Vacation Rental Reviews

This category collects reviews of rental properties, agencies and areas largely in Europe which can be booked seperately when you are putting together your own vacation packages. Each article provides the full review and you can then click on the link in each article to proceed to the originating site for further infomation and more revies(where available) for each vacation rental.

Rating: 5/5. The apartment was perfect. I was looking initially in the Marais (Paris) & was slightly worried about the location in the Latin Quarter but it was as good as I could have hoped for. The transport was easy, we used the 21 & 28 buses which stop outside the apartment, but also used the underground to get around the city. The buses in particular were easy to take the stroller on.

As we had a restless toddler we did not eat out, the closest pizza shop across the road towards Luxembourg Gardens did really good takeaway. We shopped for food in rue mouffetard mainly & just heated it up at home & made salads. The bread & the goats cheeses were a revelation. The kitchen was small but well equipped & had a view into the rear courtyard. For us the little parks in the area with play equipment were handy, as well as of course, Jardin des Plantes & Luxembourg Gardens.

The apartment was very clean & easy to live in, it was obvious it was not just a rental but someone is much cared for home, it was set out in a way that was elegant & comfortable, with an understated taste. I really liked the plain good quality of the cotton textiles, & the way the apartment was decorated so that it was respectful to the building. The owner & her daughter very helpful & easy to deal with. The information in the apartment about the area was well considered.

We stayed for 2 weeks & did not want to leave & would love to return again.

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My husband, 2 teens, my daughter & her fiance all stayed at La Mucchia this past summer vacation for 2 weeks. It was a wonderful place & we did not want to leave! Read the rest of this entry »

We rented Footstool Cottage from Manor Cottages for two weeks in June 2009. The price was good – 557 GBP per week in high season (about 0). Footstool is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom historic cottage on a quiet lane in Fulbrook, a small village on the main A361 road north of Burford in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds (England). The main road is busy & splits the village, but you do not hear road noise from the cottage. Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 4/5. We stayed in this apartment in Paris for 5 nights, May 10-15. Correspondence with the leasing company was very good & we had no issues finding the apartment or accessing the unit.

The Eiffel Hideaway is in an awesome location, in the center of the 7th arrondissement, 2 short blocks from Rue Cler. It is located on a narrow “passage” & is very quiet. Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 5/5. We rented a cottage from Manor Cottages May 15-22, 2009. All correspondence was professional, reservations & payment went smoothly. The cottage was called The Cottage (THECOT) on their Internetsite & was located in Moreton-in-Marsh. It was extremely well located, a short distance from train station, one block off the High Street. Read the rest of this entry »

Our stay at Basse Coppette in France was one of those wonderful surprises that we will never forget. The Bresle Valley is very beautiful & Basse Coppette nestles in what can only be described as a Rural Idyll. Everything about our stay exceeded expectations: the ease of Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 5/5. Wow, what a great adventure at Villa San Raffaello. A holiday full of discovering the real Italy run by a family who made us feel thoroughly welcome in truly superb accommodation. Every need was catered for and all the rooms were wonderfully finished. During our stay we wanted for nothing as all mod cons were provided. Use of the well sized swimming pool was a tremendous bonus as well as the nightly walks into town to catch the local flavours. Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 4/5. The Boathouse is situated just yards from the beach at the old working harbour and tiny cove of Portholland, Cornwall on the Caerhays Castle Estate. The castle has been used as the fictional “Manderley” in Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and is a wonderfully evocative estate.

We were impressed before we arrived by the atttention to detail of this agency. It was possible to order online groceries and then have them unpacked and stowed away by the housekeeper on the day we arrived. This was very convenient as we travelled down on our annivesary to find the table all set for 2 with a lovely white cloth, flowers, candles and wine in the fridge. As this cottage is a “get away from it all” destination we were able to relax from the moment we arrived, just what we needed to do after a very long journey.

Enter into a small hall with Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 4/5. Our family of three rented this village house in Bonnieux (Provence) for two weeks in March 2007. The house is rented by the owners, Americans who stay there a few weeks a year, and is listed on the Homeaway site. Christine, the owner, is great to deal with.

The house is located at the top of the village of Bonnieux, right on the main road. It’s a typical village house, one room wide and two rooms deep. The living space extends over four floors, and you do need to be prepared to deal with narrow stairs to stay here.

The door from the street opens into the kitchen, with the dining room beyond. (Our family spent most of our recreational time in the dining room.) Stairs lead down to a small bedroom and a large, really nice bathroom (includes a washing machine). Another flight of stairs leads up to a small living room (couch converts to a bed) and a very pleasant master bedroom. At the top level is a small bathroom and a terrace. The landing area has a small refrigerator so you can store some food items near the terrace for outdoor dining. Read the rest of this entry »

We own the apartment on Rue du Cherche Midi listed by Rentals in Paris and we think they are an excellent agency. The owner, Glen Cooper, and his English speaking staff see to all the details and take very good care of their clients. The easy-to-use website accurately reflects the properties and every apartment has such amenities as a well equiped kitchen, cable tv, high speed internet, hair dryers and ironing boards. Read the rest of this entry »