We look for pleasant, clean, well-furnished vacation rentals with active, involved hosts. The locations must be conveniently located for sightseeing excursions. We look for high-value properties where we feel that the price is fair for the quality of the accommodation. The range of quality varies from simple and clean to "luxury". We do not use the term villa to describe our accommodations, although some of our competitors and our hosts would call our high-end vacation rentals luxury villas. We do not include properties that would fall below our standards for Untours. In some cases, we do use vacation rentals for The RIGHT Vacation Rental that would be too expensive for Untours. At The RIGHT Vacation Rental, we do offer some properties in more "resort" like areas than our Untours centers, and prices in high-demand locations (London, Amalfi Coast) are often relatively high. We pride ourselves that we offer good value, no matter what the price.

We have made every effort to describe the apartments as accurately as possible. Between the descriptive text and the pictures, we think we've done a very good job. If there is a particular aspect of the apartment that we did not cover or that you are not sure of, please make a point of asking the property host directly.

We find our European rental properties in a variety of ways. Many of our properties were found by an American woman, hired by Untours and trained by our expert on-site staff. She met the property hosts and carefully selected many of the apartments we now offer. Our on-site European staff selected some properties. Untours employees based in Media, PA located others. Trusted partner companies and agents have made other properties available.

Either U.S. or European Untours staff has directly seen most of our properties. Some apartments have not been seen directly, but only in cases in which we have personally met and trust the property host. In some regions, we rely on trusted agents and partners to inspect our properties.

We look for pleasant, clean, well-furnished vacation rentals with active, involved hosts. The locations must be conveniently located for sightseeing excursions. We look for high-value properties where we feel that the price is fair for the quality of the accommodation. The range of quality varies from simple and clean to "luxury". We do not use the term villa to describe our accommodations, although some of our competitors and our hosts would call our high-end vacation rentals luxury villas. We do not include properties that would fall below our standards for Untours. In some cases, we do use vacation rentals for The RIGHT Vacation Rental that would be too expensive for Untours. At The RIGHT Vacation Rental, we do offer some properties in more "resort" like areas than our Untours centers, and prices in high-demand locations (Santorini, Amalfi Coast) are often relatively high. We pride ourselves that we offer good value, no matter what the price.

For the most part rentals begin on Saturday. But the changeover day (the day of the week that each property starts rentals) is noted for each individual property on the web site. When we begin accepting reservations, we will only be taking rentals by the week. We hope to offer weekends and several-day rentals soon after that.

All of our current holdings are displayed on our website. These locations include Croatia (Central Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Hvar), France (Corsica, Dordogne, Normandy), Greece (Corfu, Crete, Santorini), Italy (Amalfi Coast, Emilia-Romagna, Ischia, Le Marche, Sardinia, Tuscany), Poland (Krakow), Slovenia (Ljubljana), and Spain (Barcelona, Madrid). Our company also offers Untours featuring vacation rentals in Austria (Salzburg, Vienna), Prague, Budapest), France (Alsace, Provence, Paris), Germany (Rhine, Bavaria), Greece (Nafplio), Holland (Leiden), Italy (Florence, Rome, Venice, Tuscany South, Umbria, Sicily), Spain (Andalusia, Barcelona), and Switzerland. If you are interested in a custom vacation rental property search service using our skilled researchers, please send us an e-mail here service@therightvacationrental.com, subject line: Custom Vacation Rental Search Request.

Europe is where our primary expertise lies. We do not rule out expanding to other destinations eventually. If you have a particular destination in mind, please let us know.

Sorry, but at this time, we only arrange property rental. Some of our property hosts can arrange car rental as noted in the individual Property Descriptions under the Services section. Our preferred vendors in Europe may be found here: Trip Planning Resources and Car Rental. For all-inclusive vacation rental packages, we recommend you consider an Untour (www.untours.com).

Please ask the vacation rental property host for this information.

You are welcome to make any air arrangements you like.

Some of our property hosts can arrange car rental as noted in the individual Property Descriptions under the Services section. Our preferred vendors in Europe may be found here: Trip Planning Resources and Car Rental.

No, we'll leave this part of the planning process to you.

Not right now but soon we hope to have some good recommendations.

Yes. You can see everything we know about the apartment setting by clicking on Setting and What's Nearby? on the property description page. If you need further details, please contact the property host using the Ask the Host a Question link on the Property Description Page.

Yes, you will have an opportunity to do so when you make your deposit. In the meantime, if you would like to review our policy, please click here: Travel Insurance.

If your question is truly urgent, please send an e-mail to urgent@therightvacationrental.comor call 610-299-8060. Someone from The RIGHT Vacation Rental will read your e-mail or return your phone call within 24 hours of receipt of your e-mail. Please be sure to indicate the nature of your question on the subject line or in your message. This helps us prioritize and work to answer your questions more efficiently. After you pay your final balance, and no later than 30 days before your departure, you will receive contact/arrival information for your host. This will be sent by e-mail. In addition to detailed contact information for your rental, there will also be a phone number for The RIGHT Vacation Rental here in the U.S. to be used in case of emergencies.

Our prices are based on our ability to handle virtually all of your questions via the website and/or via your e-mail link to your host. For that reason, while we are able to answer your questions, we normally answer service questions on a first come/first serve basis. Urgent emails are another matter. We always answer them right away. However we ask that you ONLY use the urgent@therightvacationrental.com for truly urgent questions. There will be a service fee charged for questions sent to the urgent email that could have been answered via the website. (We double-check with you by e-mail, to make sure you truly do want this personal service before assessing charges. The fee for each individual question answered from the urgent@therightvacationrental.com is $45; there is no fee for true emergency questions.)

SAMPLE URGENT QUESTIONS:
Some examples of emergency requests which we are happy to handle, without charge, via the urgent@therightvacationrental.com.

• I am leaving in the next few days and have lost/never received my arrival information via e-mail.
• I must cancel my trip and want to be sure of notifying you before the 60-day deadline, in order to avoid a penalty.
• I need to change dates or names on my current reservation.
• We are on-site and are not able to contact our Prime Contact.
• I have lost my Client ID number and cannot access all my Trip information.
• I paid my deposit and/or final payments but have not received my Client ID number and arrival information.
• There is a mistake on the billing for this rental on my credit card.

SAMPLE NON-URGENT QUESTIONS:
Some examples of incidental questions for which the $45 service fee would apply, if sent to the urgent@therightvacationrental.com might be:

• Is there a toaster in the apartment?
• What is the weather at this time of the year?
• Can I get tickets to the local concert?

These are questions that may be on our website already, your host may be able to help with, via e-mail, or once you arrive or, may simply have to wait till you can discover them on site.

SAMPLE SERVICE QUESTIONS: We are happy to answer non-urgent questions via email. Some examples of questions that we can handle via the service@therightvacationrental.com:

• There has been an incorrect charge to my credit card.
• I need to change the names or numbers of the parties travelling with me.
• I didn't get my contact information (but I am not leaving for awhile so it is not urgent)

Questions about the property itself should be directed to your host, using the handy Ask the Host a Question link, right on the property description page. If you send service@therightvacationrental.com a question about the property, we will simply refer you to the property host.

Thank you for your understanding; our purpose is to provide you with help when truly unforeseen events occur, while keeping our costs (and yours) as low as possible.

We do not have on-site staff in Europe for The RIGHT Vacation Rental. You can send us an e-mail at urgent@therightvacationrental.com which will be read within 24 hours of our receipt of it or call 610-299-8060. But in true emergencies, your primary contact person, therefore, is the vacation rental property host.

If you have purchased our trip insurance, you may call the Travel Assistance Service at 1-800-243-2440 to submit a claim. Please note that insurance will only reimburse you for non-refunadable costs if the cancellation is for a reason which is covered in the policy. You can also call this number in order to ask questions or submit a claim. They will help you with:

• Medical evacuation/repatriation
• Repatriation of remains
• Medical or legal referral
• Hospital admission guarantee
• Emergency cash advance
• Translation service
• Prescription drug/eyeglass replacement
• Passport/visa information
• Bail bond
• Lost baggage retrieval

If you are uncomfortable traveling on your own without assistance, you should consider an Untour (www.untours.com).

If your flight is delayed and your pre-arranged arrival plans will be affected, please call your vacation rental host as soon as possible to make alternate arrangements. It is also helpful to e-mail your host ahead of time with your expected air arrangements if they are relevant to your arrival. That way, if you are unexpectedly detained, the host can check on flight times to help predict how to adjust schedules.

If you have concerns regarding your vacation rental property while you are travelling, you should address them directly with the property host. We will not be able to resolve property problems for you. You may, however, send us an e-mail at service@therightvacationrental.com. If you have an urgent need to contact us, please use urgent@therightvacationrental.com or leave messages at 610 299-8060. (This is a staff mobile phone in the U.S.; please keep time differences in mind.) Someone from The RIGHT Vacation Rental will read your urgent e-mail within 24 hours of receipt of your e-mail. For normal service, questions addressed to service@therightvacationrental.com, our staff will read and respond to e-mails on a normal 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time), Monday - Friday business schedule and respond in a timely manner (usually several days.)

You should send us an "Urgent" e-mail as soon as possible at urgent@therightvacationrental.com or leave a message at 610 299 8060. (This is a staff mobile phone in the U.S.; please keep time differences in mind.)

The RIGHT Vacation Rental cancellation policy is slightly more stringent than the Untours cancellation policy, but it is difficult to compare them as they are a little like apples and oranges, since Untours is a package of air, ground and accommodation. The RIGHT Vacation Rental is just accommodation.

For The RIGHT Vacation Rental, the policy is as follows:

• In case of cancellation, if Untours is notified 60 days or more prior to arrival in the first apartment, the following will be forfeited: the deposit.
• If Untours is notified of cancellation between 60 and 45 days or more prior to arrival in the first apartment, the following will be forfeited: 50% of total rental fees.
• If Untours is notified of cancellation, 45 days or fewer in advance of arrival, or after the arrival date the following will be forfeited: 100% of rental fees.

This means that if you cancel 45 days or fewer in advance of your arrival, your entire rental fee is forfeited. The hosts in our apartments have a very difficult time re-renting apartments inside that 45-day period, so in order to have these great properties to list, we need to offer our hosts some protection against loss of income. This policy is in line with most other vacation rental property businesses of our type.

If your question is truly urgent, please send us an e-mail at urgent@therightvacationrental.com link on our home page that sends a message to The RIGHT Vacation Rental staff or call 610-299-8060. Otherwise, if there is no time urgency, send an e-mail to us at service@therightvacationrental.com.

Someone from The RIGHT Vacation Rental will read your urgent e-mail within 24 hours of receipt of your e-mail. For normal service, questions, our staff will read and respond to e-mails on a normal 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), Monday - Friday business schedule and respond in a timely manner (usually several days.) Please be sure to indicate the nature of your question on the subject line. This helps us prioritize and work to answer your questions more efficiently.

Think of Untours as your neighborhood bookstore, and The RIGHT Vacation Rental as Amazon.com. While Untours is a combination of phone, e-mail and in-person ways of doing business, The RIGHT Vacation Rental is entirely web-based.

The most important difference has to do with costs. With The RIGHT Vacation Rental, we have found the best possible properties throughout Europe for you to rent, put detailed information on a web site and kept the prices as low as humanly possible. This means The RIGHT Vacation Rental is perfect if you are independent and looking for a bargain. It is not right for you if you need the support services Untours offers, or want someone to handle all travel details. Untours is a travel service. The RIGHT Vacation Rental is a property rental service.

• TELEPHONE SUPPORT: Untours: yes, The RIGHT Vacation Rental: no. You can talk to someone on the telephone about Untours, not so with The RIGHT Vacation Rental. The RIGHT Vacation Rental is entirely web-based. The only phone contact is for urgent matters. All the information about the property (a lot!) is on the web site. You can also ask questions about the property via e-mail to the property hosts/manager before booking. Once your reservation is paid, you'll have both a telephone number and an address for the landlord/host.
• AIR AND GROUND TRANSPORTATION: Untours handles the whole thing - if you want. The RIGHT Vacation Rental is à la carte. At The RIGHT Vacation Rental we can recommend air and ground transportation providers, but you handle that part of the trip independently.
• SUPPORT SERVICES: Untours offers escort from the airport, orientation and onsite staff support while you are on your trip, in case the need should arise. The RIGHT Vacation Rental offers property rentals alone. Although The RIGHT Vacation Rental does have a preference for choosing friendly hands-on managers and property hosts, you should refer to each individual property to see to what extent you can expect contact and support from your hosts. Some will be very helpful; other properties are well managed and maintained but essentially un-hosted properties. (We try to make sure you can tell which is which on the web site.)

The RIGHT Vacation Rental is a new product line of Untours It is managed by Marilee Taussig, daughter of Untours' founder Hal Taussig. Marilee has worked for Untours for 13 years, most recently as Untours Marketing Director.

The short answer is money. We want The RIGHT Vacation Rental to provide great property rental for the lowest possible price! This means that certain costs have to be eliminated - most particularly having staff knowledgeable about all property information being available to customers via phone. We think 98% of what you need to know will be on the web site and being able to e-mail the property host/manager with other questions will take care of just about everything else. We hope you agree that having a property rental at a reasonable price, but without Untours normal "extras," is better than higher prices or no new locations. But it is a trade-off.

They actually don't know anything about the properties. The two operations, while housed in the same building, are separate units. In order to find out about the property they would have to go onto the same web site you already have access to. In order to educate 20+ Untours staff members about 200+ properties, we would have to charge a LOT more for those rentals. By keeping everything on the web we keep your costs down.

There are lots of sites with lots of vacation rental properties on them. There are basically three types: Yellow Pages, Mom & Pop Shops and Mega-Brokers.

• Yellow Page Brokers: These sites stay in business by charging the PROPERTY OWNER an annual fee. ANY PROPERTY CAN BE LISTED ON THESE SITES so the broker exercises no quality control and there is no guarantee that the owner is accurately describing the property. What you see is not necessarily what you get.
• Mom & Pop Shops: These are smaller brokers who specialize in a few regions. They often offer good service and selectivity. They are specialists, and their properties are usually in one particular part of Europe. Their costs, according to our market research, are generally higher than ours. And most have less experience than Untours brings to vacation rentals.
• Mega-Brokers: There aren't many of these brokers with a broad range of properties who have seen, and been selective, with their properties. But there are a few. We KNOW our prices are lower. In some cases we have seen these brokers charge up to $800 more per week for the exact same property that we list, or one very similar. Some of them do offer staffed telephone information, which we do not, but none have nearly the reputation for scrupulous honesty that Untours brings to the task. (We work hard to tell you the pluses and minuses of all the properties.)

Lastly, none of the competition of any kind can say either of these things:

• Untours has been satisfying Americans in vacation rental properties in Europe for over thirty years.
• Untours gives virtually all of its profits to charity and was named, "Most Generous Business in America" by Newman's Own and George Magazine in 1999. We continue the policies that won us these awards to this day.

Please send us an email with that information to suggest@therightvacationrental.com.

Yes, please use the Untours policy for both.

You will book your Untour the way you normally do. (Most Untourists now use a combination of phone, web and e-mail to book an Untour.) You will book The RIGHT Vacation Rental portion of your trip using our web site. (Remember, think Amazon.com). Your Untour representative does not have any information about your The RIGHT Vacation Rental property. If you are arranging your airfare through Untours, they can, of course, arrange an air itinerary that accommodates your entire trip. For ground transportation to and from your The RIGHT Vacation Rental you will make those arrangements on your own. We hope to soon offer good information resources on the web about ground transportation to and from our locations to make it easier for you to "do-it-yourself". When you combine an Untour with The RIGHT Vacation Rental, Untours staff can offer the same kind of service they would if you were combining your Untour with any another kind of travel excursion.