Reading the Terms and Conditions before You Rent

Read, read, and re-read the terms and conditions of your rental agreements. Every private villa rental has its own unique terms and conditions. There are no standards.

One Sunday afternoon we got this call from a villa guest who was more than upset that when she arrived at the property on a Sunday the villa was a mess. What got her especially upset was the master bed had not been made with clean sheets. We had to hold the phone away as she was screaming so loud how disgusted she was about the conditions.

Share as much information as possible.

When we looked up the reservation we noticed the booking was for two weeks and this was the second week. The terms and conditions of this reservation were the housekeeping was only Monday - Saturday. Therefore, the housekeeper was not going to arrive until the following day.

This guest said it was totally unacceptable as she would not sleep in the bed that her ex-husband and girlfriend slept in. We told her we were confused. She explained her ex-husband had rented the villa for two weeks. The first week he would be there with his girlfriend and their two kids. The second week she would arrive and stay with the kids and the ex-husband would leave with his girlfriend.

Communicate with the Property Manager

This very important information and detail were never communicated that the rental guests were making this arrangement. All we knew was the initial guests were staying for two weeks.

Now, this created a challenge to get in touch with the housekeeper to make arrangements to go to the villa and clean up, etc. Of course, the cost of the housekeeper was also an issue. This put us between a “rock & a hard place”. This is one of those times we just had to cover the costs and let it go.