Help with choosing site/company for booking holiday rental apartment

Telex

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if there are any tips and recommendation regarding holiday rental sites/companies here on this forum?

I'm going to Palma (Majorca) in April for 4 nights. Was sitting last night doing a lot of research on hotels and apartments but feel like I'm back on square one.

There are a few reasons why we'd prefer to rent an apartment; It'd be nice to be able to cook our own food after visiting the food markets. Also we'd like to stay really central in Palma, on a cozy street near/in old town, and after doing research it seems there are no cheaper hotels in this area (we're travelling on a budget). Only one I could find that seemed decent on a budget was Tryp Palma, which is central, but not really in a cozy location..

We've only ever rented a holiday apartment once before, in Nice last year, but that was from a company renting out apartments in that particular city, rather than a site with ads (which seems to be all I can find when looking for apartments in Palma).

There seems to be quite a few sites out there, AirBnB, HomeAway, ClickStay, TripAdvisor (and HolidayLettings which seems to be owned by TripAdvisor, so not sure if that is the same as booking through the TripAdvisor site?) etc..

So spent ages looking at flats on AirBnB last night (and there are a lot of nice ones there in great locations) but got put off after reading lots of negative reviews about the company and the customer service and the fact that you have to give them lots of documents (passport scans, social network links etc) to even be able to book. So I've ruled them out.

The rest of the sites, does anybody have any good/bad experience to share about the different sites/companies and/or any tips for holiday rental via sites like these? Feeling quite lost about this.. I got pretty put off by reading (about a lot of holiday apartment rental sites) that they take your money when you request to book, but if your booking for the apartment doesn't get accepted the money is still on hold with the site/company in limbo for a while.. Not sure which site/company is the best to use to avoid stuff like that happening?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you!

MasterPoo

Telex, I think with anything anyone recommends you will find pros and cons.....personally I like to read the negatives, then the positives then make my own mind up. You must remember it is all subjective.

You've been put off AirBnB, having visited a friend who was staying at an AirBnB venue and her personal recommendation, I wouldn't hesitate to try it out.

Its a judgement call, if it all goest tits up, lesson learnt, move on, if it all goes well, YAY!

In a nutshell I really don't see how asking another Forum for their suggestion is going to help you decide especially if you've already used all the other reputable forums already?

richardw

If you select one room with 5 or more adults on hotel booking websites, it tends to give you apartments. The hotel Costa Azul is very popular.

bradelyjacc

There are many sites available to fulfill your search. My search come to end at homeaway.com, which provide you apartment according to your pocket. There are many options available for palma.

SW17

bradelyjacc wrote: »

There are many sites available to fulfill your search. My search come to end at homeaway.com, which provide you apartment according to your pocket. There are many options available for palma.

You appear to be resurrecting old threads for no reason. Trying to build a post count?

pendragon_arther

I always use Airbnb. The security checks for registration are for your and the owners' safety. Once that's over you can enjoy good apartments for much less than a hotel. I'm in Gozo now after using them and for £530 pm I've got a penthouse apartment with all amenities including fast wifi and TV.