Prospective guests often ask us what makes Italy Perfect's offer of an apartment or villa in Italy different from many others they may be evaluating. How is it that our guests so often send us comments such as these we received just this week:

"We have told everyone about Italy Perfect, or at least those whom we deem Worthy. You have an absolutely wonderful, elegant service." Elaine & Bob

"Your companies should be the model for foreign rentals agencies." Anthony F.

Recipe for Italy Perfect's "Secret Sauce"

1. Best price for value. Because price is an important aspect of your vacation rental decision, please be assured that we are keeping prices down, no prices went up between 2008 and 2009 and many have been marked down as can be seen on our Dates-Rates tab for each property. Business is brisk for high season, so we only discount open nights within a month of arrival. If you encounter a property that is offering shockingly low prices, that desperation can result in their deciding to sell the property out from under your reservation. There is a lot of that going around. Not only might you have to scramble to replace that reservation, you will have to try to get your money back. Good luck.

2. Your vacation is precious. We understand that this is your cherished and much planned vacation and we want you to have a nice stay and a wonderful time. This may be your first and only trip to Italy. The quality of your accommodations can make or break the enjoyment of your stay. Our guests don't make the frantic calls we get, "We are here in Florence and need to find another place to stay, can you help." These disappointed bargain hunters had a sour start to their stay and will waste valuable days of their brief vacation finding and moving to new accommodations.

3. Accommodations are good. How can you avoid the nightmares that some people experience? Having seen some amazingly nasty properties, we know that vacation rental owners are capable of descriptions that omit important information such as no elevator; no view; above a sheet metal fabricator; not so clean; next to train tracks; scary neighborhood and so on. What is it worth to you to have a trusted and experienced professional personally visit your prospective vacation apartment or villa to make sure that it is nice and to let you know about any shortcomings? 

Everything we offer has been personally approved by ourselves. We have an extensive checklist (50+ items) for our inspection that involves checking all aspects of the accommodation, the building, the neighborhood, the view, maintenance, comfort and safety. We carefully select apartments for review and even with our experience and advance study, we reject about half the places we see for aspects that weren’t obvious until we were right there.

4. Straight talk. We present all the wonderful aspects of our properties and we tell you anything we know of that may be a concern. Read our reviews that are the first thing you see on the green Reviews tab for each property listing. Others won't tell you about low water pressure (a common problem in Rome in the summer) or an insipid view, but we do so you are prepared to deal with it, rather than being surprised and disappointed.

5. Information galore. To meet the needs of demanding customers like ourselves, we have compiled extensive information and photos about each of our properties. We know from experience that you can't assume anything about a property, so we go out and get the details for you. For example, we visited a set of apartments that did not have central heating, just rolling, electric radiators. We found them on another site recently with no mention of this issue.

We gladly share our experience, ideas and tips. In fact, we have put as much as possible in some great documents we send to our guests. Our Rome and Florence guides have our personal restaurant suggestions, shopping ideas and lists of services such as doctors, guides and taxis. Seriously helpful information. And our "manual" is an interesting and sometimes amusing twenty three page compendium of answers to the questions you didn't even know to ask about traveling and renting in Italy.

6. Service. We are happy to help you contrast and compare accommodations while you are making your selection. We also can tell you, honestly, proximity to sights or grocery stores; whatever you need to know. Do you have a special need or concern? Just ask.

7. Wonderful owners and managers. We work with our owners and managers every day and have a trusting relationship with them. They will treat you kindly and with respect. They speak English and are helpful to you. Often our guests comment on experiencing the real Italy through the kind, sweet, intelligent and witty Italians they meet when staying in our vacation rentals. We educate our in-Italy associates on what our guests need and how they perceive things so that something like the requirement for a drip coffee pot does not seem so strange to them. And if owners or managers do not keep up their end of things, we "fire" them. If you come across their properties on other sites, how will you know that these are the people we have chosen to not work with for good reasons?

Thank you for entrusting us with your precious vacation, liberally use our Secret Sauce to help ensure yourself a wonderful stay in Italy.

Pat & Lisa Byrne