Renting a home away from home

by Arline Wills, Lynnfield, MA

You’re a seasoned traveler. You’ve taken tours, cruises and car and train trips. You’ve gone from hotel to inn to B&B, hit all the restaurants in between and come home exhausted, heavier in the waist and lighter in the wallet. Instead of the “bags out at 7, bus leaves at 8” routine, think how much more satisfying it would be to settle into a rented house with space to spread out, a yard to relax in and day trips to take from it on your own timetable.

What are your choices?

Except for a possible yurt in upper Mongolia or a hut in Sulawesi, there’s a house or apartment for rent in nearly every country in the world. It’s said that France, for example, has over 5,000 properties to rent, with Italy a close second. They vary from a simple one- or two-bedroom farm cottage to a sprawling house that sleeps 20 to 30 people, the latter suitable for a family reunion or a large group of friends. Less capacious apartments in the major cities abound.

Whether for a week or a month, the cost of a rental beats even the most modest Gasthaus by far if you compare location and amenities.

Our first experience was a gîte that slept 10, with a pool and all the necessary kitchen appliances, located on the outskirts of a small village surrounded by sheep and orchards. Ten years ago it cost $260 a week!

In May ’04 we stayed in a villa in the country with friends, each bedroom with its own bath plus a laundry, dishwasher and freezer. The cost per couple was $210 per week. We’ve had similar experiences many times in between.

Locating a rental

Finding these gems is not hard, especially it you’re Internet literate. Owners advertise independently online or list their properties with agents who handle multiple properties in several countries. The Sunday newspapers, travel magazines and even college alumni magazines carry ads too.

Often you’ll find much more than just a listing and an address, including details that will give you all the information you need to make up your mind — color pictures, maps, descriptions, floor plans and shopping proximities. Depending on where you want to have a home base, the number of people in your party and how much you want to spend, the choices are endless.

Do your homework

But there are risks too, as with any other accommodations, and you should ask the owner or agent specific questions if they’re not answered on the website. Our daughter and her family found on arriving at her rental that it was above a funeral parlor and next to a cemetery, details not previously disclosed. They found other arrangements but had to swallow the loss of their rental money.

Think about the following:

• Are sleeping arrangements in actual beds or on sofas? The description may say “sleeps eight” when there are only two bedrooms.
• What are the bed sizes? A “double” has many different meanings.
• How many bathrooms are there and where are they located? Sometimes baths are on a different floor than the bedrooms.
• If an apartment is on the fourth floor, is there an elevator?
• What appliances are included? A clothes washer minimizes extra packing.
• Is parking on-site? How far is the train?
• Where is the local market? The bakery? Restaurants?
• What day is market day in the nearest town?

Depending on whether you favor eating most meals out or fixing them at home, you’ll want to know the kitchen setup. Breakfast on the patio, lunch or a picnic wherever you land on your daily foray and a sunset dinner when you return are what make you want to stay forever.

Usually, many of these details are right there on the website, but, if not, you’ll have to contact the advertisers by e-mail or land mail if necessary. This means starting months ahead to begin your inquiries. And remember, many of the best properties are snatched up early by frequent renters.

So how do you go about finding these rental offers? Rather than listing here some of the hundreds of websites that are out there, I suggest you use your imagination and come up with word combinations that will lead you to them. Try searching for “house rents Spain” or “England vacation rentals” or “France villas” or “holiday homes New Zealand.” One success will lead you to another, and a careful notation of results will avoid confusion of where you saw the one you liked.

The only way to go

We’ve gone this route so often that we wouldn’t consider planning a trip doing otherwise. Meeting the neighbors, getting acquainted with the shopkeepers, testing your language skills and trying new foods are all part of the adventure of “living in” — a better way of savoring the culture than being stuck in a hotel room and only associating with other Americans.

You’ll come home with a better understanding of the way others live, you’ll make new friends and you’ll have money left over to plan the next house rental.