Villa Rental Scammers Beware!

This season we have seen so many guests arriving in our villas who have been the victims of villa rental scams here in the South of France and Provence. They find, what they think, is a perfectly respectable website, they e-mail and in many cases speak with the 'owner' of the property. They confirm the rental, pay the full rental amount up front and then.....nothing. The website disappears, the e-mails bounce and the telephone numbers are no longer in service.

So how can you protect yourself against individuals and in some cases groups of people who are set to ruin your family holiday? Cote d'Azur Villas has been in existence on the French Riviera and in Provence for more than 11 years, the majority of our bookings are transacted via our seure website but the difference is that our offices are here in the South of France, our teams are based here and we will be here with you from helping you to choose your villa righ up until you say goodbye at the end of a wonderful holiday.

Our years of experience in the South of France villa rental market means that we are better placed that almost all other agents to offer our help and advice on how to avoid an upsetting and expensive issue when booking your holiday.

1. Use a Verified Rental Website - The 'big boy's of the rental market are Home Away and Holiday Lettings, they in turn have smaller, national sites such as Abritel in France.

2. Length of Time of Advert - Even on these larger sites verify how long the property has been advertised, they will all tell you and will give you a clear indication of a istory of successful retals.

3. Price - If it seems to good to be true then it usually is. If you are looking at a wonderful 6 bedroom St Tropez Villa in the middle of July and it's a 10th of the price of anything else you've seen then think very carefully why....

4. Domaine Names - If you are not using one of the major rental websites then check out who is the owner of the domaine name - that's the website name, so for us it's www.CotedazurVillaRentals.com. Use one of the key registration sites such as Who Is and you will be able to see who owns the domaine and how long they have owned it. If they've been in business for only a few weeks then you should be concerned.

5. Tesimonials - All websites, including ours have testimonals from previous clients, all satisfied customers and all of whom will be very happy to talk to you about their experience. Any agency will be happy to put you in contact with previous clients and a word of mouth recommendation is worth a million web-site listings.

So our advice is to take care, use the key rental websites and talk to your agency very carefully....individuals who pop up with beautiful villas to rent a silly prices are really to good to be true. 

We look forward to welcoming you to the South of France.....

Sterling Exchange Rate Boosts South of France Villa Rentals

Visit the South of France this Summer and it's now even less expensive if you are travelling from the UK. Recent exchange rate changes makes the South of France even more of an attractive option for Summer 2015.

At the end of last year the exchange rate was giving visitors 1.20 Euros to the Pound, today the rate sits around 1.38 Euros and of course for the team at Ctoe d'Azur Villas, all the villa rental prices are in euros - use that extra holiday money to upgrade to a prestige villa.

Villa Romarin - Available for Summer 2015

Stay Safe when you Visit the South of France

The South of France is glitz and glamour all the way and unfortunately that makes it a target for some less scrupulous visitors. When you're on holiday it easy to forget that our beautiful region can be the place of petty theft and crime, but with just a few sensible precautions then we know that you will have a wonderful holiday.

1. Driving - Don't leave valuables on display in the car, lock them in the boot when you're parked. Cameras, iPads and more.

2. Keep your car doors locked - Many modern cars now automatically lock the doors when you are driving. This is a sensible precaution here on the French Riviera as opportunist thieves have been known simply to open the back door of a car stopped at a traffic light, reach into the car and take whatever is to hand.

3. Dining Out - When you're eating out in restaurants, then ladies do not leave handbags unattended. Keep them in sight at all times.

4. Passports and Currency - Where possible we recommend that you leave large amounts of currency and passports safely at your South of France rental villa. Many of our villas have safes where you can store valuables for the duration of your stay.

5. Alarms and Gates - When you are in your rental villa then close gates and set the alarm, especially at night and of course when you are out of the villa.

Just small, sensible precautions will ensure that you have a wonderful holiday here in one of our rental villas in the South of France.

Art in the South of France and Provence

The Cote d’Azur and Provence are synonymous with many famous artists and their globally famous works of art. This beautiful region in the South of France has exceptional light and of course the most amazing scenery which has been captured by some of the most renowned international artists.

RENOIR: Cagnes sur Mer, just a few miles to the west of Nice and 10 miles or so from Cannes was the home of Renoir.  His house is now a museum with some of the works from this master of Impressionism still on view.

PICASSO: Picasso also lived nearby in Vallauris for many years and it is where he first started experimenting in clay and bronze. Indeed there is a bronze statue of his still in the village called  "Man with Goat" which he donated to the village as a thank you for their support.

Picasso in Mougins 1968

VAN GOUGH: Vincent Van Gough is another who spent his life enjoying the luminosity of the area to create many of his world famous pieces.  He lived for many years at St Remy de Provence, sadly spending much of his time in the local asylum which is where he created some of his most stunning canvasses

Statue of Vincent Van Gough in St Remy de Provence

CEZANNE: Paul Cezanne spent most of his life on the eastern edge of Provence at Arles, an old Roman town, Cezanne’s house and studio are still in the town and open to the public, where one can see his brushes and easel seemingly awaiting his return to create again.  You can also see some of the figurines he used in his painting and Arles is close to Mount Victoire where many of his greatest works were painted.

Cezanne capturing the Colours of Provence

Visiting the South of France and Provence is the ideal opportunity to tour the locations that have been made famous by these artists and the team at Cote d’Azur Villas offer villas in stunning locations across the region.