For those that have not used this site before or are new to renting holiday properties directly from the owners, the following guidelines will help you.

 »Finding a Property:

Search our property listings either by location or by number of bedrooms. Please remember that often you will find extra sleeping accommodation in the form of sofa beds, so a 1 bedroom apartment may sleep up to 4. It is also worth looking at accommodation with a larger number of bedrooms, these are not always more expensive.

 »Shortlisting the Properties:

Whilst browsing through the properties, you will see the reference number for each advertisement in the top right hand corner of the page eg. S113. Make a note of these and you can easily re-visit the pages by typing the refence number into the Property Finder box, again in the top right hand corner.

 »Contacting the Owner:

You will find the contact details (telephone, fax, e-mail link) of the owner at the bottom of each advertisement. If e-mailing, please give your name, e-mail address, telephone number and state the number of people plus the dates that you are interested in. If you have any particular requirements or questions to ask, there is room on the form for this. Remember that these are private owners and that they may possibly be away from their e-mail for a few days. Most will respond immediately but if you do not get a response within a couple of days, we would recommend that you telephone them.

 »Making a Booking:

Each property owner will have their own way of processing a booking but, as a guideline, you should expect to pay a deposit to secure the booking of between 10% - 50% of the total rental. This is normally paid either by cheque or by bank transfer and the owner should confirm the booking and receipt of your payment by letter or by e-mail. The balance is normally paid around 8 weeks before the start of the holiday. Often a breakage deposit is required with the balance, and this is refundable at the end of the holiday less the cost of any breakages and metered charges for gas/electricity/telephone if they are not included in the rental rate. Please check the cancellation terms with the owner at the time of booking - deposits are often non-refundable and they may have a sliding scale of charges for last minute cancellations after the balance has been paid. We recommend that you ask for any terms and conditions in writing.

 »Arriving at the Property:

Make sure that you have the address and directions to the property. These are normally sent to you on payment of the balance. Some owners will send you a key in advance, some may live on site and be there to welcome you, whilst others may have a local representative or neighbour who will meet you (in this case please make sure that you have the telephone number of the owner or their representative so that you can call to let them know if your arrival time is delayed).

 »Any Problems:

All owners should leave instructions at the property for contacting either themselves or their local representative. If you find that you have a problem or an item of equipment breaks down, please call them straight away. Either they or their representative will have the local knowledge to put things right. It is essential to air any difficulties on the spot as this gives the owner the chance to ensure your holiday is not spoilt. Please do not save up complaints until after you return home.

 »Enjoy your Holiday!

We ourselves have enjoyed many years of wonderful holidays, renting accommodation directly from private owners, and we hope that you, too, will enjoy using our site.