I am a new member of the forum. I'm a writer. I work in advertising, but I've also written books and magazine articles.
Everytime I spend time reading the posts I am amazed at the generosity of the members and generous spirit of the entire enterprise. I thought my first posts would be about the Pompei oven we're going to build--but that project is stalled in the planning stages because of other excavation that we must do in the yard. Plus--we have decided to celebrate our son's graduation from HS with a trip to Italy. The whole family is going--Dad, Mom, Son, and 10-year old Sis. Our trip includes a pilgrimage to as many Naples pizza sites as possible, plus some time sightseeing in Venice, Florence, and Sicily.
We would like to rent an apartment in a villa in the Amalfi Coast area for a week in July. The problem is this: Our travel agent can help us only with hotels. There are lots of villas and apartments available on the internet. We have contacted a few. The people are very helpful and the places they offer for rent seem very nice. BUT--they all want to be paid by bank transfer, in advance. None that we have contacted takes credit cards.
The problem with this is that we have absolutely no protection against fraud. We have no way of knowing whether the place we're sending money to rent even exists! And we have no recourse if we arrive there and it doesn't.
If it were just my wife and me, I'd maybe take a chance. But with our kids along, it would be really awful to arrive and find we had no place to sleep!
It would be great to get a name or a phone number or an email address of a real estate agent or a property owner that someone in the forum knows or has done business with.
Any and all advice or assistance will be deeply appreciated!
Thanks!
Nick
Everytime I spend time reading the posts I am amazed at the generosity of the members and generous spirit of the entire enterprise. I thought my first posts would be about the Pompei oven we're going to build--but that project is stalled in the planning stages because of other excavation that we must do in the yard. Plus--we have decided to celebrate our son's graduation from HS with a trip to Italy. The whole family is going--Dad, Mom, Son, and 10-year old Sis. Our trip includes a pilgrimage to as many Naples pizza sites as possible, plus some time sightseeing in Venice, Florence, and Sicily.
We would like to rent an apartment in a villa in the Amalfi Coast area for a week in July. The problem is this: Our travel agent can help us only with hotels. There are lots of villas and apartments available on the internet. We have contacted a few. The people are very helpful and the places they offer for rent seem very nice. BUT--they all want to be paid by bank transfer, in advance. None that we have contacted takes credit cards.
The problem with this is that we have absolutely no protection against fraud. We have no way of knowing whether the place we're sending money to rent even exists! And we have no recourse if we arrive there and it doesn't.
If it were just my wife and me, I'd maybe take a chance. But with our kids along, it would be really awful to arrive and find we had no place to sleep!
It would be great to get a name or a phone number or an email address of a real estate agent or a property owner that someone in the forum knows or has done business with.
Any and all advice or assistance will be deeply appreciated!
Thanks!
Nick
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