Today's NY Times travel section has a brief piece on some of the problems of renting. We have had nothing but good experiences in 8 different rentals in three different countries, primarily because we do read the reviews, particularly those on this site. It reminded me to thank all of you who take the time to share your experiences. I do carefully review information, pictures, locations, etc., but nothing is more important as a guide than the reallife experiences of others who love travel.
As a rental owner it was very disappointing to read such a negative article, and all based on one person's experience too. It was sad to read that the website would not publish her critical review, as that devalues the whole review process.
The other side of the coin of course is when renters are excessively critical - we were criticised recently for not providing a daily towel change in our apartments. I thought even top hotels did not do that anymore and I have certainly never across a rental offering it. I would not do it for environmental reasons but I'd be interested to know what others think.
Margaret, In all my renting experience, I never expected daily change of towel. Your tenants were unreasonable. In my experience, it seems more often than not, after 5 days, there is a change of towels and sheets, and I'm grateful. In a very modest castle-b&b-plus-rental in the Lot region, the landlady just showed me the linen closet. The rule was that I could take out the same number of new towels/sheets as used ones that I put in the laundry hamper. Very fair, clear system. Theoretically, my friends and I could have changed our linen everyday; we changed in mid week. Lastly, Margaret, rest assured. When I read criticisms such as your tenants', right away I discount them and start considering that the rental is a good one. Other INSANE criticisms that I dismiss immediately are: - the rental is on the 3rd (or 4th) floor. Firstly it is not a big deal and is good for exercise, plus one should have known the number of floors as part of the rental info. - The landlord - or neighborhood businesses - does not speak English. BD, learn the local language. Learn 20 phrases to make do and be polite. - The tv only has local channels. Will it kill one not to watch Jay Leno for a week when one is in Rome or Paris or Prague? I could go on. Lastly, Margarget, remember that when your rental is subject to a free review system, every positive review is in a way worth more and goes a long way for you.
I also, am usually slightly amused when I read negative rental reviews. They usually extoll the the virtues of the place and then go on to mention some relatively minor irritant that apparently ruined their stay. I think some people carry their problems with them when they travel and little will make them happy. We have rented houses in Italy 7 times in the past 8 years and have had some issues, some serious but the landlords did their best to correct and I would return to each and every property without concern.
Posts: 298 | Location: falmouth , MA USA | Registered: 09 December 2003
we have always rented properties where the owner is directly involved: either lives on or near. we try to ask the questions that count: for us, too many stairs or unsafe bathrooms would be a problem. we rent with friends and we will go with a bit larger than what we need rather than skimp. we ask for pictures and references. we've rented in france, italy, and portugal, speak a little of each language, and have enjoyed every single stay. i suppose, in addition to doing the initial work, and having some luck, some of it is what you bring to traveling: either its an adventure and you adapt or you want everything exactly as you'd have it at home.
The other side of the coin of course is when renters are excessively critical - we were criticised recently for not providing a daily towel change in our apartments.
That's obsurd. Heck, I don't even do that at home!!! Like Americana, I would discount any review that complained about that. Also like Americana, I don't think of the agent/owner not speaking English as a deterrent (sp). We ask that question though on our review forms because some people would just feel more comfortable not having to deal with language issues while traveling. It's intended more as an FYI than a ding (same for English speaking channels - I think).
As a consistent travel vacation renter I have seen a deterioration in the quality of the rental units I have visited. Also there is a lack of reviews on most of the sites I have used to book the vacations. I understand that it is hard to upkeep a rental apartment/house, but if I am paying top dollar I expect to get top quality. Once a few friends rented a place, the owners charged us a $75 cleaning fee, which is a little over priced. They didn't tell me ahead of time that I needed to vacuum, and mop the floors. Not to mention they deducted an additional $75 from the security deposit for extra cleaning service.
The only rental I was ever disappointed with had old, thin sheets on the bed and they smelled musty. But the linen cupboard provided what we needed. And the washing machine if we still weren't happy.
Didn't ruin my holiday as we only use apartments for sleeping and breakfast. If a rental is that bad, just treat it like a camping holiday.....do you stay in a tent all day long?
Elly
Posts: 1066 | Location: Western Australia | Registered: 27 March 2005
Deterioration in the quality is a very tricky issue from an owner's point of view! We have stayed in many places where the kitchen cupboards have clearly been stocked with Grandma's left overs! This can be OK if they are clean but after a while it becomes impossible to keep stuff spotless anyway. We try to make sure that our apartments have as little trace of previous occupants as possible but it does get very tough - and expensive - to keep up. At one time we seemed to be changing the non-stick frying pans after every letting because they had got scratched! The harder part is keeping track of general wear and tear and deciding when it has gone to far. I guess most of us are like that at home and go on using things we really like long after they have got a bit old and worn. I think in that respect hotels have it easier in that they (at least the big hotels with good star ratings) have a full scale replacement programme for sheets etc. I am not entirely sure why that seems harder to do with holiday rentals!
Ciao everyone. I read the same article in the NY Times and there were some discrepancies in it especially as far as Italy is concerned. First off it talked about how you should only go through a third party or management company. Well many of the properties in Italy do not use management companies but get business mostly through word of mouth. The article did not stress enough the importance of personally doing your homework beforehand checking out referals, etc. I am no expert by any means but I know that there are some fantastic properties out here in Tuscany. I have had an awful experience with an agriturismo I stayed at years ago but it was my fault since I did not do any research beforehand. Can someone suggest a good rental property near Arezzo by the way?
Can someone suggest a good rental property near Arezzo by the way?
Two suggestions, check out our Tuscany (East) Vacation Rental Reviews and post a new question down in the Italy forum where lots of Italy travelers will see it and be able to help.
hello all, I am so glad to find a site that talks about the rental issues! I hope to do more traveling now that I have a full time job again, so this will be good information.
I think tenants can certainly be too picky, as long as it is clean. And with the basic kitchen items in decent shape, it should be fine. I would likely just have breakfast and be gone the rest of the day anyhow!
What a disappointing, negative article. The writer would have done much better to come up with questions to ask about a potential rental, since I think a lot of disappointments stem from a lack of communication. Reviews are helpful, definitely, but they are always someone else's point of view, and that person's ideas and desires may not match your own. Of course you can also run across a fraud, or someone who only cares about collecting rents but not maintaining the property. Oftentimes you can get a sense of that during a dialogue before signing a contract.
On the other hand, as Margaret in Bavaria pointed out, some renters can be unreasonable. Linens are an issue. Americana, I used to leave my linen cupboard open too, trusting people's judgment. Then I had a couple rent my apartment for one week and they used: 7 sets of sheets, 5 duvet covers, about 25 pillowcases, 12 large bath towels, 12 hand towels, 12 wash cloths, and 15 dish towels. Not satisfied with that, they then went snooping through my private storage area and opened closed boxes and happened to find some more towels among my personal belongings, which they used as well. They left all the used linens in a huge, wet, mildewing heap in the bedroom. My housekeeper arrived and had a hysterical fit, since all of that had to be washed, hung out to dry, and then ironed. I think it all added up to about 20 loads of laundry, which translates to about 20 days of work. Other guests were arriving, and there was no clean linen whatsoever. My housekeeper had to borrow clean supplies from a friend. Now the linen cabinet is locked.
So on the communication note, I would say, if you want a change of towels every day, ask if that's provided. Likewise I have fielded questions about whether my apartment has reading lights (it didn't, but I went out and bought some), decent knives in the kitchen (yes), English-language tv channels (no), or high speed internet (yes). As an owner, I am not irritated in the least by questions, instead I am happy to do what I can to ensure that anyone renting my apartment will be happy, and if it doesn't meet their needs, I'm not afraid to say so.
I would bet that these people who changed sheets, towels, etc. on a daily basis do not do so at home. I don't know a woman in the world who loves doing laundry that much!
Posts: 333 | Location: Mississippi | Registered: 31 October 2004
Back to the article. It was just very sloppy journalism. Only one person was interviewed, someone who went for a rental without researching the reviews. duh ! The article seems to conclude that therefore renting in general is not a good thing. I think reviews are important. I also think many of us have "learned" to read reviews, how to discount certain criticisms, how to "read" certain photos, what kind of questions to ask the owner, etc. Earlier this year I was looking for a Paris rental for friends, and found a centrally located rental whose ad shows the most opulent interior. And the price was right. But not a single review. And my contact with the owner was not good; he repeatedly gave me conflicting info about the rental's availability. I found another rental which worked out very well, from an agency that got high marks here. Meanwhile, I found on another travel site that the opulent rental had repeated bait&switch problems. Now never mind linens. With a bait&switch, one strike you're out.
We have rented over 30 places in Europe and only really had 1 big negative (a place we rented through an agency that was dirty, cluttered and had way too much of the owner's stuff everywhere). Probably 85% of our rentals have been direct from the owners. But some places that we thought were great might not have worked for someone else-- people have different needs and expectations.
We have some fabulous resource information on the main Slow Travel website that provides all kinds of guidance on the concept of slow travel and vacation rentals in Europe. For those that may be new to this way of traveling, this is an excellent place to get educated. Here are just a few pages to get you started:
we were criticised recently for not providing a daily towel change in our apartments.
I did want to comment on the point Margaret made about someone expecting a daily towel change. In all our rentals, we've never had (nor do we expect) a daily towel change. As others have said, we don't get new towels at home every day either! In places where we've rented for two or more weeks, we have had new linens and towels provided at the end of each week (though I think we changed the beds ourselves). Some rentals that may market primarily to Europeans may not even provide linens (or will charge extra for them), and as long as I know that in advance, it's not a problem.
This old discussion about sheets and towels gives more insight into different expectations and types of rentals.
Basically, I am hesitant to rent from a private individual unless I have seen some kind of positive reviews like on Slow travel. Once a landlord has your money you are at their mercy as a foreigner because in italy they are all cash transactions.
My experiences even with rental agencies has not been entirely positive, so I am hesitant to jsut trust that everything will be all right. I don't like to pay cleaning fees, fees for electricity, or damage deposits. i try to find rentals where the rent covers everything, and so far I have been successful at this.
Some of the stuff like daily towel changes, you jsut have to discount when you read it; it an apartment not a hotel. The part about it being on the third or fourth floor could be valid critism if it wasn't mentioned in the description. I don't rent apartments above the third floor anymore (without a lift) after struggling with a fifth floor walkup in paris.
Posts: 3781 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
