Renting Holiday Homes Vacation Property Rentals

Dear Site Visitor

Welcome to our guide to renting a holiday home directly from the owners. Please note the following information is purely for informational purposes and should not be completely or solely relied upon nor taken as absolute fact.

In this guide to renting a holiday property directly from the owner, you will find some very useful and practical advice. Please read this guide in full as it will prove invaluable to you should you decide to rent a vacation property holiday home.

Property Information: All property information displayed on each property web page is supplied by the property owner or property advertiser. Therefore you should ask the property owner or property advertiser you intend to rent from if all information is accurate and complete and how up to date it is. You should read all property information and satisfy yourself that the property is suitable for your needs. All local information and things to do should be listed on the property web page, if its not, just ask the property owner or property advertiser.

Rental Contract: We recommend that you should have some kind of written contract which clearly sets out the full name and address of the property owner or advertiser and of the property you will be renting, your arrival and departure dates, number of bedrooms in the property, number of persons in your group, the total rental price, any applicable taxes or other charges, payment procedure, cancellation policy, and booking terms. If you are unhappy with any part of the contract discuss your concerns with the property owner or advertiser and come to some compromise. If you are unsure about any part of the rental contract, seek legal advice before you commit.

Booking Conditions: Always make sure you read very carefully, and in full, the booking conditions of the person or company you are renting from and ensure those conditions clearly set out what their cancellation policy and payment procedure is. Make sure you understand the booking conditions before you commit and if you are unsure about any condition just ask the property owner or advertiser to explain it to you.

Complaint Procedure: You should make sure that the complaint procedure is contained within the booking terms and conditions. You may never need it but you should know what it is just in case. If you do, make sure you following exactly as it is set out in your booking terms and conditions. If you do have reason for complaint, be polite as shouting and being aggressive will generally get you nowhere and the local contact person may not speak to you until you act in a controlled polite manner. Most problems are resolved quickly onsite. However, if a cooker breaks down at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, there really isn't much a local contact person can do about it until Monday morning at the earliest.

Property Owners / Advertisers Contact Details: We recommend that you should never rent a property or pay money over to any person or company who can or will only provide you wilt a mobile /cell telephone number. Always insist on a home and/or work landline number. You should also insist on an address of the person or company you are renting from and send all correspondence to this address.

Sending Money To An Advertiser (not just on this site but any similar site): We strongly recommend that you should never ever pay for your holiday with any advertiser by means of sending money through Western Union or any other similar type company as your money is not protected and is generally to a large degree, untraceable should the advertiser be involved in fraud. You should only ever consider sending money to an advertiser after they have given you at least a legitimate home or business address and a LANDLINE, NOT a mobile / cell telephone number. If an advertiser is unable or unwilling to provide you with these basic details then we strongly recommend that you be very careful and even reconsider your decision to rent from them.

Key Collection / Return & Local Contact: Ask the person or company you are renting from what the key collection and return procedure is. Another very important question you should ask is if they provide a local contact person to deal with any problems you may experience while staying in their property. If they don't provide a local contact person, you should consider renting another property otherwise you may have to sort out a leaking washing machine or broken cooker yourself.

Airport Collection Service: Ask the property owner or property advertiser if they can arrange airport transfers for you. Most property owner's local contact person provides a guest airport transfer service. This can be very beneficial as it generally costs the same, or even less than a taxi, the drive knows exactly where you are staying, and they will also help you into the property with your luggage.

Special Requests: If you have any special requests, such as a baby cot or welcome pack of food, just ask the property owner as they may well be able to arrange them for you.

During Your Stay: When you first arrive at the property, give it a once over, preferably while the local contact person is still present. If you notice any breakages or damage to the property of it's contents, point them out to the local contact person. If they are not present, call them, otherwise you may be asked to pay for the breakages or damage.

If you should break anything, inform the local contact person immediately. Usually you will not be charged for small breakages, however, if you break something big and expensive, you will obviously have to pay to have it repaired or replaced. By reporting breakages locally you can agree a fair and reasonable repair or replacement fee with the local contact person.

You should keep the property as you would your own home, in a clean and tidy condition. If you accumulate any rubbish, dispose of it in the correct manner and do not leave it in the property. Be considerate towards other guests, they too are on holiday.

Remember that the property you are staying in is another person's home from home, so treat it in the same manner, as you would expect from someone staying in your home from home. Property consideration benefits all guests in the long run.

At The End Of Your Stay: Before you leave the property at the end of your holiday, you should ensure that the property is left in the same clean and tidy condition it was in when you arrived. Do not leave any rubbish in the property. I'm sure you have at some stage asked to be able to check into a property early for one reason or another. The quicker the cleaners can clean and prepare the property for the next guests, the earlier they can check-in, and the next guest will at some stage be……YOU.

We hope you found the above information interesting and helpful. We have tried to be as accurate, complete and informative with the above information as we could. However, we would like to draw your attention to the disclaimer below and ask that you take a moment to read it.

DISCLAIMER NOTICE: Please be advised that all the above information is provided for information purposes only. ApartmentsDirect.ie has made every effort to ensure this guide is complete and accurate, however, ApartmentsDirect.ie do not accept responsibility or liability for any incomplete, inaccuracies or omissions, whatsoever. You are solely responsible for any agreement, rental or otherwise, you enter into with any property owner or advertiser.