ekscrunchy

After returning from a far-too-brief visit to Spain last night, I am already thinking about next year, and the possibility of a longer stay in either Spain or Italy, most likely the former. Air B&B and VRBO are great, but sometimes they just list too many properties and many that don't seem to be vetted in depth. Is TripAdvisor a good source for rentals?

Do semi-long-stay visitors still use apartment/house rental agencies for finding rentals? If you were seeking to rent in Spain, for example, where would you begin looking? And also, where would you find in-depth info on what it would be like to spend a month or two in a place, from the expat perspective? I don't mean a guidebook, I mean good blogs written by expats, or forums by the same...

Hope to keep my dream alive!!

lrice

We booked with Habitat Apartments in 2017 in Barcelona.. I think I found them on HomeAway which is now VRBO.

Here is the link to the company:
https://www.habitatapartments.com/barcelona-apartments

Here is the apartment we stayed in:
https://www.habitatapartments.com/en...ew/pedrera.htm

Our apartment was on Rambla Catalunya - a beautiful street.
We also have used AirBnB and VRBO for long stays in Paris and Provence. We only stay in apartments with many many good reviews. I message the owner and ask for the exact address before I book. But yes, it is a lot to sort through.

joduhl

I just booked an apartment in Spain for next March - a year from now! I made sure we would get a 100% refund if cancel 30 days beforehand. I did this after realizing many places I liked were already booked for next year.
For more than a few night we use apartments and not hotels. We like to cook dinner at home, wash our clothes, etc
I generally use VRBO and spend a lot of time reading reviews, looking at the pictures. I message the host with specific questions. We have had excellent experiences with apartment rentals and the more we do the more we know about what to look for. Last spring we rented an apartment in Paris 10th. It was lovely but the bedroom was up a windy staircase and the only bathroom was downstairs- a challenge in the middle of the night! So that's something I now know to pay attention to.
I like the ease of navigating the VRBO site, including looking for places that have kitchen, washing machine, outside space, etc - but some cities seems to have many more listings on air bnb so in that case i use them.

joduhl

Also, in reading reviews on sites I pay attention to whether people stayed for longer - i.e. if it would be a good place to be for a month.

ekscrunchy

Joduhi:

Many thanks for the tips. Scary that you found places to be already booking up for next March; that is when I would like go return so will get busy on this.
I love the idea of apts, but since I will probably be traveling alone, there is something to be said for the comfort of a hotel with staff available for advice, directions, solutions to issues that might crop up. I usually get the rooms with breakfast included so I'm almost never hungry at lunch, and then I like to go out to dinner so even though I love to cook, I'm not sure how much I'd use the kitchen. But I will try a mix of apts and hotels next trip, I think---the apts must be more economical and you can stretch out! Trouble is that the really nice ones are bigger than I need in the places I was looking!
Do you mind if I ask you where you booked for next March..not the actual apt but the town? Just curious!! Thank you again!!

shelemm

Here is another source to try:

https://www.gites.fr/pays_gites_espagne_65.html

danon

,Take a look at homeclub.com. …most of their properties are in Madrid. They have a great selection in different parts of the city.
We used them a couple of times in the past.. After covid, majority of their rentals are per month. At one time the company was called Spain Select

In Barcelona, we also rented from habitat several times. It was eight/ ten year ago.

lavandula

If you are looking at expat accounts in Spain you might be interested to read "Driving over Lemons: an Optimist in Andalucia": https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/398080 . Rick Stein once interviewed the author and they shared a meal together. Very likeable!

Lavandula

bilboburgler

I use the following
google maps search on "gites" which is a generally French or Italian word to describe appartments etc
Google maps is actually pretty good at finding geography based things

I also go to the town website (any reasonably sized European town has one and dig out their month long rentals
https://www.gites.fr/pays_gites_espagne_65_en.html etc etc

I only use Airbnb when I have too little time to do a good search, I pay more money but I spend less time.

bvlenci

"Gites" is not a word used in Italy. Try "casa vacanza" which is used for longer stays. "Casa" in this case would include apartments.

In general, I much prefer hotels to apartments, for the reasons you gave, but for stays of more than a week, I would want an apartment. Having to eat out every day for over a week would begin to get tiresome. When I have an apartment, I usually eat out fairly often anyway, but if I'm tired or have a headache, I can stay in and rustle up something.

joduhl

I certainly understand why you would to stay in a hotel if you're on your own; I would do the same. In choosing hotels I use trip advisor. I sort it by traveler ranking and again read the reviews carefully. I think Trip advisor is not as good as it used to be but it still is a good source for hotel reviews. And as others have said here, after reading the reviews, I would then reserve directly with the hotel.

We will be going back next March to Valencia, for the third time. We were initially there in 2018 and then again this past January. We stayed in the same apartment both times, which is in the old part of the city, very close to the Mercado Central. The apartment and area are lovely but this time we are going to stay in a very different part of the city - El Cabanyl, which is close to the beach and historically connected to fishermen, although it is now becoming gentrified.

https://www.visitvalencia.com/en/wha...l-neighborhood

We love Valencia - the culture, the climate, the food - and are interested in experiencing a different area of the city. The question now is where else to go before or after the 3 weeks we will be in Valencia next March.

I did look at tripadvisor Valencia hotels and I like the reviews of the #1 ranked - Cosmo Hotel & Bar because of what reviewers say about the staff and because of the location.

bilboburgler

I agree gites is not a word used in Italian or in Italy on a day to day basis, but it is a word used to search out that sort of accomodation, especially for British and French customers, hence used in the trade

ekscrunchy

Thanks to all!

Lavandula, I did read that book, and have a copy. If you could recommend any similar accounts of foreigners moving to Spain (or Italy!) I would love the names..I've read quite a few but there are always more (I hope!!)

Joduhl, My summer program in Valencia was my first visit to Europe, long ago!! I returned to Valencia a few years ago and fell in love...what a fabulous city, and the apartment near that market!!!!! It has be among the best markets in Spain!! So you are looking for a second destination? And I am also looking for a second destination for 2024. Hope to return to the area of Cadiz province where I just spent about 12 days....fell in love all over again with that area.
Maybe city of Cadiz for you? Or a town in the countryside, in the hills or near the beach, which can be lovely in winter for walking. The city of Jerez would also be wonderful for a few weeks, in my opinion. Or do you want to be on the coast?

Shall we start a new thread about this??

Last trip to Valencia I stayed in what was then, and maybe still is, the Westin hotel. I loved that there was a fabulous indoor swimming pool open to the public just a block away....you should have seen us walking there early morning in our hotel robes! What a pool!!! I remember booking a restaurant in an area that locals referred to as "the old sailor's area," but I think the name began with an "N" We were sternly advised by hotel staff, and taxi driver, that is as a very shady area and we ought to think about skipping it, but we did go and had an absoutely fantastic dinner and all around memorable experience. The restaurant staff were actually waiting for us at the front door when we pulled up in the taxi. The name was Casa Jomi and I think they had not had to many English-speaking tourists until then; surely all is different now. I will try to find my trip report about that Valencia stay, and post it; we were there in late February and it was perfect!! Calcot season, and oranges everywhere!!!

Maybe I just answered my own question on where to pair with Andalucia!!! Would you mind sharing a link for the apt near the market where you stayed in the past?

But I might want to try someplace I've not been before...I have some ideas in the north but unsure about the weather. This year it's been warm in the north in March, but I'd be there in February so again, hesitating due to weather issues. I'd only have about 2 weeks, after Andalucia, so need to keep focused.


Here's my report from last Valencia visit; after Valencia took train to Barcelona where we rented an apartment (my first time doing that, I think)

¡QUE VIVA VALENCIA! Wandering and Eating amidst the Orange Blossoms

Traveler_Nick

The word gite is used in Italian. Not for rentals but to mean outings or daytrips. School kids go on gite.

joduhl

ekscrunchy, I just read your trip report from your Valencia trip and realized I had read it prior to my initial 2018 trip to Valencia. It was very helpful in preparing me for Valencia. And this is my report on that 2018 trip, which included Cordoba, Granada, Nerja, in addition to Valencia.

Spain Trip Report

The apartment we stayed in then and also this January was just down the alley from La Pilerata restaurant that you mention in your report and also from Plaza de Tossal. And a 5 minute walk in the other direction brings you to El Mercado Central and also the Silk Exchange. This is the link to the apartment: You can see my review for our January stay.

https://www.vrbo.com/6578191ha?adult...unitId=2042757

Here's a picture of the alley between La Pilerata and our apartment:



As I mentioned in my recent post about our recent trip, Valencia weather was typically in the 60s with cloudless blue skies. We did have a couple of beach days - not to go in the water certainly but to stroll on the wonderful promenade next to the beach. But I think the ideal weather is in March or April.
This is my recent post: This winter was warmer!!

Yes I am trying to figure out where to go before or after our March 2024 plans for Valencia. Did you have specific places on Cadiz peninsula that you liked, outside of the city?