Trip Coach: January 9, 2007

Christine Karpinski: Finding a villa that will sleep eight adults (four couples- meaning that finding a four bedroom, two-four bathroom home), in Florence might be difficult to find--as the city center of Florence mainly has small 1-3 bedroom apartments to rent. You will likely have to search outside the city.
When you're searching on Yahoo! or Google, try searching on "Firenze holiday rentals" (Firenze is the European spelling for the city of Florence.) You could also search by the region, "Tuscany" + Holiday + Rentals. 
 
As for being nervous about the quality of the villas, I don't think you have to worry as long as you're booking from a reputable website. Many of the "by owner" vacation rental websites take vacationer complaints very seriously and will boot off any owners who has had 3 or more vacationer complaints. 
 
Remember though, the villas will be old--some as old as 1000 yrs old. But don't confuse old with bad quality. Here's a villa, which is around 1 hr drive from Florence that I have personally stayed in that's over 900 yrs old. 
 
The best deals will be likely be found through owners, as the owners forgo the 20-50% property management fees and most pass along the savings to travelers; however, if you are worried and prefer to deal with a property manager, the Parker Company (theparkercompany.com or 800/280-2811) represents 350 properties in Italy is a reputable property management company. 
 
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine Karpinski

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Tampa, FL: Ms. Karpinski: We're very excited, my husband and I and our two children (ages 18 and 8) will be going to London the week of March 19th for vacation. This is our first time to London and we're looking for an economically priced vacation property we can rent from March 19th and we're departing early on March 26th. Any suggestions?

Christine Karpinski: London's a great city and you and your family are going to love it. Unfortunately "London" and "economical" rarely go together. Since hotel rooms in London are very small, you'll have a very difficult time finding accommodations to comfortably accommodate your family (especially for a full week). But staying in a vacation rental home will almost certainly be less expensive than two hotel rooms and the conveniences they have for your children will be the difference between enjoying your vacation and being stressed the whole time. You'll be able to save money by having breakfast or an occasional lunch or dinner in the rental home (most come with a kitchen).
  
Think about the difference between a tiny hotel room, possibly with limited amenities, and an actual home with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms and kitchens, living and dining areas. No contest, right? You know that crowded, slightly stir-crazy feeling you get in a hotel room? It's doesn't happen in a vacation home. In fact, I've found that people who stay in private homes don't feel so compelled to wear themselves out cramming in every touristy activity in town. They don't mind just hanging out in the living room and relaxing more, which after all, is what a vacation is supposed to be! 
 
Vacation homes provide more privacy for Mom & Dad. Let's say you want to have some, ahemmmm, adult time while you're on vacation. There's nothing like being able to put the kids in a separate bedroom down the hall. 
 
Since your travel dates are Monday to Monday, I would start my quest looking for accommodation from the 17th to the 24th (Sat-Sat) since many owners rent their properties from Saturday to Saturday. If your flight reservations have been solidified, I would still send the requests for the Saturday to Saturday dates and then after you hear back from the owners you can give them your specific dates. If you do indeed find a "holiday home" to rent, then you might be required to check out on Saturday and then check into a hotel for the remainder of your stay. I think that this would still be more economical than renting two hotel rooms for your entire stay. 
 
Sites such as Holiday-rentals.co.uk, HomeAway.com, or VRBO.com have variety of listings in London. It looks like a two bedroom, two bath "flat" or "apartment" will cost you about 800 pounds which is around $1500 USD.
  
On a final note, be sure to pre-buy your attraction tickets, it's a great way to save some money on tourist-y things to do in London: hrp.org.uk . Your children will love the Tower of London!
Happy Renting by Owner,
Christine Karpinski

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Huntington Beach, CA: I am considering renting an apartment in the Costa Del Sol region of Spain for 10 days to 2 weeks. How do I go about finding one?

Christine Karpinski: Looks like HomeAway.com is your bet. There are nearly 2000 properties on in the Costa Del Sol area. Just as note: Most people rent their homes for a full week, so if you're up in the air about whether to stay 10 days to two weeks, you'd likely have an easier time finding a vacation rental home for two full weeks. 
 
If you choose stay in one of larger cities (Malaga or Cadiz), you'll be able to take buses to other cities in southern Spain. If you stay in a more remote area, you're going to have to rent a car at the airport to get around. 
 
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine Karpinski

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Baltimore, MD: Have not been successful at finding a Catskills rental for this summer by Googling it. Is there a good internet site thru which I can find a rental--searching the internet for a rental by owner has been great for us in the Adirondacks and in Maine, but this has been harder. Not sure why. Looking or older house/cabin for 8-10 with charm!

Christine Karpinski: If you're looking for a property in the Catskills, you may want to pick a specific town first. A lot of the little towns are really close together like Allan, Wararsing, Kerhonkson, and Shawangunk. I found 86 properties on VacationRentals.com, 243 on HomeAway.com, and about 175 on VRBO.com and 137 on NYvacationRentals.com. 
 
The trick in finding them is really searching on the specific town that you wish to visit rather than just "Catskills". 
 
Happy Renting by Owner,
Christine Karpinski

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Hollidaysburg, PA: My wife and I will be traveling to Kaui in July of this year for a wedding, staying about two weeks. We are considering staying at a condo or other type of rental property. Where should we look for this type of opportunity. There are other members of the wedding part who would be willing to join us and stay in a larger unit.