Pauline
Forums Admin
I am reading an old Travel + Leisure magazine about Italy and in the article "The Beach, Italian Style" the writer and his family booked a house in Lerici (Liguria) through vrbo.com and when they arrived it was so horrible that they spent one night and then moved to something better that they found online that night. They wanted their dream trip to Italy!
I always say that you should give any vacation rental 24 hours to get used to it. I find that, because I book so far ahead and have so much time to think about it, I build it up in my mind to be the perfect, the best, the most interesting place I will ever stay. And on arrival the reality never lives up to my dreams. But after I get unpacked and get settled in, it starts looking better, usually.
But, we have walked out of places. Usually we stay for a few days and then make an early exit. One of our first Italy rentals was a very damp cottage in Tuscany, near Sovicille. We left a few days early. The dream apartment that I rented (through a reputable agency) on Lake Como had a barely working kitchen and a bedroom that filled with car exhaust from the very nearby highway. And a neighbor that screamed at us (but Steve eventually made friends with her). We left early, but only because the weather was horrible and Lake Como was flooding (in July!).
I can't think of any other disasters. Two out of 50+ (I think) vacation rentals in Europe isn't bad. All those years of posting vacation rental reveiws on SlowTrav I came across some disasters.
I always say that you should give any vacation rental 24 hours to get used to it. I find that, because I book so far ahead and have so much time to think about it, I build it up in my mind to be the perfect, the best, the most interesting place I will ever stay. And on arrival the reality never lives up to my dreams. But after I get unpacked and get settled in, it starts looking better, usually.
But, we have walked out of places. Usually we stay for a few days and then make an early exit. One of our first Italy rentals was a very damp cottage in Tuscany, near Sovicille. We left a few days early. The dream apartment that I rented (through a reputable agency) on Lake Como had a barely working kitchen and a bedroom that filled with car exhaust from the very nearby highway. And a neighbor that screamed at us (but Steve eventually made friends with her). We left early, but only because the weather was horrible and Lake Como was flooding (in July!).
I can't think of any other disasters. Two out of 50+ (I think) vacation rentals in Europe isn't bad. All those years of posting vacation rental reveiws on SlowTrav I came across some disasters.