Vacation and holiday home rental – 4 things you must know!
Want to rent a holiday home, but don’t want to get scammed or waste money on the house that you THOUGHT was your best choice, only to find out that you made a big mistake? Or are you interested in getting cheap holiday homes or even package deals!
Below are some solid tips you can use to find and rent your vacation home without any hassles or problems, and even save money.
Know what your getting
When you look for short-term vacation rentals, everything should be included. Always double-check for hidden charges on the invoice. Do you have Wi-Fi or internet? Is it basic or premium? Does the price involve the whole months cost? Maybe the internet is free up to the first 5 Gigabyte.
What if you have to leave early? will you get a partial refund? They might tell you that everything is included, but check the invoices just to make sure, because it might be up to some amount.
Knowing the manager
Knowing the manager of the holiday house is very important. Your contract should say they’re exact contact information for when you need help. What if your washing machine breaks, or the hot water won’t work anymore and you need to stay another 3 weeks on holiday.
Try keeping the contact information in and out the holiday home, so you can always get in touch. If you can get a second person to contact, do it! Make sure you have at least the telephone and e-mail of the owner.
Family and Pet friendly
If you are with a pet, look for pet friendly vacation rentals! Imagine traveling all the way to your holiday home just to find out that pets are not allowed in the house. Some people don’t like it when the previous guests had a pet (hygiene).
Or if you have 3 kids and the guest-room only has a king-sized bed, this could be a big problem. Make sure you see enough pictures of the house, to make sure. Check the location, is it safe for the kids? Is it close to local activities?
Booking early
Book early to make sure that everything will be as promised. Certain times in the year, villa rentals are very busy due to holiday seasons, so try to book early. You can look for holiday homes with the availability slightly out of season time, to get better deals.
Don’t be shy and contacts the owner/manager of the property, most of these villa renters have package deals. They might be able to offer a rental car, cheap flights, attraction tickets, and more. Just ask and see for yourself. Now you have the tips needed to rent a holiday home that fits your needs. But… this final tip is the most important one. Especially if you’re from out of the country, and don’t want to get scammed, conned or your money taken…
Learn to rent holiday homes safe and smart.
How To Plan For Your Holiday
In making holiday plans, we all take a lot of things into consideration. And almost as always, it has something to do with the timing and means of getting the cheapest airfare, hotel accommodations, and travel packages. Studies have shown that everybody plans to travel at least once a year, and this article aims to discuss the tips on how to make the best plans this holiday.
Decide where to go. In order to make a decision on where to go this holiday, we should always consider our personal preference, the amount of time we have, and our budget. The more time and budget you have the further and longer you can go with your holiday. But it all starts with your personal preference.
Shop around. The next thing you should do is to look for the best holiday deals in your local agents or online. The best deals usually include the best airfare deal and hotel accommodation packages. Some people like prefer travel agencies to get the best holiday deal for them while others like to go online or scout around and book their air tickets and hotel rooms themselves.
A good way to look for cheap airfare is going online in the internet and through newspapers. You can find a lot of great airfare packages for people who are traveling on a tight budget out there. Sometimes Airline companies also offer promotions that can be competitive with cheap airfares offered by the budget airlines. Other offers also fall on a seasonal basis. The best way to keep track of these promotions is to check the internet for the airlines’ website daily. Airlines usually update all their promotions on their official website.
To find cheap hotel room, it is advisable to get recommendations from friends who have visited the place you wished to go before. There are also some websites that rate hotel rooms in different countries. These websites will show the locations of the hotels, prices, highlights, their rankings, as well as the some testimonials of recent customers.
After successfully booking a flight or travel package, the next best thing for us to do is to start doing researches and look for things to do in that country. Travel guides (books, videos, etc) can also be very helpful in showcasing some must-sees, must-gos, and must-do things, places, and events in your preferred vacation spot.
After all the planning, all we have to do next is enjoy our holidays!
[Top]Holiday Gift Idea for a Birthday Party
Last weekend I was invited to one of my friends birthday party. It was actually a birthday and picnic party combination. The celebration started at 3pm on Saturday afternoon out in one of the nicest local parks. This particular park has a water play area for the kids, a playground, a small lake with ducks, geese and so many other birds.
Since it was a weekend there were a lot of people in the park. Many young mothers were walking around the lake with their children and pushing the strollers getting fresh air for themselves and their babies.
Most of the guests arrived on time, still there were some who came a little late still everyone got to the party one way or another. Late or not the host didnt care, he started dinner as soon as the majority of the guests arrived.
The birthday girls husband received a brand new BBQ grill as a Christmas gift from his wife and was just ecstatic to show off his new toy. Since I knew ahead of time what his wife purchased for him for Christmas she told me – and I also know they just love camping, hiking and picnicking, my present for the wife for her birthday was an absolutely stunning wicker picnic basket for 4 with all accessories included and a lovely picnic blanket. You could just see the glow and joy on her face when she opened that present.
Because they had a camping trip scheduled for the following month for their 15th anniversary, she promised me they were going to take their new picnic basket on that trip. They were both so excited to go on this trip because grandma would take care of the children, so they would be free as birds for a whole week. Imagine, just the two of them, alone on a romantic anniversary camping trip somewhere in the back country.
While our dinner was cooking, the grown ups were talking, some telling jokes and the children got to play games, run around in the grass, splashing water at each other in the water park, and they had too much fun jumping on the huge bouncer that was rented just for them.
I got so carried away talking about these wonderful holiday gift ideas like a wicker picnic basket for 4 and the fun weve had that I completely forgot to talk about the food. Dinner included marinated grilled chicken, Cesar salad, grilled giant shrimp, homemade potato salad, hamburgers on homemade buns, pies and so much more. All was so fresh and tasty, the meats were juicy and the pies. Oh my! The pies were yummy! My favorite was the banana cream pie with the whip cream on top. Our birthday girl mother must have worked all night on those pies.
Our birthday girl was given so many presents and her husband was such a sport about carrying all those gifts to their car while we helped with the cleanup and the leftovers. The party was scheduled for about four hours but because all the guests had a blast it lasted much longer and Im glad to say, the park was left so much cleaner than it was before the event.
All in all it was fantastic! Everybody had an awesome time and the kids did not want to stop jumping on the bouncer even after the Sun went down. I am certain I will be back next year for this party if I get invited.
[Top]What to do on Holiday in the Canaries
The Canary Islands are visited by thousands of tourists each year. With the year round sun and mild temperatures the Canaries are the perfect holiday spot for both a Summer and Winter holiday destination.
Parque Natural de Corralejo
A protected Parque Natural de Corralejo is made up of beach dunes and stretch along the East Coast for around 10km. It is a famous spot amongst wind surfers and kite boarders.
As it can be know to be a windy spot the locals have added a fortresses of loose stones to help and protect sunbathers from the wind. It is free to enter and you can hire sun beds and umbrellas from outside the hotels.
Whale and Dolphin Watching
Sat on the end of the Playa de Los Cristianos beach are boats that offer two, three and five hour cruises for those that would like to experience whale and dolphin watching.
A favorite amongst many British here the cruises offer food, drink and let you have a quick dip in the ocean whilst out at sea.
Cable Car of El Teide
The famous Volcano on the Canaries biggest Island Tenerife. The cable car ride up El Teide is the easiest and most popular way to get to see the Volcano.
It takes only 8 minutes to get up there and the views are stunning. From the top you will see the islands of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro sticking up from the Atlantic.
Camel Safari Park La Baranda
Now if you want to get into the swing of things and are looking for something a little different this is for you. Camel Safari Park has over 70 camels for that Oriental ride of a life time.
The site is surrounded in palm trees, avocado and citrus trees that give it that tropical feel. After working up an appetite you can enjoy a meal in the onsite restaurant.
Torre del Conde
Considered to be the Canary Islands most important military architecture. Torre del Conde in San Sebastin de la Gomera is a tower which sticks out in the middle of the valley.
Built in 1447, it was the first building to be built on any of the Islands. It is about the only one to have been perfectly preserved in its original state.
Pyramids de Gimar
The Pyramids de Gimar are in the town of Gmar on the southeast coast of Tenerife. There are five structures in the form of stepped pyramids.
You can also find the museum “Casa Chacona” with replicas of sculptures, models, ceramics, photographs and an auditorium with interesting projections.
Loro Parque
Loro Parque know in English as “Parrot Park” is a zoo located on the outskirts of Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife. The park houses over 300 land, water and air species and claims to be one of the largest in Europe.
A great family day out, Loro Parque has the largest Shark Tunnel in Europe and has a Thailand village for a Oriental feel.
Country villas, cortijos and sea view apartments make perfect Canaries holiday rentals for you to stay in whilst you enjoy the many attractions that can be found throughout the Islands.
[Top]A Guide to the Beaches of Vendee
Vendee has some beautiful beaches making for great summer camping holidays. Whether you want to surf, sunbathe, build sand castles or enjoy beautiful coastal wildlife, you can find the perfect beach to suit your needs when camping in Vendee.
Bois de la Chaize
Whilst camping in Vendee, a great place to get some sun is Boise de la Chaize, a picture-perfect beach on one of the Noirmoutier Islands. With bathing huts dotting the beach and sparkling blue waters as far as the eye can see, your beach holiday scene will be complete if you spend some time here whilst on a Vendee camping holiday.
Bretignolles-sur-Mer
This beautiful Blue Flag beach is ideal for families while camping in Vendee. You can enjoy a day of family fun, with beach equipment on sale at the beach; buy a bucket and spade and you can build a family sand castle. You can stroll along this pretty coastline licking an ice-cream and enjoying the views. If your stroll should lead you just south of the beach, youll come across some mini cliffs. Continuing further, you will find another beach, La Normandaliere, where children can spend hours discovering the wonders of the rock pools at low tide, a perfect activity for a summer Vendee camping trip.
LAiguillon-sur-Mer
A contrast to the golden sandy beaches typical of summer holidays, this beach will be most appealing to nature lovers who enjoy camping in Vendee. The town is known for its shellfish, sea and marsh. Bird lovers will enjoy watching wading birds in the muddy seabed, and the town is also home to some beautiful migrating birds, such as goldfinches, thrushes and innets. Whilst you cant do too much sunbathing here, it nonetheless makes for an interesting day out whilst camping in Vende.
La Faute-sur-Mer
If you have a love of oysters, this region is ideal to visit whilst camping in Vendee. The 8km of beach along the coastline here provide great fishing spots, and the water quality is of an excellent standard. You can enjoy beautiful scenery here, where a 140-year-old pine forest holds the dunes in place and provides an excellent place for coastal walks.
Le Pege
During the summer months, this area is extremely popular for holidaymakers camping in Vendee. Ideal for family holidays, this beachside area has a great attraction for children the Atlantic Toboggan – a water world of chutes and flumes. The beach is beautiful too, and is oriented towards family beach holidays.
Le Tanchet
This beach will particularly appeal to surfers, and is a pretty beach located beyond Les Sables. If your Vendee camping holiday sees you spending some time in this area, you have more than just the beach to entertain you. An interesting zoo is located near the Casino des Pins, and your children will be delighted if you pay it a visit. You can feed the goats and watch the monkeys swinging carelessly about their enclosure, a fun way to spend an afternoon during your Vendee camping holiday.
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