Help! Where would you look for a villa in Spain online?

[WendyCope]

I can no longer use owners direct, they have been taken over, charge the renters a fee and insist payment is through them and then don't pay us till people have left, the whole thing is a bloody nightmare.

It is my only income, so, I need a solution and it occurred to me it would be an idea to ask on here. I hope that's ok MNHQ.

To be clear, I am in no way advertising my property, it all has to be done officially etc, there are SO many hoops to jump through in Spain these days when renting a property. I am just doing a bit of research and thought people might help me.

What websites do you search when looking for a villa in Spain? If you look for a holiday in Spain!

Thanks so much for any replies.

We've used James Villas a few times. Villa Plus?

Thank you so much dementedpixie this is great to know, you see, I have never even heard of these websites, I'll check them out.

We've used James Villas (although not in Spain) and Brittany Ferries holidays.
I've had Casa Cantabria recommended to me by people who've used them too. But it depends where in Spain you are.

Booking.com?

Airbnb

I didn't know that about owners direct, have used them a lot in the past but will steer clear now!

We've used James villas and air bnb. This year we booked our Spain villa through homeaway.co.uk

Thankyou both Barbeasty and Daisies That is interesting about James villas, two votes so far. Booking.com has been ruled out by my DH , he had a valid reason, but I don't remember why.

I am worried we are not posh enough for James villas, (just had a quick look) it is a lovely, but standard family villa with a pool, but no added extras. Very nice, but I wouldn't say 'luxury'. That website seems too posh!

Ownersdirect (when it was that) was so great. You spoke to the people, they saw what they got. They paid. Simple. Hard work but also fun.

James villas has a range of villas ranging from Classic to Superior.

Airbnb, I wouldn’t book anything where the money went direct to the person in case the villa turned out to be not real

James villa - we've used them twice. Excellent.

Always HomeAway for me - we rent villas a couple of times a year in US and Europe, and have been using them forever, but they're the ones who now own owners direct, so no good for you.

I imagine James Villas will be expensive (for both sides). Air BNB would be the other place, but I don't think you get paid until after they've stayed either.

Homeaway is owners direct! This is my problem.

Thank you all so much for your input.

Espresso super interesting, thank you. Spanish DH has just started advertising with them. I thought that was more the Spanish market. Very pleased to hear you use it! And have heard of it, as I haven't

Heyha you want to avoid them, or, get the villa details and somehow try to contact the owner directly. Otherwise they control the whole lot and it is a logistical nightmare and cost you $$$ much more! It used to be fantastic!

Thanks carrie All you say is true.

Airbnb

If you are in Andalucia, make sure you have the licence!

I use TripAdvisor or airb&b

We’ve used James for years in Mallorca but we’re giving Villa Plus a go this year for Croatia

Oh I have the license!!! Been doing this for 15 years, now have to change advertising people. Honestly, homeaway/owners direct are a terrible company now!

Air b and b a no no. We are not posh, but we are posher than that and always fully booked in summer, it's a proper business. Two week bookings back to back in summer. We need to be in control of these bookings.

That's the issue.

Air b and b wouldn't work.

But thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed to find out.

I use (am in France) Holiday France Direct, airb&b and Booking.com.
HFD not much good for you in Spain, the other two charge lots of commission but are useful for filling gaps.
I have had good success using Facebook- look for the group "Book your holiday Direct with the owner" for example and also with eBay.
You can also get good advice on the Lay my Hat forum.

It looks like it is going to be James then... Iammummy thanks.

It just looks like a very expensive website.

I used to just literally chat to people before they booked, meet them myself when they arrived, keep costs down for both, it was so simple...

I've not used Owners Direct/Homeaway for years for the reasons you said.

Ive used Directvillaholidays and spain-holiday.com. I also just Google villas in the area and go via whatever site that covers that area e.g. Javea or Moraira.

DH has used Airbnb and TripAdvisor successfully.

avery thanks so much for that! There is a facebook group about 'quit owners direct' by angry owners, so that makes sense. I will look into that immediately!

The nemesis Thanks

I've booked some quite "posh" places through AirBnB. Find TripAdvisor great too.