Booking directly with villa owners - does anyone do this anymore?

[MauveSnake]

When we used to rent villas from private individuals we would always deal directly with the owner. Perhaps be asked to pay a security deposit. There was an acceptance of risk on both sides.

We spent the last decade staying in hotels. Now looking to rent a villa again. Have found places on google maps or with their own websites, only to communicate via email and then be directed to book via airbnb or similar.

I don’t want to book through websites such as Airbnb or Vrbo. I have no interest in handing over £1000 in fees to a third party company when that money could go towards a nicer villa or experiences on the holidays.

Any advice on finding people willing to do it the old fashioned way?

Try googling for local companies in the area you want to go on holiday.

We often do this when going to Menorca, and have booked through local management companies. They tend to be a bit cheaper than the larger, uk based companies, and can also be much more flexible with start and end dates if you want to do something like 10 days rather than 1 or 2 weeks.

They won't be ABTA bonded, and there's still an element of risk of course, but we've never had a problem, and if they take credit cards, that gives an extra layer of protection.

Usually i would say owners like to book a new guest through a third party probably for insurance purposes. If they like you and you are a good guest they may offer you their email for a future booking direct with ‘mates rates’. This has happened to us a few times now after booking on Air B&B.

You may also find owners who don’t use third parties and run their own booking company so take bookings direct.

if you can find an email always worth asking if you can book direct.

Simply Owners don’t have the same fee structure as some of the others.

We did but only for repeat visits, I then email the owner and we arrange how to pay.

If I find a villa on Vrbo I like I do try and find a website with direct booking links but lots do re-direct you to booking . com or similar, I assume for insurance purposes and in some case I would assume to avoid paying for a payment system only a limited amount of visitors use.

Try Simply Owners.. we used them for Portugal last year. 😊

Join Facebook groups for the resort you want to go to. There may be local letting companies or owners on there advertising. This is how we find our villas

We prefer using a company as they can handle any problems. We have booked our places for around 20 years and luckily never had any problems.