Hi kjw - I have used them before, and other similar sites and had no problems at all. I am just back from a villa holiday booked through Owners Direct, and it was great. I have always found the owners of villas I have booked to be very helpful, and have never had any negative experiences.

Oh that's good to hear..it's always a bit of a worry when your paying for something you haven't tried before, i shall take a look at the other one too

thanks

we always use
holiday-rentals
owners direct or
holiday lettings
touch wood,never had a problem,so far.
we have just returned from turkey & booked 2 different apartments.1 in icmeler & then we transferred to turunc.everything went like clockwork & both owners,have contacted us,upon our return,to see if they could do anything,to improve their accomadation.great service!
tracy

Tracy - that's exactly my experience. I had an email from the owner of the villa I came back from last week when I returned home saying she hoped I had enjoyed it and looking for any points I would like to make where things could be better etc.

thanks...i have now booked the villa so looking forward to going.

all your comments have been very helpful, and made me feel a lot more comfortable about making my booking.

That's good news kjw! I emailed the owner lots of times with queries before I went this time and she was lovely and very helpful. I find it very useful to be able to speak to the owner direct, rather than a company.

We just booked via Holiday-Rentals, and flights with Easyjet, and insured it with John Lewis.
I was pretty awkward with my requests to the owner for info on the villa, the surroundings, where it's near etc, and also asked for a number of additional photographs before booking - plus the deposit went into a UK bank account, so at least it's traceable. There were some good looking villa's we were put off due to the fact they had only recently registered on the site, and had no reviews etc.

I have to admit to being a bit nervous, as we have always used the major travel companies in the past, so this is a bit "in at the deep end", but we found a lovely villa with great reviews over a number of years for a great price - a similar package with someone like James Villas was going to cost ~£300 more.

booke with owners direct last year it was spot on and more, doing the same this year but in a diffrent villa, you get loads more for your money and its cheaper than tour op's

I like the fact that with private owners, if you check all the details carefully etc and they've got what you need, then it's home from home

We found the villa in Lanzarote that we use every year through holiday rentals. No problems at all.

We've used holiday-rentals three times and never had a problem. The villas/apartments have been exactly as described and the owners have always been really friendly and accommodating when we've asked for odd dates or had inconvenient arrival times.

We booked a villa we found on Holiday-rentals and got back on June 11th. Everything went smoothly, and weare now converts:)

Speaking from the opposite angle, as someone who has an apartment that we rent out privately, and started off advertising on holidaylettings (but have no need now), I think its a gamble for both parties.
I have to say that I always have a bit of an 'email chat' with anyone who shows interest in our apartment, just to make sure that what we have to offer is what they are looking for.
The last thing we want is for somone to not enjoy their holiday because they didn't choose a place that suits them. The other danger is that you rent it to someone who doesn't look after it - fortunately this has only happened once in the six years we have been renting it out.
On the plus side for holidaymakers is the fact that as someone else said, you often get many extras if it's used by the owners themselves, and you usually get a very personal service tailored to your requirements. You can also ask almost unlimitless questions and get the right answers!
We have also now booked a few places independantly from owners, and so far it has worked very well for us.