You wont go far wrong with the following, but remember to use a credit card for protection.
Travel Republic
WSH travel
Alpha Rooms
Great Late Deals

...............and Hotelopia with the "double discount".

Robby

We booked an apartment in Portugal in May through http://www.ownersdirect.com and it was fine.

That's the type of site i'm talking about Maureen, how did it work, did they meet you at the apartment or something like that? I'm just a bit worried that I wouldn't be protected if anything went wrong.

We found gems of apartments on http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk and http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk
(There's loads of good ones there.)

We firstly sent an email enquiring about the apartment and the owner then rang us to discuss things.
We sent a deposit (cheque) and the final balance 6-8weeks before departure.

We were sent the keys in the post by recorded delivery about 4 weeks before we left.
(If the owners live local to the apartment, theysometimes arrange tomeet you there with the key
themselves, or have someone else meet you.)

Some owners will arrange transfers for you (will cost extra though) but we arrange our own.
Look at forums on holiday websites such as this and tripadvisor.co.uk for recommendations.

We have travelled this way for quite some time now, and touch wood have never had any problems.

If you want any more advice about booking holidays this way, please just ask.

We sent an e-mail enquiry and then a provisional booking with a deposit. We actually booked for 10 days as it suited our flights and the owners were flexible.Paid the balance by cheque about six weeks before the holiday. We hired a car from the airport (booked online) drove to Alvor and were met by the owners fiancee who was staying in another appartment. If she hadn't been there you are met by the cleaning lady. The appartment we had was in a complex where some are privately owned and the rest were hired to Thomsons. When we left we just put the keys on the table and shut the door. Everything was great except the weather.