Hi,

In my experience it will very much depend on the time of year. If you are trying to book during the school holidays or other peak period then forget it - you'll find that most villa owners and agencies will stick with a standard changeover day in order to maximise the letting potential. Similarly, if it's a very popular area you'll find that they will be reluctant to miss out on a longer let that might come along later.

So if you're looking for a 10 night let you'll stand the best chance if you

- want to go at a quiet time out of the main season when bookings will be thin on the ground,
- choose an area that has a surfeit of properties that are never fully let out,
- choose an area that is not a popular a destination and/or is out of the way,
- leave it until the last minute when they'll be prepared to accept any booking for the sake of having the property let rather than standing vacant.
- bite the bullet and pay for a fortnight but arrange to only stay for 10 nights,
- find an agency that operates with 2 changeover days (on Tenerife and islands served by the ferries from there the most popular charter flight days used to Tuesdays and Fridays so some agencies would accept lettings from Tuesday through to the Friday of the following week (10 nights) or Friday through to the Tuesday of the following week (11 nights)

SM

Cheers for this Sma, going to go with an offer for 10 nights in Algarve i reckon Tues to Fri in May/June, thanks for the advice

Maybe try renting privately, you're more likely to be able to book for 10 nights. Ownersdirect . co . uk is an excellent website and you rent straight from the owner, so there's no agent's commission.

Try villastogo.com we have booked with them for 10 nights in October

I know madeiravilla.com do any number of days now that easyjet are travelling there daily