Apartment Rentals
 

Am planning a trip to Europe in 2014-- we will be staying in apartments throughout our trip and we are curious as to what the best websites for apartment rentals are?

Heard some horror stories about certain ones, so I am hoping for some advice from the experts :)

Thanks!

Have you done any searches on this forum (box in the upper left?]

Not to be nasty, but you don't even tell us where you are going. I could tell you the best apartment in Ajaccio, but that would be useless if you were going to Helsinki and would be a waste of bandwidth and time. Your budget and the length of your trip and stay in each place are critical.

And it isn't clear (reread your post) whether you want a list of the agencies to use or the agencies to avoid. Both are available here.

Well, you have posted under UK so I assume you mean in the UK - but where? London? The wilds of Scotland? There are some nationwide agencies but also many specilaising in particular areas, e.g. the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District, or particular types of property. Aside from big cities, particularly London, you'll find more listed under 'cottages' than under 'apartments' (or more generally 'holiday flats' in Britian); although 'cottages' websites may include some properties which are actually apartments/flats too. Also be aware that a lot of 'self-catering' accommodation (another phrase to look for in Britain) is only available by the week, typically Saturday-Saturday, especially in summer.

So as well as areas, city/country properties, lengths of stays, size/number of people, budget, it would be useful if you specify the time of year too.

I'm just beginning my research and this is my first trip abroad so I wasn't aware that there were specific agencies per city as well as nationwide.

I will be traveling with my boyfriend, so just the 2 of us. We were thinking of 7 days in London, 2 days in Bath and 3 days in Edinburgh and possibly 2 days in Paris. (If not Paris then it will remain 5 days in Edinburgh.

I was looking on 'housetrip.com' but read bad reviews. We are trying to keep all accommodations to total $2k.

<<I'm just beginning my research and this is my first trip abroad so I wasn't aware that there were specific agencies per city as well as nationwide.>>

Seriously? Why would it be any different in the UK than in the US? London is nearly the size of NEW YORK CITY - do not underestimate it.

$2000 is $142 per night, which is about 90 quid or 105-110E. It's a stretch, but possible. If you want luxury at that price, forget it. You MAY be able to find something in Bloomsbury area of London and outside central Edinburgh at those rates. Apartments usually do not rent for less than 4-5 nights (there are exceptions, of course, but that requires more looking).

If you're trying to go from Edinburgh to Paris and back, think again because connections between Paris and London are easier, more frequent and that means less costly.

Determine a start and end point: If you want to go to Edinburgh, London, Paris then fly to Edinburgh, train to London, train to Paris and fly home from Paris and do Bath as a day trip.

<<Seriously? Why would it be any different in the UK than in the US? London is nearly the size of NEW YORK CITY - do not underestimate it.>>

From the basic research I've done, some of the websites allow you to choose which city/country you're going to and then lists the apartments available.

Thanks for the tips and advice but please keep in mind, for this particular forum I am looking at what websites are most reputable. Any advice or tips in that area would be appreciated.

I don't know any general apartment booking sites like you mention - and I've never heard of housetrip.com before - but having lived in Edinburgh for 18 years until 8 months ago I could list some specific sets of apartments there - but I don't think you'd get any of them for £90pn or less.

For example, this place always seems to be raved over - http://www.knightresidence.com/?gcli...FUxY3godbTkAuQ - but it would be more than £90pn even for a studio (i.e. bedsit) unless you are travelling *very* off-season.

In Britain a modest hotel is nearly always be cheaper than a city apartment - there are a number of fairly reliable budget chains like Ibis & Travelodge.

In case it helps, what's your reason for wanting to stay in apartments? Are you wanting to cook to save money on eating out?

And importantly, again - when are you planning to travel? That can make a big difference to prices.

Anyway, in the meantime, for other Edinburgh apartments also try looking at the visitscotland (tourist board website).

caroline: Thanks for responding! :) The budget is not set in stone, since it's our first trip abroad we aren't sure of what an appropriate budget for lodging would be so that is pretty flexible. We are looking to travel around mid-late May in 2014. We are interested in an apartment mostly because I've heard its less expensive than a hotel and because we'd be able to cook and eat out less.

I'll be sure to check out those links as well :)

Btw it is possible to get cheap flights between Edinburgh & Paris with Easyjet but again, it depends when you are travelling. In fact we always used to fly between Edinburgh & London too - it was invariably cheaper.

I like smoothhound for uk and octopus travel for Europe.

Apartments can be cheaper than hotels in some places - for instance in Venice, where we live now - but like I said, in Britain city apartments are usually always more expensive than modest hotels. (More space & often more luxurious.) If you stay in a budget hotel & eat modestly, e.g. in cafes & pubs, it is still likely to be cheaper than staying in an apartment and cooking. In Edinburgh the Ibis in Hunter Square & the fairly new Travelodge in Waterloo Place are budget hotels in very good locations.

The good news is that mid-late May isn't an expensive time, as long as you avoid the bank holiday centred around the last Monday. Otherwise it is outwith the school holidays and - importantly in Edinburgh - outwith the festivals period.

I've only just noticed you are talking about 2014, though - I'd assumed it was 2013. So lots of time to research! It will be too early to book any flights & a lot of (but not all) accommodation yet, though. If you can get accommodation booked now, why not - the budget hotel chains do work like budget airlines to an extent in that booking as early as possible is cheapest. And don't just look at budget airlines (Easyjet & although I don't recommend them, Ryanair) - if you book far enough in advance, the traditional airlines (BA, Air France) can be just as cheap. In the UK the trad ones usually start booking about a year ahead, the budget ones a lot less far in advance.

You cannot book flights until about 11-12 months before you travel. Used to be a 330-335 day rule but dunno if that applies.

I would avoid any apartment rental connector like vrbo, airbnb or housetrip. Those are really craigslists for apartments and in a foreign country your recourse for someone screwing you is effectively nil. Are you really going to try to get your money back through the courts if someone bilks you? No. So don't use a website for private owners to list their wares, use an agency that deals in apartments.

There are ton(ne)s of apartment agencies like A Place Like Home in London but if you're looking for 2014, then (1) you must be fairly sure that you'll still be boy/girlfriend 18 months from now and (2) you probably won't be able to book that far in advance.

Oh yeah, you don't want the best websites, you want the best agencies even if their websites are rubbish. :o

Caroline: we might check out some hotels as well-- keeping an open mind, just trying to get the most bang for our buck. Can you recommend any good B&B's in Edinburgh??

BigRuss: I've heard some good things about 'a place like home' on other forums. Again, I'm not looking to book anything immediately, I'm just trying to obtain information to start some basic research. I.e- good agencies to use when booking an apartment to rent. I think you are taking my words too literally, didn't mean whose website is superior to others-- and I'm not really looking for someone to point out whether my boyfriend and I will be together by the time we are looking to travel-- not that it needs an explanation but we've been together 8 years-- more time than most marriages these days. But thanks for the advice on the sites I should steer clear of.

B&Bs in central Edinburgh are often also more expensive than budget chain hotels, as they are often quite posh! The only ones where I know the owners a bit and have been on the premises are as follows:

1. Ingrams - lovely location, very central, in the New Town (which is Georgian, as opposed to the mediaeval Old Town), owned by interesting artistic couple; probably not cheap

2. 1 Albert Terrace - the one in Morningside not Portobello - a nice suburb just about a mile outside the centre on a good bus route, Georgian townhouse

3. Pringle's Ingle - also in Morningside, in a Victorian terrace.

The Castle View guesthouse on Castle Street, right in the centre, always used to get good reviews here but I have no personal experience of it and I think it changed hands a couple of years ago, so don't know about now. Ditto 2 Cambridge Street (a B&B).

You would be able to get much cheaper ones on the outskirts and/or in charmless areas, but do you want that? Again, check the visitscotland website which lists all accommodation types (and cross-check reviews of likely candidates on Tripadvisor). Since this is the official Scotland tourist board I assume places have to meet certain standards to be listed, and you could complain to them if anything goes seriously wrong.

Another cheap option is unversity accomodation but you won't be there at the time they rent it out (i.e. the university holidays).

You might look at www.slowtrav.com for reviews of individual rentals and rental agencies. And general tips on self-catering accommodations.

I don't know how the prices compare, but we once used London Connections to book a flat (and it was lovely). They are located in the U.S. and have an 800 phone number, so it would be easy to check with them.