Questions to Ask

Pauline Kenny

The answers to these questions will help you choose. Find the answers in the listing descriptions or from the owner/agency.

Questions to ask about apartments on an estate or farm

Look for the answers to the following questions if you are considering an apartment on an estate or farm:

How many apartments are rented out? You might want to avoid places that rent out more than ten apartments - these can feel more like holiday villages (too many people, too busy).
What amenities are there? Is there a pool, tennis courts? Do they offer a weekly meal (some do)? Do they sell any produce, wine or olive oil?
Are children allowed? The answer to this will mean different things to different people. Sometimes it is nice to stay on adults only estates - no children hogging the pool!!
Is it a working farm? If so, are the apartments near the areas that are worked. If they are, you may be woken up early by the farm work.

How big is the apartment/house?

What is the approximate size of the house or apartment? This is a very important question because some apartments look nice but are too small to be comfortable for a week (these are sometimes called mini-apartments). Our personal minimum is 50 square meters (500 square feet) for a 1 bedroom (square meters times 10 gives you a rough square foot size).

Is the building historic?

Another thing that concerns me with vacation rentals is the age of the building. I like to get places in old buildings (really old, hundreds of years old) because they are wonderful to stay in. We did not ask the age of the building when we rented the Panicale farmhouse and when we were there we found out is was newly built, but we still really liked it. They had bought an old farmhouse, torn it down and rebuilt it using many of the old materials.

Furnishings

Before you select your vacation rental, you need to decide how much the furnishings matter to you. If you will be spending a lot of time in the vacation rental or if you are booking for more than one week, the quality of the furnishings may make a big difference. If you are using the vacation rental as a base and plan to be touring all day most days, the furnishings do not matter as much.

Is there enough furniture for your group? Be sure there are enough living room and dining room chairs to accommodate your group. If you will be traveling with a group of ten, it will be disappointing if you cannot all be comfortably seated around the dining table. Look at the photos and read the descriptions or ask the booking agent.

Some vacation rentals are luxurious, some are run down. It isn't always the price that determines the difference. Do not assume if you are paying a luxury price that you will be getting good quality furnishings. Ask the owner or booking agent. Look at the pictures of the vacation rentals. What does the furniture look like?

The vacation rental description will usually mention if the house is furnished with antiques. This can add a nice touch to a place.