 Poster: A snowHead
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We’re looking for next Feb half term and it feels like some of the previous used apartments that are part of companies are more expensive so looking at AirBnB etc. we’ve used them before for 2/3 days in the Uk but never for a what is a very expensive holiday.
Has anyone had any problems with last minute cancellations or anything? Should we not worry and just find the best we can? With it being half term choices are very limited at the last minute.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I’ve been ok with both but have seen stories of cancellations before.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Ive never had a problem.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Used them without an issue and also own a privately rented apartment. I've had more people cancel on me than I have cancelled (none). If you book and I take your money your booking is honoured.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Don't rule out booking.com either. They're one of the channels I use, with commission slightly lower than Airbnb, so therefore a slightly lower price to the customer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We've used both with no problems but also now search on Gites France website and have used them a couple of times as found cheaper places with them.
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Read the reviews - it will tell you if they cancelled any bookings and how many days before.
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There's a good website called Cybevasion.fr (also with url Gites.fr) with a lot of alpine apartments on there. No commission to either owner or renter. Owner pays a small annual fee to list. Only French properties though.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We booked two separate apartments through Vrbo for the season just gone - one in January and one in March. Everything worked out fine in the end, but one of our bookings was cancelled within 48 hours of booking it... the owner claimed it was also listed elsewhere and had just been booked there too. This happened very soon after booking so it didn't cause us a problem - we just booked something else. But I guess it means leaving things to the absolute last minute could be a mistake: you're not necessarily seeing a true real-time view of the underlying inventory. But this isn't a complaint: we'd book through the platform again.
One other thing we eventually learned: there can be quite a distinct split between professional and amateur listings on the site. The apartments run as a business tend to be well photographed and extensively described, whereas the ones where the owners are simply renting out the apartment for the weeks they're not using it can tend to look a bit rubbish... poorly lit photos, key things not showing, clutter everywhere... as if they have zero ability to see their apartment through anybody else's eyes! It's very tempting to ignore/reject the latter as they can look messy/run-down, whereas the former are more inviting, aspirational and polished.. However, the advantage of the latter is that they usually tend to be better equipped (somebody actually uses it regularly so has bought all the kitchen implements/etc that you actually need). So don't necessarily be put off.
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Good advice, @gendal. Those artful pictures of a few wild flowers in a pretty jam jar, or bed piled with pointless cushions you have to fling off don't impress me.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Nadenoodlee wrote: |
| Read the reviews - it will tell you if they cancelled any bookings and how many days before. |
Does not the ability to post a review sometimes on the requirement to have stayed in the property (rather than anyone review anything), so you can find it hard to hear about cancellations in the reviews as the cancellee would not have stayed.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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and while I'm moaning.... spent some time yesterday combing various accommodation websites and, folks, a bedroom, no matter how many cushions, and a bathroom, however beautifully appointed, DO NOT AN APARTMENT MAKE.
Wasted a lot of time looking through descriptions trying to make sense of this new trend.
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@Origen, ?
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You know it makes sense.
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I came across a number of bedrooms listed as apartments though, on clicking through to detailed description, they had no facilities for either cooking or eating! They weren't even B & Bs. Just Bs. This was in Scotland and north of England, not France.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Origen, clearly says only a kettle in the "kitchen" facilities  .
I've been caught out before when booked somewhere that had a dedicated home office area, but assumed that meant it had Wifi, it didn't.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
clearly says only a kettle in the "kitchen" facilities
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Yes - as I discovered once I wasted my time looking at the place. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Origen wrote: |
| I came across a number of bedrooms listed as apartments though, on clicking through to detailed description, they had no facilities for either cooking or eating! They weren't even B & Bs. Just Bs. This was in Scotland and north of England, not France. |
What do you call it if it is otherwise self-contained accommodation with its own entrance?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Rob_Quads, not selling but if you select a specific village in a resort google for private rentals and you can make savings dealing direct with owners. I sell through VRBO, Booking.com and AirBnb and load their costs directly on my normal price. If book direct I take bank transfer or +3% for CC booking for ease of mind. Can be 16% difference by memory..
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Yeah I have been trying to google for any of the properties which are privately held to see if I can find another route to them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
What do you call it if it is otherwise self-contained accommodation with its own entrance?
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Separate entrance is crossed off the list of amenities, as is a hair dryer. I'd swap some of those carefully-photographed cushions for a hair dryer!! I'd call it a room with en suite bathroom. I was amused that one of the reviews mentioned the "highly impractical" wash basin. I can just imagine - especially if you were trying to wash up after a cup of "complimentary" tea or coffee and especially if there is no T-towel. An "apartment" absolutely must have somewhere to cook supper and somewhere to sit and eat it - not on your lap!
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| Origen wrote: |
and while I'm moaning.... spent some time yesterday combing various accommodation websites and, folks, a bedroom, no matter how many cushions, and a bathroom, however beautifully appointed, DO NOT AN APARTMENT MAKE.
Wasted a lot of time looking through descriptions trying to make sense of this new trend. |
This is probably more to do with the tick boxes on ABB rather than an attempt to mislead. You don't have an option to select an 'ensuite room' . There's nothing that would actually describe that accommodation accurately.
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You don't have an option to search for "somewhere where I can cook a meal for myself and 2 friends" either, and that's what I was actually searching for. There are plenty of listings on AirBnB for "room" and many of them have a dedicated bathroom. I'm not suggesting this is an earth shattering infraction, but describing a room and bathroom as an "entire apartment" is misleading, to put it no more strongly.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Origen, I don't disagree.
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@Rob_Quads, where are you looking? What resorts? What number of people?
Checking here they have several options... gsi-immobilier.com.. for example.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We're looking for Val D'Isere for family of 4 (with 2 bathrooms) starting 14/02
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Rob_Quads, And how much do you want to pay?
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The price really depends on the quality of the property i.e. we would spend a 3/4 K on it if its nice (I know many people would thing that's just silly money but for us its what we are happy with) but equally we have seen some which looks like some stuff we have been in with SkiWorld 15 years ago and thus not willing to spend that much.
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You know it makes sense.
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@ster, its an automated review by airbnb that says ‘the host cancelled this booking XX days before’ so no it doesnt
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Nadenoodlee, I don’t use Airbnb much but that sounds a useful thing to know about a host but do the other major booking sites do that too?
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Poster: A snowHead
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@ster, no idea. Ive hosted on Airbnb only but when I booked Airbnbs I always searched the reviews.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Yeah quite a few of the estate agents haven’t released the properties with the 2025/26 season. Hopefully once released we’ll find something we like
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've used Abritel.fr many times without problems. But if you do enough research you can normally find a direct route which is cheaper. Just need to put the time in.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We've had an Airbnb booking cancel on us this week for a stay due in a few weeks. Owner cited ill health and has now come off their site. Airbnb refunded money and added £20 goodwill payment, luckily we've found an alternative appartment, it's more money but is a better place.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've used Airbnb and Vrbo on a number of occasions for skiing and other holidays/weekend breaks. Only once have we had a cancellation, with which Airbnb gave us a refund, there was nothing equivalent available for the same sort of price where we were going, so we complained and they gave us additional credit.
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| swskier wrote: |
| I've used Airbnb and Vrbo on a number of occasions for skiing and other holidays/weekend breaks. Only once have we had a cancellation, with which Airbnb gave us a refund, there was nothing equivalent available for the same sort of price where we were going, so we complained and they gave us additional credit. |
And that's exactly why we are weary. If it happens during half term it's likely to need to be thousands of £ to get another property booked at a similar level we are looking at which I am sure wouldn't happen. I have a feeling we will stick to agencies for now
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Another reason I had my doubts when then Homeaway went to commission based subscription model. They said that one of the benefits to our clients was that they guaranteed no scams etc and if there was an issue, they then would guarantee finding another property in the event of an issue. Resulting in overall more bookings for me.
Oh yeah?
How were they suddenly going to find another Apartment in a ski resort on any given Saturday changeover.
I said, Id certainly not be accepting any strangers into my property at the drop of a hat on a Saturday lunchtime without knowing who they were, where from, and the usual background checks before I ever accepted any reservation.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Rob_Quads wrote: |
And that's exactly why we are weary. If it happens during half term it's likely to need to be thousands of £ to get another property booked at a similar level we are looking at which I am sure wouldn't happen. I have a feeling we will stick to agencies for now |
Whatever platform you may use it should be a simple matter to look at their history and reviews of any given property. If it doesn't have a history then don't book, if it does then look out for any specific negative reviews, but really it should not be difficult to spot a scammer. It's incredibly rare that any such manages to get through the safeguards those platforms try to put in place. So there is an element of trust given by using them.
I can understand that for the first couple of years nearly all of our bookings were through the two external platforms we use, as customers feel more confident with Airbnb or booking.com than by going direct to the property, but after a few years we're getting more and more direct bookings (and not only of repeat customers) as our history on those platforms grows.
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| Chaletbeauroc wrote: |
Whatever platform you may use it should be a simple matter to look at their history and reviews of any given property. If it doesn't have a history then don't book |
To be fair this is what I have been doing but there are a surprising amount of properties with little to no reviews at all, this is why I have been suspicious. I suspect that many more will start to come online as properties add the 2025/26 season prices up and those with the regular business and reviews will be more prevalent. i.e. there was one which all looked fine - photos looked OK, everything else ok but had been on the platform for 3 years without a single review which just feels suspect. Maybe they just get everyone off the platform but it doesn't help the AirBNB front door at all.
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FAQ
