Once we have received your booking request, we send you three emails: email 1 of 3) a general proceedures text very similar to this text, email 2 of 3) info how how to pay the deposit, email 3 of 3) directions to the property and the owner´s contact info. In some cases we also send a text with info on the area where you are renting. The deposit email is a text describing in detail four or five proven methods for paying the deposit. For off-season deposits under 500 Euros, we can charge your VISA or Mastercard. For larger deposit and high-season rentals, we can not make credit card bookings. The deposit must be sent directly to the owners, for example, by bank transfer, banker's cheque, Western Union (or similar), Royal Airsure, etc... You can decide which of these methods is best for you, or feel free to come up with your own method. Europen Union account holders will want to send bank transfers as they are now free of all charges and comssions between EU countries!

2. Price all inclusive and changeover times

All properties are rented clean, with clean bed linen, towels, blankets, dishtowels, cooking utensils, and some basic start-up foodstuffs. All houses have washing machines. All utilities are included, and there are no extra or hidden charges of any kind. Most houses offer a free cleaning once a week, with additional maid service upon request (at about 10 Euros per hour). You are kindly requested to leave the house pretty much as you found it at the end of your stay.

In the summer high season, most properties try to not to lose a day between rentals, and rentals are usually back to back, so incoming guests are kindly requested to occupy the house in the afternoon as of about 5 pm and depart relatively early on the last day, usually before 11 am, so as to give time for a thorough cleaning before the next rental. If you must show up early, you can leave your things in the house and come back later when the cleaning crew has finished. Likewise, if the property is not booked for the day you leave, you needn't go early... and you can stay on as late in the day as you like. I can check this for you. Just let me know.

3. Balance due

The balance due for all rentals must be either prepayed well in advance of your rental or handed over in Euros - cash - upon arrival, meeting the owners, and getting the keys for the property. Payment at the end of the rental is not acceptable under any conditions. Owners do not want to be in the position of having to chase after their guests for payment.

Why advance payment or cash?: once again, private house owners do not have credit card machines... and Banker's cheques and Traveller's cheques must be deposited into the owner's local Spanish bank account and it takes a long time - sometimes months - for the cheques to clear. Furthermore, those checks may be declared stolen or simply cancelled and rendered null within a year after issuing. This makes it impossible for houses to accept payment by checks.

If paying in cash is a problem, let me know about it before your arrival. Some of you may not be willing or able to carry cash, in which case you might try using your credit card to take out Euros at a nearby bank or Automatic Teller Machine. However, keep in mind that credit card withdrawals are limited, (usually about 500 Euros per day) and that banks are wary of accepting too many travellers cheques, as there is so much fraud. If you decide to go the Traveller´s cheque route, ask your company (Thomas Cook, American Express, etc) whether you should expect to have any difficulty cashing in your cheques in Spain. Banks are increasingly reluctant to accept more than a few hundred Euros-worth at a time.

House owners are very grateful when guests show up, and after taking a look at the property and seeing that it is true to their expectations, are prepared to pay on the spot. After all, some owners have driven a long way to clean the property and receive their guests, and at independent self-catering properties, you will not necessarily see the owners again after that first encounter (unless there is some issue which requires their attention). Part of my job is to ensure that owners never have to chase after renters for payment. Personally, when I rent houses, I always have the cash on me (I highly recommend the use of a moneybelt under the shirt to carry money, documents, and plane tickets).

In short, let's work together to make things go smoothly for all concerned. To a large extent, this branch of the "hospitality industry" (how I hate that term!) depends on mutual trust and respect, and it is almost as important for house owners to be happy with their guests as the guests happy with the house. I can always be reached so feel free to call me with any questions you may have, whether it be ahead of time, or when you are with the owners, or during your stay. My telephone numbers are in the signature below.