Rental Agencies - Which ones actually inspect their properties?
 

Hi

I am hesitating on a Rome apartment. How can we tell if an agency actually vets the places on their website?

This is in response to the Cautionary Tale Paris Rental thread.

It also seems like these management companies can improve or deteriorate over time. One that had complaints of switching, seems to have improved in the past few years. (RentalinRome.com). One that was popular (VIP) may not be doing such a great job these days. It does seem important to me that an agency inspects its apartments.

Does anyone recommend a good Rome apartment rental agency?

anyone?

Paris Vacation Apartments (www.parisvacationapartments.com) own the apartments that they rent. They have their own cleaners and maintenance man (men?) so are able to stay on top of any problems and keep all the units up to their standards. You are given the cell #'s of two or three people if you have questions/difficulties.

We rented from them in 2007 and after giving us the tour and answering questions, the representative said that one of the doors (interior) wasn't closing tightly and the man would be by to fix it the next day. So they do check and, probably rely on their cleaning people to alert them to any problems.

When the bulb on my bedside table light blew out, I looked in the closet where they had supplies and was able to replace the bulb. I would rent from them again in a heartbeat. The apartment was spotless and I loved that they supplied bathrobes.

I have not used a Rome rental agency. But if I was planning to rent an apartment there I would go to the website Slow Travel because I really believe that if they recommend an agency you can be pretty sure they wouldn't do it unless it was reliable.

Good Luck.

People who review apartments/villas on the Slow Travel site usually also report on their experience with the agency. One bad review might just be bad luck; ditto one good review. But if you read several good reviews of one agency, that's good news.

I still think you're safer renting through an agency rather than from VRBO. Individuals can be scam artists. Whereas agencies want to stay in business.

The problem with VRBO is not that there are tons of scammers - I think that's pretty rare. It's that there are no managers on the ground - and you get the standards of each individual owner - which may be great - or - not so much.

Hi Sher!

Thanks, folks. The weirdest thing: I have just about had it with this Rome apartment search, so tonight I sat down to write sleepinitaly.com. I got the email written twice, and twice computer glitches (one internet, one keyboard) trashed my writing.

I still need a Rome apartment. :(

We are staying here--had lots of good reviews on slow travel site. I really wanted a terrace so bit the bullet and paid more than some other nice two bedrooms I looked at.

http://www.residenzagiubbonari.com/home.html

????? Tjis is very important IMO.

What type of apartment?

Hi Deb. Off to Italy again I see you lucky dog! Let me know what you come up with in terms of apartments.

We haven't been to Italy in ages.

Judyrem: I'm not following your post. It is the middle of the night (by my standards anyway) and I am sure I'm not reading clearly. Can you elaborate?

kybourbon: a studio or one bedroom is all we need. Most larger apartments are above our budget. My dream apartment in Rome would be in the Tridente, have AC, a washing machine, iron and ironing board, and possibly internet. If I'm really dreaming, it will have reading lights on both sides of the bed, not too many stairs to walk up, and a US style coffee maker.

Now, I know I can't find all of that for under 120 Euro, so what I can live and be happy with will have a cabinet or walk-in shower, AC, washing machine, and iron, as well as lights on both side of the bed.

I think I'm going to give up the Spagna location, because I haven't seen anything that fits the bill. I'll go for Pantheon or Piazza Navona.

We stayed in Trastevere last time, and I'm not dead set against it, but would like to be in the center, closer to Piazza di Spagna. On my list trip to Rome, I didn't even make it over there.

Campo di Fiori is a bit too crowded and noisy for me. (I once saw a guy there jump out of his window in a very lame suicide attempt. They had the big yellow pillow blown up for him. A weird memory.)

macdogmom, I love those Giubbonari apartments, but for just two of us, the price is a little high. I would go there if there were more people in our party, because the reviews are so consistently good.

Sher: this is a big event type trip: my 60th, and our 25th anniversary. We got FF tix from PHL > FCO for only 45K award miles, so figured it was meant to be. I had been considering a lot of other places, but none of them just clicked in my mind. And I need groceries and toiletries from Rome!

You didn't mention your dates. This apartment is in your price range for low season. Tedgale has posted a review of it in his trip report.
http://www.romecapitalapartments.com...gli/Miguel-157

Love that apartment (above url)...IF just two of us I would have rented it.

villavacations.com/italy/latium/rome/italy_rome.shtml Hi; We have used Villa Vacations and view them as very reliable. They do say they inspect their rentals. slowtrav.com/italy/listings/favorites.htm as suggested, is a great web site.

I have an apartment near Pienza and the company I use to rent it actually came and inspected and took photos for their catalog and website. The company is www.verdidea.com.

I think sleepinitaly was the company switching people a few years ago. Rentalinrome had problem with some folks not liking their apartments (not well-cleaned or plumbing issues, I think?).

In any case, I rented from Rentalinrome with no problems whatsoever but again I chose an apartment that was not particularly inexpensive and got references and corresponded with them--turned out one was a Fodor's poster. I'd use sleepinitaly too but again would get recs for the specific apartment I consider.

The most recent place we rented was managed by a German woman, Charlotte, and she's the person we dealt with on the ground. Very nice and she has her own business. You might contact her if you like any of the places she reps--there aren't many so I would think she sees them fairly often.
http://www.lacasaroma.com/index.php

kybourbon, I have been salivating over that apartment. We are going at the end of April, and it is much too expensive then.

iris1745: thanks for that link. I am going to look at it now. I have and do spend a lot of time on slowtrav. I generally think the site is helpful, but not the be all/end all that some folks do.

DonnaD44, I will check out the link. Thanks.

Leely2: after exhaustive research, I certainly found several reports of switching by RentalinRome.com. None of them were recent reports, but it is enough to kind of make me wary. What I would expect from any rental company is that if the apt. I've rented becomes unavailable, I would get an immediate and full refund. Rental in Rome's website says that they have the right to switch renters to another apartment. That just doesnt inspire confidence in me. I am emailing with them now on an apartment, but I just hate that part of their rental agreement.

I'm going to check out the lacasaroma.com site. Thanks.

We rented through summerinitaly.com for the Amalfi Coast and were very happy. They also rent in Rome. Try checking reviews through Slowtrav.com, maybe you will find some good apts. We would like to rent an apt in Rome June of 2011 so I let us know how everything works out for you.