Who is Essenza and how do you operate:
Essenza Escapes is a UK based agent who specialises in offering luxury rental villa and hotel accommodation in Italy and in the provision of highly curated concierge services. Essenza only offers vacations in Italy and is an expert with teams in the UK and across Italy.
How do you differ from Airbnb & VRBO:
Unlike listing sites where anyone can upload images and details, we only list properties that are known to us, introduced to us by other owners, or are new relationships which undergo a thorough review.
We undertake a rolling program of inspections which ensure that we have visited our properties and have validated the information you see in our listing.
We have a contractual relationship with our owners which means that you are protected from random cancellations and from misrepresentation of the villa, grounds or its staff.
We have found the same villa on another site and its called by a different name:
Many owners and managers distribute their properties through multiple agents who all choose to name the properties in different ways. We name properties after the closest village or town to assist guests with the precise location. The pricing on our site may differ a little to other sites too. This is because we try to build in all extras that we know our guests value such as daily housekeeping, basic kitchen and laundry products on arrival, most utilities etc. If you are unsure about the pricing difference please ask us, we can explain this to you.
How does the booking process work:
To book a property through us we will ask you to sign a Booking Form and agree to our Terms and Conditions. We will also ask for a deposit of 30% or 50%. This deposit level is set by the villa manager or owner and is usually non refundable. The balance is usually due 65 days prior to your stay and that too, is almost always non refundable.
What restrictions are there with villa rentals:
In peak season many villa owners require a minimum 7 night stay, usually with arrivals and departures on a Saturday. For many large villas, it simply isn't economical to permit shorter stays. Also stays that cross a weekend 'eat' into two weeks and it may be difficult to find other guests who want the villa for the remaining days. The exception to this are hotel resort villas but they are priced at a significant premium over private villas, sometimes twice the nightly cost. We do offer some villas with more flexible arrangements and off season many owners are willing to consider shorter stays of 4 days or more.
What happens if I can't travel:
Since amounts paid are mainly non refundable we recommend you take our travel insurance to protect you and the rest of your group in the event you cannot travel.
As soon as you know you cannot travel you should contact us so we can explain the cancellation policy.
Once you have cancelled a booking it cannot be reinstated.
If you tell us early enough that you cannot travel on the booked dates, we will ask the owner if they will allow a rescheduling. This is at their discretion. From experience many owners will permit this with sufficient notice (8 months- 1 year). The closer to the arrival date, the less likely this will be permitted because the owners are unlikely to be able to re- rent their villa.
Do you offer travel insurance:
We don't offer travel insurance but can provide some links to companies online that do.
Do you offer a concierge service:
Yes we offer a comprehensive concierge service. Everyone who books with Essenza is allocated a Concierge Manager who can create and tailor an itinerary that suits all your needs. We can arrange a zoom call to introduce ourselves, learn about you and what is important, and based upon that make appropriate suggestions. We work with many families with young children, teens and many seniors too. To ensure you can relax during your stay, all our homes offer daily housekeeping and chef services. We can help arrange drivers, hire cars, airport transfers, private guides and excursions. We also offer different levels of concierge packages which suit different groups and families. Learn more here.
Do your homes accept pets:
Many of our homes accept pets. Please ask us about this, it usually requires pre-approval and there may be a cleaning supplement to pay.
Do your homes accept wedding and events:
Many of our homes will accept wedding and events. All properties impose a guest maximum. Please ask us about this. There may be an event fee to pay in addition to the cost of the rental villa.