Have You Ever Spent a Holiday on House Boat? It's a Great Experience For the Whole Family

Holiday makers can explore a country using its waterways by renting a boat house or a cabin cruiser which combines self catering accommodation with transport. You can now use international searches on erento to plan your vacation beforehand, renting a boat house to take care of your living and transportation needs.

To the North West of Germany is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also referred the "land of thousand lakes" because of the multitude of lakes interconnected by rivers and canals

The area offers many cruising possibilities and vacation makers can rent boat houses and sail in the water channels while enjoying the fascinating beauty of the countryside.

Ireland is yet another interesting destination for boat house holiday makers. The country is not only surrounded by water, but it also has about 9,000 miles of waterways and over 400 sizeable lakes. The lakes are interconnected by rivers and canals therefore creating a network of accessible waters. With canal boats, holiday makers are free to explore Ireland's network of inland waterways. The river Shannon which divides Ireland almost into two provides a beautiful location for cruising vacations. Many companies offer this mobile accommodation for rental purposes.

Since a large part of the country lies below sea level and requires constant drainage, Netherlands is commonly said to have been born out of water. As a result, the country has numerous canals and lakes. Holiday makers can cruise the IJsselmeer , Waddenzee, and the Great Lakes in house boats easily available from rental companies spread around the region. The Dutch water channels are lined by idyllic scenery including ancient cities, gentle landscapes and even villages.

Furthermore, Italy offers spectacular cruising waterways in the Northern part of the country. Tourists can rent a boat house to navigate the Venice Lagoon and view the magnificent palaces rising from a lagoon spotted with many islands and islets.

France on the other hand boasts extensive navigable rivers and canals, offers cruises that take tourists along Camargue and Languedoc some of Southern France's most breath taking regions. Holiday makers can hire barges and plan their own tailor made itineraries in this mellow and fascinating corner of France.

John Witterson is a member of Content Team in erento GmbH, which is the world's largest and fast growing Online Rental Marketplace. erento provides over 1 million rental items in over 2000 categories such as e.g. Motorhomes, Cars, Construction Machines and many others.

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Holiday Villas in Lanzarote - 10 Top Tips For Successfully Renting Your Villa

There are now estimated to be well over 3,000 holiday villas in Lanzarote, and the biggest holiday rental sites have over 600 each on their books. With the recession hitting visitor numbers to the island to the extent of them being 20% down in the first 3 months of 2009, this is sombre reading for owners of holiday villas in Lanzarote, who need to rent their properties out for a large proportion of the year. It's very competitive out there!

So what can Lanzarote villa owners do to ensure they successfully let their properties in the current climate? We suggest the following 10-point strategy:

1. Furnish well - the trick is to invest in robust furnishings that look great and photograph well, but will also stand wear and tear. This usually means that buying cheaply is a false economy - remember you are furnishing a holiday home, not student accommodation.

2. Use great photographs and prepare them well. Before taking the picture, spend as long as possible staging the photo, arranging furniture and fittings etc, and make sure the lighting is right. Take exterior shots on a sunny day, and do not feature people in your photos. You could also consider filming a video tour of your villa - this gives an added dimension that photos alone cannot deliver, and may give you an edge. Again, however, make sure your filming is stage managed to emphasise all the best aspects of your villa.

3. If your photography and filming skills are not up to scratch, hire a professional! It will probably pay for itself in the first year.

4. If you are not planning to manage the villa yourself, spend time researching and appointing good Villa Managers. The key things you are looking for are high quality and reliable cleaning services (for the pool and villa), laundry, and being responsive and attentive to customer queries. Remember, these people are the equivalent of the holiday rep if you are not nearby.

5. Be realistic with your pricing. Review some of the villa rental sites that are already advertising, and check out some of your competitors in the same geographical area. If you are planning to charge more for your villa than they are, make sure the reasons are obvious in your advertisement!

6. Focus your selling copy on your real points of difference - with so many villas on Lanzarote, you need to have some unique selling points. These could be property features (for example hot spa, private pool), views (especially a sea view), proximity to other attractions (beaches, golf, nightlife etc). Make these USPs (unique selling points) STAND OUT in your villa advertising copy.

7. Advertise - these days, the internet is where people look for holiday villas, so choose sites that rank well for key search terms on Google. How many sites you choose to advertise on is a matter of affordability, but if you are looking for 20 or more weeks of lettings per year, we would recommend advertising on at least two, and preferably three sites, rather than relying on one advert.

8. Show an Availability Calendar - this is a double edged sword, because if it has lots of gaps, it doesn't look good! However, potential customers will need to know your villa is available when they want it, so we'd recommend it.

9. Respond to enquiries promptly, and always within 24 hours. Most enquirers will have written to a short list of villa owners, including you, so simply replying quickly should help you to convert more enquiries to sales. When replying to initial enquiries (which usually ask for confirmation of price and availability), again emphasise your USPs (the points that are unique about your villa), but do this succinctly and factually, without 'over selling'.

10. Add finishing touches - the Welcome Pack, luxurious towels and good linen will speak volumes when your customers arrive, and will encourage them to book with you again next year.

So there you have it - a suggested 10-point strategic plan for successful villa rentals in Lanzarote. Put this plan into action, and you should see the inquiries arriving sooner rather than later.

Miles Couchman is the Editor and owner of All Things Lanzarote (http://allthingslanzarote.com), a website offering information on Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands. The site advertises a wide ranage of villas and apartments for holiday rental, hotels, flights and car hire, as well as offering a comprehensive guide of places, things to do and see on Lanzarote.

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Orlando Vacation Tips - Choosing Florida Short Term Rentals

Have you looked into the different types of accommodation that Orlando has to offer when you're planning your vacation, and in particular have you researched all of the options for Florida short term rentals? Single family homes and condos are available to rent on a weekly (or even shorter) basis, so you can enjoy the luxury of staying in your own home-way-from-home, with all the convenience that brings, for little more than the price of a single hotel room.

This is because Orlando in particular is one area where absentee owners have purchased homes and adopted the short term rental approach as a way to recover some or all of their running costs. Intense competition has held back prices. Now more and more families and groups are building this type of accommodation into their Orlando vacation package to make the most of their time away from home.

But can you have confidence that the short term rental property you see on the Internet will live up to expectations? The last thing you want is for all those weeks and months of anticipation to be wrecked because your accommodation is below standard. So how can you make sure you get what you're looking for?

The simple answer is to be just as rigorous in researching Florida short term rentals as you would any hotel or motel. And to apply just the same sort of thought process as you would with a hotel/motel. So plan your Florida short term rental, particularly if you want to be close to Disney World, Sea World and Universal, around the following guidance:

* It is very easy to think that price doesn't matter when it comes to choosing a short term rental property for your vacation package. But if you wouldn't book into a motel offering rooms for $35 per night then you should certainly stay away from the lowest priced rental home. The cheaper a home is there is more chance that it is poorly maintained, lacking facilities and likely to be of poor quality.

* Quality: Hotels and motels are increasingly showing room photos and virtual tours of the room you'll be renting so you can check the quality. And so too are vacation home owners. Ask for pictures and an on-line tour and limit yourself to those owners and companies who commit to allocating your home at the time of booking. Obviously if you're dealing directly with a home owner who only has one house, this problem is solved!

* To find the location of the property you are renting, ask the owner or booking company for the address then check it out on Google. If they won't give you the full address ask for the zip code. Don't rely on descriptions that state that the home is only "5 minutes from Disney World" because most of the rental homes are two to ten miles away from Disney. Travel times to the parks will obviously vary depending on time of day, season and traffic conditions.

* It's a good idea to ask in advance how the owner or management company would deal with issues such as the pool not getting hot enough, the air conditioning breaking down or the television not working. If the problem cannot be fixed straight away do they have another property you can move to?

* Most hotel rooms have a guest book to help you find the services you need and the facilities the hotel has to offer. But there is always some service or need these books don't cover. In a hotel you can ask at the front desk but in a rental home you have to find the solutions for yourself. To find the nearest shopping mall or restaurant you can look on the internet and for anything else ask the management company.

Whenever you venture out of your own home to stay in rented accommodation you are accepting some sort of risk that it won't live up to your expectations. The last thing you want for that dream vacation is to find that you're booked into a place that spoils the entire break. But up-front research and an understanding of how things work, whether you're choosing hotels or Florida short term rentals, should mean that you get exactly what you need for a great vacation.

Sue built and ran a Central Florida property management company so she has a lot of inside experience on choosing Orlando holiday villas and helping her guests with Orlando vacation tips.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sue_Stafford

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Caravans For Hire - Hints and Tips on Hiring Out Your Caravan

If you are a first time caravan owner or are planning on purchasing your first caravan with the intention of renting it out, hopefully these hints and tips will come in useful!

Getting Booking: The internet is a very powerful tool, so bare that in mind, it's easy to think that newspaper advertising in the best option, however many peoples first port of call when looking to hire a caravan (or book a holiday) is the the internet, and with many websites offering affordable and effective advertising, it's well worth utilising this option, even if you do also decide to advertise in your local newspaper.

Equipping You New Caravan: It is common practice for caravan owners to equip their caravans with all the latest mod cons, this gives their visitors a real homely feel. If in doubt about what you should include ask other owners or do some research online. The more features and homely comforts you offer the more likely you are to get bookings.

Get All Bookings Confirmed In Writing: Whilst it may well be quicker and easier to confirm bookings via email or telephone, this doesn't provide you with adequate protections in the case of a dispute, so make should you have all the relevant paperwork ready for your guests to sign, in this paperwork clearly state your full terms and conditions, don't worry that your terms and conditions may put potential guests off, most will see that you are simply looking after your property, which is of course a good thing, if you do ever come across any potential guests who are reluctant to agree to your terms and conditions then you should ask yourself do I really want them staying in my property?

Maintenance: You may be planning on look after your caravan yourself, however it's still well worth checking to see if this is a service offered either by other owners on the park or by the park itself, just in case at any stage you find yourself unable to to so yourself.

Potential Guests: Don't be afraid to be overly cautious, if you have an enquiry and you feel that you are possibly being mislead in anyway (i.e number of people, age of people etc), then don't feel awkward asking questions, if after doing so you still are unsure then it's best to go with your gut instinct, yes it may mean turning down a booking, but it's better to be safe than sorry and chances are that you will get another booking anyway, especially if it's in high season, however even if you don't it's got to be better having a week free than potentially having your property damaged.

Summary: Hiring out your caravan can be a great way of gaining additional income just be well prepared upfront!

http://www.flamingolandrentals.co.uk
http://www.caravans-4-hire.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Finley

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