Has anyone used Owners Direct for rentals?

We have used VRBO and Holiday Lettings, always happy, but not Owners Direct.

They have some lovely properties and when I Google Map the area on the apartment I am interested in, it's a nice area. But only 2 reviews (recent however)

Are you looking at this site?

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/

If yes then it's owned by Homeaway, the parent company of VRBO and many other vacation rental sites.

There is a different "owner direct" website - maybe that's the one you're looking at?

We have used Owners Direct several times over the years in various European cities. We have always been happy with them. When we look for somewhere to stay we always start with Owners Direct, VRBO and Homeaway.

To clarify .... when I say Owners Direct I too refer to the website Elizabeth_S refers to. (I was not aware there was another owners direct).

Yes, that is the site I'm using.

I guess I always feel more comfortable when there are a fair quantity of reviews, I don't know how others feel.

I always google a couple of images of a rental I'm interested in - I often find other listings for the rental, sometimes with different pricing/terms/etc. You may find other reviews that way.

I've used Owners Direct a good few times now, probably about 10. Don't remember ever seeing a review for a property I was looking at, and haven't had a bad experience so far.

Your experience with a rental depends much more on the owner than it does on the listing agency. I've used Owners Direct for an apartment in London, just this past year, and was happy with my choice, but I wouldn't consider that a blanket endorsement for the agency.

I think I'm beginning to feel better about this review thing.

In looking back I have only reviewed about half of the dozen places we have rented, and I would recommend all but one of the 12 places we have rented.

And I realized that the place in Rome we will be renting this fall only has 2 reviews.

I think bvlenci is right that one gets a sense of what the apartment is like by the emails and correspodence in addition to the websites.

Like Elizabeth I do a google search for other listings, and I google both images and maps, the street views when available are great.

I think I just need to go with my gut, it looks like a great apartment in a nice area!

I forgot, another tool is the availability calendar, assuming it is up to date. When there are lots of bookings I feel better!