My family is planning a trip to Tuscany and/or Umbria next summer and are looking to rent a villa for at least one week. We'd like to keep costs down to under 2500 Euros, and would need a place that sleeps at least 5 or 6. Can any Fodorites recommend a villa rental company? Thanks in advance!

Properties vary by company, while one company may have a villa at 2500 euro, another could have the same property for 5000 euro so check out the reviews of the rental companies and the properties at http://www.slowtrav.com

How about beautifully appointed apartments within a breathtaking villa. Try Ormanni.com. Ask to reserve at either Il Palazzo or La Meridiana in FLorence.

I booked a house through knowital.com. The house was wonderful! I have also rented an apartment through the web. I can't remember the web address for the company, but do a search for "ai vecchia" and you can find it. With "knowital" you will be dealing directly with the owner, the other website is a broker. We were delighted with both properties. You will love the experience!

we used www.italianvillas.com 3 years ago for a villa in Sienna and are renting again from them in 2 weeks in lake region

Try rentvillas.com . I used it recently and loved my villa.

I just rented a wonderful looking apartment in a farmhouse through www.tuscany.net. You pick your amenities (pool, mountain bikes, restaurant, price range, location, etc) and they will show you everything that matches. They have villas, castles, farmhouses, etc. You can email the particular places you like with additional questions, and they will respond, and then you book directly thru the website. EASY!!

We used rentvillas.com (also known as cuendet.com---same company), and had a wonderfully easy experience. They have villas in all price ranges. Our place was heaven--even more beautiful than the photos. Good luck

You might try anfamtos.com
This is a family owned/operated agriturismo with several properties, based in 2 locations, one near Siena, one further south, in Sarteano, near Chiusi. In April, 2002, I stayed in one of the larger Sarteano accomodations near the border of Tuscany and Umbria. It was wonderful with screens on the windows! A perfect location so long as you have a car.
The anfamtos.com site does not include prices, although I just e-mailed them to suggest that they post the prices and to ask for a shedule of rates. When we rented, the young woman who managed the rentals was responsive and spoke excellent English. Hopefully, she is still there.
As siena_us said: slowtrav.com has a nice list of rentals. *My* rental is reviewed there.
Good luck!

We liked www.toscanet.com. We found a great place, in your price range through them. We hit just before the high season (by a week, many other places on the site were already into their high season) and had a three bedroom (2 doubles, one single), two bathroom place for well under 2500 Euros (they had larger units too ... we were 4 adults and 2 young children so added a crib to the single room). There was also a pool (a MUST in the summer). Our place was under the "Florence" section and called Il Castagno (called Gambassi on the site becuase that is a town nearby) but we found many others which looked equally great on the site. Enjoy!

Tory

I too had success using www.tuscany.net I love Tuscany and am very jealous of your trip, not sure when I'll be back (was just there in June!). Enjoy!

Make that Ormanni.it