Will You Enjoy a Rental Villa or Apartment in
Italy?
We are totally sold on vacation rentals, but also
believe that they are not the ideal for all
travelers. In keeping with Excellent Europe's policy
of frank advice, here are some considerations to
ponder before you book a apartment or villa in Italy
with us.
Settling into your vacation rental could involve
a trip or two to the store to stock up on a few
essentials. If you will be spending less than three
nights total, we suggest selecting an accommodation
that has more than the usual services (just ask us)
or find a hotel. Of course, if you are renting in
several spots, you can carry your supplies from one
to the next, making the shorter rentals more
practical.
You can gain new perspectives
on the daily lives led by Italians because you will park
where they do, shop where they do, have the same
views, and walk the same streets. If you consider
learning to make your own telephone calls and
choosing your own fresh bread at the bakery
interesting, then a holiday apartment in Italy may be for you.
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When traveling with children, your pace should
adapt to theirs because if the children aren't
happy, no one is happy. They need their meals
according to their own clocks, not restaurants'.
With a vacation rental in Italy, they don't have to
dress for breakfast, but can have it in their
pajamas. And, evenings, they don't have to wait till
restaurants open around 7:30pm to have their evening
meal; you can fix in your kitchen. Furthermore, you
can prepare meals for them according to their
tastes. A quiet plate of "pasta al burro"
(pasta with butter) and a glass of milk may be just
the thing, no need to go down to the restaurant.
If the children need a nap, you can be in one
room while they are snoozing in another, without
everyone being confined to one hotel room. Small
children, in my experience, never really shift time
zones, so may be awake at odd hours. When you are in
an apartment or villa, you can close the door to the
bedroom and take care of them without waking the
whole family.
If you choose a vacation rental with an outdoor
area, they can get their yayas out in the garden
rather than in a hotel lobby. Even a small vacation
rental can give you several spaces for people to be;
the children can color on one table, while parents
spread guidebooks and maps out on another.
Access to a washing machine is a good idea
because it reduces the amount you need to pack and
carry. Let Excellent Europe help you find a rental
that will allow you to catch up on your laundry.
When you have two or more families traveling
together, one set of adults can go out sightseeing,
shopping, or for a nice meal while the children stay
at "home" totally happy and able to play,
swim, eat, and nap with the other adults rather than
going stir crazy in a hotel room. Or you can bring a
nanny with you and let us find a vacation rental
that will accommodate your whole crew.
Be sure to get a copy of the Italy
Discovery Journal. a guide for children and
their parents traveling in Italy that I wrote to
help families enjoy their Italian vacation.
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Many vacation rentals provide a
secondary income for a family that is renting out a
family villa or apartment. The family members work
and care for their rental and for you on
appointment. Sometimes they live at some distance
from your rental. They will walk you through your
rental and show you how things work. They are happy
to tell you where the local shops are as well as
restaurants. Some provide written instructions, but,
then, you are on your own to figure out how to
actually work the washer, turn on the heat, or make
a phone call. Your hosts can be reached in the case
of a problem, of course, but aren’t typically
available to provide the weather forecast or to help
make a phone call. If you do not need a staff of
English speaking people to help you with restaurant
reservations or getting directions, then a vacation
rental is for you.
Will you enjoy shopping in
local markets for your food and supplies? Things may
be packaged differently and you may have to puzzle
out labels. You may find no familiar brands. If you
need something at the pharmacy, will you be able to
communicate the ailment in sign language? The
television set controls and the coffee pot will be
unfamiliar, so will you be able to experiment with
them without frustration? If you enjoy coping with
unfamiliar processes and locations; if you can adapt
when you can’t find just what you have in mind,
then you will do well in a vacation rental in Italy.
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Italy is an especially challenging country for
Type A personalities. Ancient
bureaucracies rule the country with inefficiencies
evident at every turn. Italian drivers can be
maddening. And there is no such thing as a line or
queue for anything; it's all push and shove. For
transactions at places such as post offices, you may
have to stand in a mob only to be directed to the end
of another mob. Italians don't understand
impatience with such inefficiencies, they cope
unconsciously. You probably could devise a system to
do many things more efficiently, but it doesn't work
to try to reorganize Italy. Notice how waiters
dance through crowded restaurants and how people make their way
along a busy sidewalk; they move forward with grace
and adapt to the obstacles that appear. If you can
deal with evident inefficiencies with humor and
grace even, perhaps, with the help of a little glass of wine, then you
will do just fine in a holiday apartment or villa in
Italy.
A real advantage of a vacation
rental is the ability to prepare your own meals. You
can eat when you want and what you want. There is
nothing like having your coffee on the terrace of
your villa in Tuscany as the sun rises over the
vineyards! This is super for families because
children don’t always have a meal schedule that
coincides with that of restaurants that, in the
evening, start serving after 7:30pm. If you have
dietary restrictions, you really do need your own
kitchen.
You can also save money. Eating
all meals in restaurants can become expensive as
well as time consuming. Buying and preparing
beautiful fresh foods from the countryside can be a
joyful experience and a highpoint in the day. But,
someone has to cook! A typical vacation rental may
have all the cooking essentials, but not the labor
saving appliances you are used to. No food
processor, no mixer, or electric can opener, so more
complex meal preparation may take longer than you
are used to. It is sometimes fun to experience how
grandma used to do it, but whipping egg whites or
cream by hand may be more than your arm can stand.
So, consider whether that is how your cook wants to
spend his or her time.
There are strategies to reduce
the effort, of course. You will find pre-prepared
entrees in the freezers of larger grocery stores,
and
Italy
has a wonderful type of restaurant, the tavola calda
(hot table) which has take out meals elements, and
the rosticceria which will sell you a roasted
chicken or other piece of nicely prepared meat to
take home. The
classic meal of pasta, a veal cutlet, and a salad is
not a lot of effort, so keeping it simple may be
important. When we have rented places with a larger
group, we have taken a student-chef with us to
prepare meals and do dishes (did I mention that
dishwashers are not common), giving everyone a
break. Some of the rentals properties we offer also
have a cook who will come to you to prepare a lovely
meal while you relax.
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A little additional travel preparation may be required for a vacation rental.
For example, there is no front desk where you may
leave a wakeup call, so a portable alarm clock [Mini-Time Travel Alarm]
is
recommended.
You will need to prepare ahead to make advance
arrangements for airport transportation.
You also need to allow the time
for some advance reading. For example, some vacation
rentals provide written instructions including
directions, phone numbers and other useful
information. It may include instructions on how to
meet the owner, where to go, when to call. You need
to give yourself the the time to read the information carefully
compiled for you.
You won't have a front desk to
drop by for directions and suggestions so peruse
and take with you some good, current
guidebooks that will give you directions, hours,
costs, and phone numbers. See list of our
suggestions above in the right-hand column.
Also, see our Manual
for Vacation Rentals.
Pat Byrne
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At Excellent Europe we want our customers to love
their vacation in Italy and their experience with
our company. If you have any questions or request
about your rental with us, please don't hesitate to
ask.
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