I found an old thread from May 2004 where Pauline was going to create or update a list of rentals/agencies that offered daily vs weekly rentals. I couldn't find the page if one was created. Is it here somewhere and I'm just missing it? This would be really helpful I think.

We had a hard time finding some places, but have now managed to get a couple 3 night rentals. We were getting desparate and were just about willing to pay for a whole week or at least 5 days if necessary.

Linda

it only depends on what time of year you are going to be here... most places will not rent for less than a full week (mostly sat to sat) in high season but you shouldn't have any problems in mid or low season...

Hi Linda,
We've just returned from Italy (May 3-27), where we stayed no longer than 5 nights at any of the several places we now miss a LOT. . . Though 2 were hotels, the other 5 were apartments or houses. I agree it depends on the time of year--I found that asking owners if they'd consider shorter rentals got me lots of possibilities that they hadn't actually listed on their web-sites. It never hurts to ask!

The area that I had the biggest problem with was the Amalfi Coast. We did finally get one for just the 3 nights that we wanted, mid Sept, so it worked out OK for us. The high/mid/low season thing seems to depend entirely on the website your on, so that can be a bit confusing too. Some of the sites actually showed daily rates with a 10-15% surcharge for high season, but still advised that they rent for only 1 week periods.

I think some of the problem is that with many of them you must go through the agency first and it seemed like most just replied that they only rented for the week period. So I'm not sure those inquiries even make as far as the owner. I did ask if they would inquire with the owner a couple of times and basically was advised that they do not rent for less than a week and should my plans change I should contact them again.

I know you can't always go by the availability that they show, but I do wonder how many places just end up staying empty when they could have been rented for at least part of the week...hmmm.

It would probably be a pretty big job I guess to keep track of this in reality anyway as circumstances likely change often.

Linda.

quote:

I know you can't always go by the availability that they show, but I do wonder how many places just end up staying empty when they could have been rented for at least part of the week...hmmm.

Probably none or they would have adapted to shorter rentals.

And besides, sometimes, if that is not their major activity, it is just not worth the while or not possible to have more than one change per week.

We rent Casina di Rosa only on a weekly basis because we can only be in Civitella on the week-end and plus it is our personal conviction that the area well deserves a week stay.

In Pisa on the other hand, we are more flexible, because we live here, so we can let people stay for less than a week. Moreover, we are aware of the great mobility that low cost airlines give people, so many people come for a week-end get away.

I am sure I would be fully booked even if I only accepted week-long rentals though, and it would be sooooooooo much less work and expenses for us.

It is a matter of choices.