Frequently asked questions and conditions of booking

1. Booking & Payment Conditions

   

2. Can I book accommodation without a prepayment?

3. I don’t know Italian. How can I communicate with an owner when check-in or check-out as well as if I have a problem?

4. What does a language support include?

5. Can I get a visa rented an apartment/villa through the site etnamare.org?

6. Are there any hidden extra payments to the prices indicated on the site?

7. Is a prepayment returned if we can’t come?

8. What is the final cleaning?

9. When is it better to book private accommodation in Sicily?

10. Why are the August prices extremely high?

11. What period in Sicily does fit for a vacation with little children?

12. Is a personal language support possible during the check-in?

13. What guarantees that all goes well and we are not deceived do you provide?

Booking & Payment Conditions

• Booking conditions of private accommodation in Sicily have little difference from the similar ones in the continental Italy and the rest part of Europe. As a rule it’s necessary to transfer the down payment to the owner as a prove of your final decision to ‘nail’ the dates of an apartment or a villa you liked. There are few private owners, admitting booking without prepayment. As a rule they are either those who only begin renting and never faced idle time of their property, rent  ‘upon one’s good word’, or owners living next door to the appartements, who don’t have to move out from another town just for demonstration without a rent guarantee.
• When is better to book you can read HERE
• An approximate prepayment percentage while booking is on the real estate page.  Please, clarify the exact amount while making a request, for there are variations depending on a season, week number, etc.
• Some kinds of touristic property provide for a limit of electricity use. It means that an owner together with you will meter readings when check-in and check-out. Cost overrun must be paid by cash to the owner or to be deducted from the security deposit payment when check-out. Limits are on the site for each variant as well as in lease contracts.
• Ways of deposit transfer. As a rule the most widespread kind of suites and villa payment in Europe is a bank transfer to an owner’s current account.  Besides it’s one of the most secure methods, as in this case the leaseholder keeps a lodger’s banking details. Their presence is considered to be a certain reliability guarantee. (For your information: The least frauds with accounts in Italy mean the close of the last ones, while their owner obtains a status ‘Protestato’ and can’t have any kind of a banking account during 5 years).
• Payments by PayPal, Western Union, Contact system, cards (not for all) are possible.The rest is paid in cash on the spot when check-in and receive the keys.A refundable secure deposit, as a rule, is paid apart by cash when check-in and returns back when check-out.A leaseholder pays all the commission charges for a prepayment transfer.
• Read attentively the rental conditions, published on the site, in contracts and in a private correspondence before the payment.  The prepayment transfer confirms your agreement with the present conditions; claims to the rental conditions after the money transferred are not accepted.

HOW TO BOOK:

• There are two ways for booking: with registration and personal account making on the site and without registration by means of sending any request (by skype, email, a request form, a personal call);
• I send you an owner’s banking details to make a transfer as well as an agreement or a voucher to fill in, if necessary;
• You transfer the amount stated in the contract and send me a written confirmation of the transfer (a SWIFT message, the receipt scan, etc.);
• Upon confirmation a suite or a villa is considered to be booked by you (in a calendar) and it’s not offered to other customers;
• I send you a scanned signed agreement or a voucher; few weeks before the check-in I send you a bilingual instruction, containing a meeting details;
• I provide a language support by mobile when check-in and check-out as well I’m in touch in cases of rental problems or force-majeure.

PRICES INDICATED ON THE SITE ARE FINAL.  You can check competition of our prices easily, open any other international rental site.

Can I book accommodation without a prepayment?

– Yes, there are cases when you can. If some weeks are left unrented, owners are certainly interested to lease their property at the last moment on the spot, 3-5 days before check-in. Unfortunately in case of renting without a prepayment few weeks before check-in, nobody can guarantee you that your period will be free, an owner will be in, etc, as bookings with prepayments are preferred. If you need time to take a decision (you search for the tickets, wait the exact dates of your holidays, etc), you have a chance to pre-book a variant you liked. In this case I will inform you if some competitive requests on your dates appear.

I don’t know Italian. How can I communicate with an owner when check-in or check-out as well as if I have a problem?

-There is nothing to worry about! One of the services I provide to tourists is a full language support by mobile while your check-in, check-out and in case if any problems with accommodation appear during your holiday. Besides, owners of my trusted apartments and villas are very responsible and hospitable people. Some of them come to check-in with a dictionary in their laptopJ.. Some know main European languages. As well I send a bilingual instruction both to an owner and to a customer, containing all the check-in/check-out details and the apartment/villa special details.

What does a language support include?

– A language support on the spot includes a consultation via mobile, sms or a chat (if possible) during check-in, check-out and staying concerning all the apartment/villa details: equipment, bedclothes, gas cylinders, exchange, owner’s additional services (enlisted in the description), basic informational support by the area of residence, force majeure, etc. The one concerning hotel booking, taxi etc. is provided with a prior agreement.

Can I get a visa rented an apartment/villa through the site etnamare.org?

– At present almost all the owners/companies I deal with meet tourists’ desires and make rental agreements or vouchers you can use to get a vise. You can learned detailed information about papers to get a vise on the visa center site of your country or of a consulate. The difference is that renting with us you will get a bilingual rental agreement (Italian & English) completely free of charge.

Are there any hidden extra payments to the prices indicated on the site?

– All the rental prices indicated on the site are final for a customer, any extra charges (bedclothes, light, etc) are usually indicated in the description and are written in a rental agreement.

Is a prepayment returned if we can’t come?

– As there have not been cases of the kind in our experience, please, specify the booking canceling beforehand. Each owner has his rules based on the customers stream, the rental season, etc. However, as a rule, all the owners are similar in the following: all of them risk to get idle time and to lose a potential customer if they cancel the rental 1 month before check-in or later. That’s why the prepayment is extremely important, though it doesn’t cover all the potential damage of a sudden canceling. Keeping the prepayment at a rate of 100% if a booking is canceled, some owners offer a client to come in another period.

What is the final cleaning?

– final cleaning is a complex accommodation cleaning after one group of tourists checked-out and before another one checked-in. As a rule in Europe it is paid by a customer and often indicates apart a week rental price. In some cases, when the final cleaning is done by an owner, it is free of charge. In Italy (and other countries) there is  a following practice: even if a customer pays the final cleaning, it’s always a bon ton to take the garbage out, especially empty liquor bottles, to wash up, to put all the dirty bedclothes in one place (as a rule in bin or to leave on the bed in a pile). If a customer rearranged the furniture inside or in a garden, it must be return where it was at check-in.  Personally I and on behalf of the owners beg to understand these simple rules (fortunately, obvious for most people), and don’t create incidents obliging owners to apply special charges and rental conditions.

When is it better to book private accommodation in Sicily?

– as a rule, summer months (June-September) are booked by tourists since January-February. Experienced independent tourists after bought air-tickets (prices are very good if you buy half a year before or even earlier), simultaneously search for accommodation on their dates, therefore best weeks/variants might be unavailable by spring. Take it into account planning your holidays, especially if you’re going to make a long booking (from 3 weeks) or complicated variants (multi properties).

Why are the August prices extremely high?

– August is considered to be the high season indeed, especially its two central weeks due to Ferragosto (14^th-15^th of August), a national feast. And not only the majority of the Italians has vacations in August. Most of the Europeans run to ‘the south’, while Sicily is considered to be one of the southern spots of Europe. That’s why demands on touristic services exceed offers. That’s the reason of very high accommodation prices.

What period in Sicily does fit for a vacation with little children?

– Sicily is geographically located in Turkey and Greece latitudes, while some districts are in African Tunisia ones! That’s why sun can be hot even during winter, the air temperature might reach 40° in shade in July-August. The second part of July and a first one of August are not the best ones for toddlers and children up to 3 years old, no matter the sea is warm to maximum degrees. Nevertheless, the last week of August -September are a period recommended for children’ vacations: the air temperature doesn’t exceed 30-35 degrees, while the sea might stay warm even with the beginning of September rains (sometimes until November). If one wishes to avoid rains, he should choose May-June: it’s already warm as in September, but not hot, while the sea might still be rather cool.

Recently a number of rent requests for a low season (October-March) from families with little children, who wish to take them out from Autumn-Spring slush and consequent season worsening in a completely different climate with constant sunshine, healthy air and fresh fruits and vegetables all year round is being increased. 100 times they are right! As besides general healing, the Island can offer a practical profit as very low rental prices.

Is a personal language support possible during the check-in?

– Unfortunately, due to a big number of simultaneous check-ins in suites, which might be located at different ends of the island, my personal present while check-in is often rather problematic. Nevertheless, everything is possible, if it’s arranged well. If you want me to come personally to your check-in, indicate it into your request together with the check-in time. The language support by phone is available for all the variants.

What guarantees that all goes well and we are not deceived do you provide?

1. First of all, they are reviews. Renting private accommodation, which has already been rented for a long period of time, search the customers’ reviews. If the accommodation has been rented for 2 year and there are no reviews on it, it means that something is wrong with it. Dozens of reviews are publishes on my site. Some of them you can find on side independent ones like www.otzyv.ru, forum of Vinskogo, Tripadvisor, etc. I collaborate with certificated guides, who give high praise of my job. By request I can provide the contacts of those who wrote the reviews to clarify the details.
2. I collaborate only with loyal responsible owners. If addressing to an accommodation owner I have a feeling that my tourists will be infringed on his behalf, I prefer not to place an object on the site and refuse from a collaboration.
3. I visit in person each variant, make some additional photos you won’t find on other sites. Such quality control will allow you to avoid unpleasant surprises when arrived. The Italians have particular ideas concerning distances. The real 500 meters away from the sea are declared as 150 ones. Renting through www.etnamare.org you get a 99% guarantee of the exact information. You can always leave your own review about a holiday in ‘Reviews’ part on the exact accommodation page.
4. Here is my Consultant status on www.otzyv.ru. I have been advising on Sicily on this site since 2009, I value my good status, due to which I get customers’ current, so I have no interest to lose it because of a bad-done job.
5. Financial guarantees. If desired, the prepayment transfer made by bank can be followed. Consequences for a negligent recipient might be disastrous: from all his accounts blocking to a criminal case. All the owners I deal with are honest citizens and taxpayers. Some of them have their own business. I know their families and many of them via my friends and relatives.
6. While booking a rental agreement, where all the conditions and side contacts are prescribed, is made. The agreement is signed by the accommodation owner that means a sufficient guarantee for the European practice.
7. Some of holiday properties can be rented via world famous international sites like Airbnb, Homeaway or Booking. You can find the complete list of these properties HERE (you need to search by “Additional warranties” option)
8. For over 3 weeks premium properties rentals we offer  “Livestream visit” service, which means that I’ll show you the property you will rent in real time like it is in reality. You will have possibility to ask any questions to owners regarding your preferred villa during your Livestream visit, English/Italian/Russian language support is included