A group of friends (6 couples) had a verbal commitment from the owner to book a lovely villa in Montisi the first or second week in May 2009. The owner has gone silent on the matter and won't respond to requests to confirm or receive a deposit check. So, our group is now looking for another villa in the Tuscany area for the same timeframe. Has anyone rented a villa or large house in this area and/or can anyone recommend websites to use for rentals? Tips for renters? I will be in the Tuscany area in April 2008 and would be able to "drive by" to see properties. Thanks!

Check out www.chianti-farm.com. Villa as described on website, stayed there with a family group of 15 in 2003. Loved it!

You want www.slowtrav.com for all things about rentals in Tuscany.

You can try www.tuscanynow.com

Hi macinpv; We rented Villa La Chiusa [12 people] in Lucca last year. It has AC and most important, the first night includes dinner with a great chef. We had 'Alberto' cook for us three more nights. Was very helpful, especially after returning from a long day of sightseeing. The villa can be rented thru Doorways, LTD. ENJOY Iris P.S Many pictures on Doorways and they accurately portray the villa.

Podere Felceto might be what you're looking for: http://www.panzano.com/felceto.htm

You might not want to give up on the first property if it was something you liked. It may be that it is gone or the owner no longer has an interest in renting it but it could also be that they fell they have already given you the commitment. I often find that e-mails will go unanswered for long time frames and then replies will magically appear. I have in the past tried a three pronged approach. Fax, email and phone. If you don't want to start all over again, try phoning and talking then go elsewhere if you can't get the commitment.

Thank you for the info. As it turns out NotBob is correct. We now have a commitment for the villa and our group is totally excited. I am keeping the other references for future travel plans. Thanks again!