I've just had a conversation with someone who has been unable to get answers to her requests for information about renting in Italy in autumn of 2007. I'm having the same experience inquiring about a Provence rental in spring 2007.
How early is too early? Do vacation rental owners not want to deal a year in advance? Or is it just that we're asking these questions when their busy season is starting and they have more immediate things to deal with?
Chris, in my point of view (that is not exactly the one of a rental owner but quite similar), it's never too early and I suppose that if you're not receiving an answer the rental owner is probably very busy but on the other side they should answer your enquiry (even if you can allow a few days for them to answer). Sometimes rental owners don't take your enquiry too seriously if they consider that it's very early... they might think that you'll change your mind...so you might state in your e-mail that you're conscious that it's early and somehow "explain" your reasons to be willing to fix such an early booking.
I have three vacation rentals. I have found that every one of the people who requested a year in advance never booked...more shopping around. That is ok with me because it is natural to want some idea of prices BUT I only will reserve with 50% of the total amount of the rental.
I believe it is a normal business procedure to require a deposit - something that most people might not want to do for an entire year.
From our point of view we would take a booking in the time scale you are stating.
We would require a deposit (non refundable If the person cancelled 6 weeks or less before the visit) of 25 percent of the value of the stay with us. This is the normal deposit that we ask of everyone.
If, in any event, we had to cancel. Maybe I fall over and break my leg or something equally as catastrophic Then obviously the deposit would be refunded in full.
Just as a footnote, being busy is not an excuse to not answer an email. Sometimes We are juggling cooking the food and guiding people across mountains as well as organising the following weeks guests.
If I am relly busy and I don't have the time to put into a new enquiry I write a very quick mail to say that their enquiry has been recieved and I will be in touch within 24 hours.Then I simply MAKE the time to answer properly.
And for un answered mails I allow 3 days for a response from a mail then I resend the message, then 3 days later I send again. If I have received no reply by then I delete the contact and don't write again.
Maybe I'm an over-planner, but I've often reserved -- and paid whatever deposit was asked -- far in advance. It's been very close to a year two or three times. Because we try to get most of our flights to Europe with our frequent flyer miles, we set the dates and get the tickets nearly a year in advance anyway. So it just seems natural to me to try to find the perfect rental early, before they're all booked up.
I'm not overly impatient, and I don't expect immediate answers to emails, but after a couple of inquiries spaced over several weeks, I guess it's time to just forget it and move on...
For our long trip we made quite a few of our reservations for rentals more than a year in advance. I had to be sure to specify the year, though to avoid any confusion and because I do think this is unusual. My sense is that because most Americans have less vacation than Europeans, perhaps Awe plan much further ahead... sometimes looking several years ahead!
Occasionally I remember saying that the pricing for the next year hadn't yet been determined yet, though I also found that if I was willing to go ahead and send a deposit, I could lock in the current year's price.
I think most owners are happy to fill up the weeks in their books with real commitments (ie deposits!) and not have to worry about it.
Normally there are several places to choose from. If someone's being squirrelly about booking a year in advance and (worse!) not answering messages timely when they should be "up and running" for the season, I'd say to move onto other options...
I think it`s a little strange for any business to turn away possible clients. We had 5 cottages (we`re now retired) & used to take a "holding deposit" of £35 for any date in advance of the current year`s tariff. This holding deposit was fully refundable on cancellation up to 3 weeks after the reservee received our new tariff. The £35 was then deducted from any outstanding deposit due. It seemed to work for all involved & allowed for changes in price & of accommodation facilities etc. However, I suppose there must be reasons. Maybe they are considering selling their properties? I don`t know about other countries but many second homes in the UK which are let as holiday cottages become homes once again on resale.
Ann
Posts: 64 | Location: England | Registered: 14 March 2006
Chris , I started looking for long stay rentals in Spain this fall,late last year and had no problem.Some people were less good than others at answering questions,so often I just eliminated those.I was looking for a winter rental so there are tons of choices as it is off season.
Thats the only experience I have in this department.HTH
Thanks, everyone. I agree there could be many reasons, but it would be nice if they had a standard email response they could send, even if it just said "so sorry, not willing to think about next year yet!"
Kathy, we're thinking about Provence again next spring! I like to think I'll be there a year from today.
It used to be common in Italy to book a year in advance for the high season. I assumed this was still true for Italy and other holiday locations. Are they just not responding to your emails? If that is the case, maybe they are not getting them.
I think there are vacation rentals where the same guests return year after year. Owners give these loyal customers an opportunity to book their return visit before opening the reservations to new guests.
This of course does not excuse the lack of courtesy in failing to respond to emails.
Sheena
Posts: 2183 | Location: West Vancouver, B.C. Canada | Registered: 28 February 2004
It seems to me that places in Italy are filling up farther in advance, or maybe I'm just booking at a more popular time for our next trip. I recently started looking for hotels, B&Bs, or short-term apartments in Rome in October, and found many places already fully booked. I don't recall this being the case for past trips when we started looking 6 months ahead.
We did finally find an apartment that would rent to us for 4 nights, although they are charging us for 5. We decided to go ahead with it, because we were having such a hard time finding anything close to that price in a good location.
Originally posted by Chris: Thanks, everyone. I agree there could be many reasons, but it would be nice if they had a standard email response they could send, even if it just said "so sorry, not willing to think about next year yet!"
I am having the same problem but I am even further out. I have tried the same company twice, Romepower.com, they seem to have the most reasonable rental rates for long term. We need an apartment in Rome for 2-3 months, April,May, June. These of course are really busy months, but we are looking at Spring 2008 just for that reason. I have gotten two automatic responses from Romepower that says we got your message we will get back to you in 24 hours and nothing. I know people are busy so I have e-mailed again just to show them I am serious about what I want. At lease get back to me and say get back to us in a year!
Posts: 1269 | Location: Seattle - soon to be England!!!! | Registered: 02 May 2005
The 3 times we used agencies for rentals in Florence and Venice, we booked a year in advance. But right now Sherry and I are not getting our faxes answered at Orvieto. We shall do a second fax today.
A very interesting string. We attempt to answer e-mail inquiries within 24 hours. (Occasionally there are lapses when we're traveling.) Prospective renters make the key decision about trust based in part on the quality of communication, and a good portion of that is timeliness.
We wouldn't hesitate to take a reservation a year in advance but farther, no.
As renters we'd be a little dubious about any such commitment - I'm only musing here because I can't picture ourselves planning a vacation farther ahead - for the same reason we're not prepared to make one. There simply are too many uncertainties in life, and because we take any commitments we make pretty seriously. I'm stunned (Perhaps I shouldn't be?) when I read on other travel message boards - well, one other travel board, really - that someone has made reservations at more than one hotel for the same dates. Not quite decided between two, and still open to other suggestions.
An agency might propose a substitute if, for example, one of many properties it managed were offered for sale by an owner post-booking (Could an owner do that or would a contract with the agency prohibit it?) but a one or two property owner who also is the marketer and booker probably could not.
The "loyal customer" explanation seems plausable, too. But it's not a very agreeable thought. We do have loyal customers, but they commit themselves to dates, just as we do. It seems fairer and it certainly is more simple.
I totally agree, Dave. "First contact" is very like first impression - it reflects on the seriousness of the business` attitude.
When we very first started our business we used an agency. In their case the owner bookings (which I admit we never used) had to be mutually agreed quite early in the year, only in extreme cases could they be altered without penalty.
The "loyal customer" thing is plausable, as you say, but I`ve found most businesses stick to the first come first served basis for booking. "Regulars" normally get their choice first because they book earlier (even year on year, making a reservation for the following year before finishing this years` holiday).
Ann
Posts: 64 | Location: England | Registered: 14 March 2006
I just spent a couple of weeks looking for accommodations in Rome and Venice for this fall. I e-mailed 9 rentals, mostly contacting the owner directly, and in every single case, I had a prompt and very gracious reply back within a day or two at the most. After several messages back and forth, I chose the two places that fit my travel dates the best and then sent a thank you message back to all of the other people to let them know that I appreciated their time and attention and would definitely keep them in mind for a future trip. Because they all went out of their way to help me, I would absolutely consider any of them again.
I will book a year ahead or more, if I'm concerned that I won't be able to find what I want...I tried to book my favorite apartment in Florence and Lorenzo apologetically told me it was already booked. That was 10 months ahead of time, so I'd better snap my garters and call sooner if I want to stay there again!
"People don't take trips...trips take people." ~ John Steinbeck Brenda
Though the original post was in reference to rental owners not responding to your requests...
and as someone who has rental units... I spend considerable time quoting rates, answering questions in regard to the locatation, city events,etc...even to the exact measurements between sink and toilet or height of towel bars and other uncommon questions.
When someone then chooses another apartment after I've spent so much time, I think it is only basic politeness to notify me.
The business relationship between parties needs to be respectful on both sides.
from a owner point of view I can say that booking 1 year in advance is not too early! It is also true that during the last few years we are filling up our apartments earlier and someone may find some places fully booked even 10/12 months in advance. Anyway we always answer to our potential guests within few hours (when we are very busy in a day!)... If you are still not getting answer to your e-mails, I think you should change your mind and find a better place!
As a rental owner I would be only too pleased to take a booking this far in advance. I would require a deposit wghich I think is pretty normal. I would also quote this years prices, a trade off for receiving the deposit for so far in advance, maybe?
In my experience, it is possible to book this far in advance, but you need to use an agency that will work with you on it. The reason that it is often "not possible" to book in advance is because property owners don't yet know what their rates will be! Every year, prices go up a little, and property owners don't just want to give you "this year's rate" because they will be losing money. The fact is, even if they wait until November or December to decide on the prices for the next year, they will usually still book up completely (if they are in a prime location). So this means that they don't want to give you a price now, because in fact they might decide to rent it at a higher rate later! However, if you work with an experienced agency that has a good relationship with many owners, your intermediary can often talk to the owner and get a price for you.
Just thought I'd chime in here. My family of 4 will be spending a week in Rome in late June. Because I'm kind of obsessive, I started researching everything way in advance. In April of 2005 I found a rental that I fell in love with. I inquired about availabilty and they were already booking up around that time. I even adjusted my travel dates because I wanted this place. So, I wound up sending my deposit in early May of 2005, more than 13 months in advance.
I like the fact that the apartment is so popular that it's booked way ahead of time. When I get back I will be sure to give a review.
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