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Read your catalog and carefully compare descriptions. Watch for words like "holiday complex" and "stands above the superstrada." Remember that oddities and anomalies are part of the charm but having a toilet down a flight of stairs from the bedroom is not charming. Although it is impossible to know every minute detail, your agent should be able to answer most of your questions, and having seen a vast number of listed rentals, can give you advice based on experience.

The property you choose will be yours for the duration of your stay: the management company will make every effort to address and correct problems, but they are not likely to change your accommodation, particularly during the peak season when all of their properties are sure to be occupied.

Renting from a private party often gives you a lower price on the rental: the middleman is eliminated. Ask for the names and phone numbers of previous renters. Try to get a comparison: standards are relative and quite individual. When you book directly with an owner, you are vulnerable to his opinion of his property. He won’t mention mold on the bathroom wall, musty rugs or substandard furnishings. (We’ve seen this and refused involvement). You might be delightfully surprised, but my advice is to pay the extra expense of using an impartial intermediary to assure that you get a complete description before making your decision.

There is no question that your safest road to a successful rental is through an agent who specializes in villa rentals. This person is likely to have visited the property and keeps a watchful eye on quality. The last thing an agent wants is an unhappy client, so the personal service you get is worth the extra expense.

Although you need to have your choices prioritized, don’t put off your decision until you end up with your fourth choice. Provide alternative selections and alternative dates. If your first choice is available on the date you want, you will get it. Otherwise you will be offered the option of the alternative, which you can accept or decline. The booking form has a place to list your preferences. After the first of February be sure to include a prioritized list of choices: by European standards this is considered a late booking. A word of caution for large parties: the number of people making the decision is inversely proportionate to the speed of the decision: let one person choose a few places that seem suitable and take a vote. Rentals of four bedrooms or more are extremely hard to get and it is urgent that you book early.

Naturally arrival day is quite stressful: it is normal to be tired, hot and at wit’s end. Sometimes things go wrong: a traffic jam may delay your arrival or you made a wrong turn. Be patient. Once things are sorted out and an inventory is taken you can relax. If you notice anything amiss, you have an obligation, by Italian law, to go directly to the owner. If anything is broken or breaks report it immediately: shower leaks or dripping faucets are no more normal in Italy than in your own home. Italian law excludes redress once your holiday is over. Having said that, my experience shows that rentals in Tuscany are of high standard: clean, charming, and most agreeable. We appreciate the enthusiastic post cards we get every year telling us that this is so! So if this seems appealing to you get started now, give us a call or send a fax.

Just a note about next year's bookings, although the rental companies might waitlist a property, the real booking season starts November 1.  It is then that we can confirm dates and prices for the following year.

Free standing, private villas
These properties are yours alone and the surrounding grounds, the pool, the barbecue, etc. are for your own use. A version of this is the possibility that the owner (who will certainly be unobtrusive) lives in a separate place on the grounds. If total privacy is important to you, contact the agent or booking company directly for clarification. Short of having an entire property at your disposal, you might be the only party renting in a wing or section of a farmhouse or villa: often the owner is not present at all.

Apartments on a farming estate
Often proprietors have renovated farm buildings or parts of their casa colonica to accommodate visiting guests. Called Agriturismo and regulated by the government, these farms must produce something: usually wine and olive oil. The rental units are predictably good standard. You will be sharing the farm with other holiday makers, possibly four apartments scattered on one property. In this case you will meet other guests at the pool or on the grounds. Europeans are protective of their privacy, so other than a buon giorno, you will be left alone. When traveling with young children, look for a property with facilities geared to families-a playground or swimming pool flags the estate as particularly welcoming, and during school holidays you can expect that children will seek out playmates despite language barriers. Castles converted to holiday use are attractive as well: they make a wonderful base for families with imaginative children.

Apartments in a holiday village
This concept is unique to Italy. A small ancient hamlet sitting on a hilltop is renovated cleverly into a Tuscan style condo complex. The stone exteriors, wood beams and cotto floors are preserved architectural features, but all of the occupants are holiday visitors. Typically there will be a swimming pool, a tennis court and a social atmosphere. Expect your dining terrace to be in view of others. These units are easy on the budget, quite well done and appropriate as a touring base, but will disappoint the tourist in search of the real Italy.

Village Houses
These are rare and get booked quite early. They vary considerably from walled estates to apartments on a small street. Sadly, dining terraces are in short supply in village houses, and parking might be distant. But the convenience of local shops and village life make these quaint places attractive to a group with a mixed agenda. Great for permitting local cafe sitting and exploration without mustering a car brigade.

Swimming pools
While a swimming pool is not necessary in May or October, high season travelers will enjoy a refreshing plunge after a day of touring. Since pools add to the cost of a rental, the perfect budget compromise is the shared pool.

Location
When you dream of your European vacation, how do you envision spending your day and your evening? Do you want to vegetate by a pool and savor the views? Or will you rise early and spend the day on the tourist trail?

Your rental property will be privately owned and decorated to the owner’s taste: you must be prepared to treat it like your own home. You are responsible for the care of the interior and you should leave it much in the same condition as you found it, although heavy cleaning need not be done. Because it is not a corporate venture, each place is unique. You will find linens provided with extra blankets for cool nights, perhaps one dish towel, bath and hand towels (no face cloths), dishes and pots of varying levels and conditions (worse at the end of the season than at the start). I did not see a pot holder, an egg timer, a spatula, or matches for the gas stoves. Be sure to ask the keyholder to show you the operation of the expresso coffee maker. Fully tiled modern bathrooms are almost universal. While not all have showers, tubs and half-tubs usually have hand-held shower spray units. Bidets are standard. Some water heaters are small and will accommodate only one consecutive shower.

Your American appliances, unless dual voltage, will not work in Europe. Italian plugs are three prongs in a row, but the two prong plugs used throughout Europe fit as well. Plug adapters are for sale in electric shops. Toasters are rare; irons are more reliably present in upscale villas although you will find a loaner possible should you need one. Since the Italians voted against nuclear power, electric rates are astronomical. If electric is charged extra you can expect to pay about $100 weekly if you are a heavy user. Electric costs pain property owners and they solicit your consideration.

Old farmhouses and villas are stone built with extremely thick walls and are cool havens during the summer months. Although most of us are accustomed to air conditioning, we will rarely find it in a rental. If this luxury is mandatory to your happiness, a hotel stay is recommended.

You will find the cupboards bare: not a grain of salt or an ounce of pepper, no dish soap, no scouring powder. It especially irks to buy a three pound box of salt for one week, so you might want to include these things in your suitcase. Just about everything you need is available at a supermarket (IPER COOPS: Poggibonsi and Montevarchi). Street market vendors are a welcome source of common supplies as well, but I would not hesitate to take fly paper and mosquito repellent. These items were not readily available.

Other considerations: country vacations include uninvited guests: flies, field mice, mosquitoes: the same pests you might find around a cabin by the lake. Your morning tranquillity might be disturbed by a tractor at work. Some of the most charming villas are located down a dirt track road unsuitable for sports cars. Cows, horses, dogs, cats, goats, chickens and ducks may be present, making farm locations unsuitable for anyone with serious allergies. Electric service may be interrupted during storms and water is sometimes rationed during a drought.

Self-catering rentals start on Saturday between 4:00-6:00pm. You are expected to vacate on Saturday at 10am. This gives the owner time to clean up and get things in order for the next guest.

The owner or keyholder will expect a cash security deposit on your arrival.  This will be returned after a final check-out, less deductions for broken items, unexpected cleaning, or the phone bill. Plan to use this large amount of money to finance a gasoline fill-up or the last night’s hotel stay. Although some owners will accept traveler’s checks for the security deposit, there is no way to predict this.

For information concerning booking terms and general operation
of Houses for Hire, please visit How We Operate.

"We want somewhere clean and simple to put our heads at night. We’ll be touring most of the time."

"We are celebrating our 25th anniversary and want something wonderful with a pool. Many friends will be visiting us and we hope to have high standard accommodations. We need many bathrooms."

"It is my dream to overlook Siena. I want to be close to a bus stop. A pool would be nice. An apartment on a farm or estate would suit me fine."

"Our daughter dreams of being in a real castle, but our budget is modest. Is this out of our reach?"

"Real Tuscany: an old farmhouse, roosters crowing, a little place to eat outside. Deep walls, high ceilings."

If you take the time to define your goals, we will take the time to fit your needs: Houses for Hire provides this personal service with pleasure.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT US

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