or renting a certain place. You really need to know as much information as you can for the said place for a hassle free vacation.
Thanks RonLeyba, you are very right. The more information you can find out before hand the more you can ensure you will have a hassle free trip.