Apartment in Rome - different prices on different websites!

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Sophia2457

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Hi
We're going for a week in May to Rome so I've been trawling through apartment rental websites looking for a nice one. We did this last year and it was great to have the space and freedom of an apartment right in the centre.

Anyway, just as a matter of interest I came across this apartment I liked on two difernt websites - the same ones often turn up on different agency websites, put on by their owners.

I got a quote from both websites for same period and there was €600 in the difference!!! I emailed the cheaper website to confirm the online quote, which they did, so naturally I booked it.

I can't understand it! The dearer website had all sorts of add-on charges like 'entrance fee' €20, VAT, end cleaning €60 etc whereas the other was an all-inclusive fee. Anyway, I paid a 20% deposit, received a confirmation email and checking both websites this morning I see that the apartment is now unavailable for my dates.

Well, I've either got a bargain or will have to keep a close eye on my credit card.

Anyone ever have a similar experience? It's just so strange!
 
Have used these http://www.apartmentsapart.com/ for apartments in Rome and Vienna last year without problems and would recommend them.The apartments were pretty good quality.In both cases as we did not know either city we opted to stay near the main railway stations and both proved to be a good choice.The apt in rome was just a few mins walk away from the station so it was relatively easy to locate.Check out their site.I would use them again.
 
Pnh - thanks for the suggestion but I've already booked the apartment!

The websites I looked at were - - dearer quote

and - cheaper quote.

I've got the confirmation email with all the info and phone numbers of owner, office, how to get from airport etc., so it seems ok. I'm booking a taxi to meet us at the airport through them too.

It's so much cheaper than staying in hotels. Last year we used a website called [broken link removed] but they were booked up for what we wanted. Highly recommend them tho, great service.

Will let you know if I really got a bargain!
 
I was holidaying in Italy anumber of years ago and found a villa on a UK website,
specialising in Italian holidyays.
A friend who lives in Italy and who we were meeting, rang the villa owner to make
a booking and was quoted 3/4 of the price that the English website has quoted.
The villa owner was surprised and not too pleased by the extent of the mark-up,
as he got paid slightly less than his standard price when he got a booking through
this site, because they did the marketing and admin.

I can't help in this circumstance, but just showing that this can and does happen
and yet again proves that shopping around works.
 
Box - I checked and it's not registered with that website, not that I could see anyway. They have some nice apartments tho.

Thanks for that info, huskerdu, really interesting, I think that's what may be happening here - the agency is creaming off the top and the owner isn't getting a fair deal. I don't trust agencies also that don't accept credit cards and will only deal in cash by wire transfer - and want it all paid upfront before you get there?

I've come across quite a few of those in my searches and stay well away.

Definitely pays to shop around!
 
Many holiday apartments are let by owners when not in use to defray costs. I have an apartment that I let like this. Some rental websites charge owners an annual fee and take no commission. Other websites charge 15% or more commission on bookings and have no annual fee. Others offer full marketing, changeover and cleaning services and charge up to 30% commission. This could explain the price difference.

I dont agree that property owners that dont accept credit card payments are all "dodgy". Many genuine owners are not primarily commercial and only accept electronic bank transfers as payments or maybe now use Paypal.
 
Declanja
I wasn't referring to the property owners when I made the comment about not accepting credit cards, rather to the agencies.

I fully accept that a private individuals would not be set up to accept credit cards, but find it strange that a commercial venture would not as it broadens their customer base.

I used PayPal once to pay for an apartment and a year later my account was hacked into and my credit card details taken and used to buy something online. It was only for a small amount and luckily I copped it immediately as I use online banking and cancelled the card. The Visa people refunded the amount and said it happens a fair bit.

Pity, it's a good service but not one I'll chance using again!

This is a bit OT I know, but I just use it to underline my point about commercial agencies not accepting credit cards and wanting all the cash upfront.

For private owners it must be difficult to be sure the people who booked your propery will actually show up - and pay the bill, so that's why they want the money upfront. But from the client's viewpoint, you're buying a pig in a poke online and have to trust that the apartment actually exists at all!
 
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