Cindywho

Has anyone had any experience with "local nomad" for apt rentals?

I have not heard of them, but am looking on their website. My husband found it on his own.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

JerryS

Be very careful when renting an apartment, whether in Italy or elsewhere.
Also be wary of EmanuelleD's posting. This is his/her first posting on Fodors and it smells a bit fishy.
There are many reputable rental agents in Rome. Keep researching on Fodors and elsewhere.
Good luck.

Mark_Hays

Jerry's posting is good advice: be careful With Local Nomad!

Here is a summary of the disaster that nearly tanked our Paris vacation:

> I found FeelParis.com with a Google search, and their site looked sharp with lots of listings, good photos etc. I found an apartment and tried to reserve it. www.FeelParis.com is one of the sites run by www.LocalNomad.com, which includes www.LocalNomad-Rome.com. They have similar site for cities around the world.

> The FeelParis / Local Nomad site rejected my AMEX card. That was puzzling, so I tried a MasterCard -- which did not work. So I contacted Local Nomad. They replied quickly and asked me to send the large deposit (291 euros = $387) via PayPal. I should have noticed this red flag, but went ahead and transferred $387 via PayPal.

> I though our reservation was booked. I contacted the owner a couple of weeks before our trip to see how we should pay the remainder of the rental. Surprise! She said she had not received a reservation from Feel Paris / Local Nomad, had not received one euro of our large deposit, and her apartment was already booked! We had to scramble to find a hotel at the last minute, which cost significantly more.

> When I contacted Feel Paris / Local Nomad, they said it was my fault -- I "failed to contact the owner within 48 hours." What?!! After we paid that big deposit? I dug into their website and read the "Terms and Conditions" page carefully. Wow, what an eye-opener. Your entire "deposit" is actually a "fee" kept by Local Nomad. Not one dime goes to the owner of the apartment. Their only responsibility: send a "confirmation" email to you, with a copy to the owner. Confirmation of what? The owner did not receive a penny, so what 'reservation' actually exists? See this page: www.feelparis.com/en/s/faq/conditions.html Note the poor translation and fuzzy terms.

> Today I received a followup email from Ivan Lopez in Local Nomad's Customer Service group. Ivan apologized for the problem we encountered and said, "...we have taken steps to ensure that this will never happen again by improving our booking system and specifications for customers."

Despite acknowledging problems with their booking process, Local Nomad still REFUSED to refund a penny of the 291 euro deposit we paid. Instead, Ivan offered a 200 euro "discount" for a new reservation with Travel Nomad. Of course! Book another 'reservation' with this crew?!!

> The problem with Feel Paris / Local Nomad cost us over $1,000 in total. Our summer vacation in France nearly collapsed.

> Key things to remember:

1: If any Web vendor rejects your credit cards and asks you to send a big payment via PayPal or wire, think again! Your payment will be gone, period. No recourse.

2: Check the vendor's "terms and conditions" carefully, and look for issues posted by other customers. Will they really deliver what you expect?

In short, caveat emptor. The good news: there are reputable websites for apartment and home rentals -- with clear terms and standard business practices.

I hope this is helpful.

Mark

StCirq

There is a really scary recent post on Trip Advisor about this company that would put me off from ever having anything to do with them.

clopes_portugal

the only bad experience I had was with Local nomad...after 30 years travelling...
We arrived in London last thursday the 10th of April, 6 persons with an apartment booking, and when we arrived the answer was :.. " Your booking was cancelled", with no more explanations. After a discussion the owners apartment arranged for a solution that was 2 different apartments in 4 days, of course all inconvenience caused with bagage removal and check in and check out, were covered by them.
If you want to have a bad time just pick up local nomad, I will try that this message get the larger number of people everywhere

willit

So another first time poster arrives to defend the company - not fishy at all!

GrandmaNae

We rented an apartment in Rome (www.holidayrentals-bookings.com) and had no problem. The apartment was great and the manager was very helpful with any questions we had.

jan47ete

You can also rent apts through booking.com. We have stayed at the Bollo apts by Campo di Fiori a few years ago and have another reservation there for November.

I have a reallllly long list of rental sites though recommendations of articles, etc but no personal experience if you would like it.

We also rent through VRBO.com and homeaway.com with success.

MGuimond

My daughter and I live in Québec, Canada and we rented a studio - Le Petit Montmartre, 43 rue des Abbesses, Paris, France - for 11 nights, from June 27th, 2014 to July 9th, 2014. When we arrived, we found that the location was nothing like the pictures. The studio was in need for a good clean-up. The problems began a few days after our arrival: the studio was infested with cockroaches!!! It was so bad - and discusting - that we had to leave and return home earlier. We asked the owner to reimburse extra fees caused by our earlier departure and we also asked for a monetary compensation. We received nothing. Then we tried to contact Local Nomad by email AND phone - multiple times - we were not able to speak to anyone. I DO NOT recommend Local Nomad to ANYBODY and especially not renting this studio.

AlanMerle

I absolutely agree with JerryS..
You should be very careful while renting nomad apartments... beacuse not always you will get what you have seen in the pictures.
So before making a final deal, make sure to check the property personally.

nochblad

very suspicious that someone who registers with Fodors this month makes a first posting on an old and contentious posting.

better let it die

AlanMerle

Hey Nochbald

I just came across this thread and I guess anybody can..
So am just giving general advice..
It is possible someone else with similar problem might be looking for the solution.