we were a bit worried about the lack of reviews. If you are new to the platform, we recommend looking for properties which are noted as a Plum Guide Award Winner. There are 150 criteria and the Home Critics who visit the properties will gather more than 500 data points. They have changed their policy this year to allow COVID-19 as a reason for cancelation even if it is against the cancelation policy of the host. Thanks for taking the time to leave your experience! The Somerset property we stayed in has an interesting history. There are lots of benefits to staying in a vacation rental versus a traditional hotel. We arrived as the temperatures were dropping in the UK, but the owners had obviously thought of this as the heating was on, so we walked into a lovely warm home. I hope that you still managed to have a good time in Paris despite the apartment. Plum Guide did refund our money but only gave us half the additional credit that they said they would. Prices can be displayed in a number of different currencies. We enjoyed the village walking path and the local attractions like the Stoney Littleton Long Barrow. First, I am very sorry to hear that. The space has a wood-burning stove and an electric heater, so it may have been warm enough to sleep here during our visit but we were concerned it may have been too cold. I would lose much of the deposit if I cancel. Canadian health advisory said no essential travel due to the global Covid pandemic. Plum Guide had no other homes that could accommodate six people in a central (ta && ta.queueForLoad ? We are very happy to hear that they reached out and will refund half of the cost of your stay! ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-88231187', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');London location (public transport is limited over the holidays and doesn't run on Christmas Day so we needed to be close in) in our price range even with the 20% credit they were willing to offer us. There are also no user ratings of any kind (e.g., 4 out of 5 stars). After a lot of looking, we settled upon this unique looking property. The kitchen was stocked with a variety of crockery, pans, glasses, and cutlery, as well as some basic cooking ingredients. London is a particularly good place to try Plum Guide as they are headquartered there and have a lot of properties in the city. A staircase from the main bedroom leads down to the bathroom. We were looking for a simple but comfortable apartment located in a central area with a decent view. For our next stay, we wanted to find a place for a short weekend staycation. However, I believe that their phones are not available 24/7 at this time. We have since talked to folks at Plum Guide about our issue of not being able to reach them by phone the evening we had made the booking, and they have apologized and said that this shouldnt have happened. You can find all their contact information on this page. Truly Plum Guide does not care, and embraces a lack of transparency to keep the properties booked. We paid in full on September 3 for a nonrefundable stay. I just wanted to thank you for all your tips about traveling in UK on both of your travel blogs, we have had such a wonderful 12 days visiting England and Scotland, using so many of your tips and recommendations. The main difference is that Plum Guide is a curated marketplace. However, we also sent an email to Plum Guide and got a response back a few hours later to say that the transaction was fine and it had gone through. The information will then be reviewed, and if it meets Plum Guides initial criteria, it will be listed. Finally, outside there was even more to discover. Initially, properties are submitted for approval by owners. Hi We enjoyed reading here as well as just sitting by the fire drinking a glass of wine. This had a large bathtub and a separate shower, as well as a sauna! Members who are extremely knowledgeable about this destination and answer travellers questions frequently. Glad that you were able to find out about another vacation rental company here. In our review of Plum Guide, well cover the basics of what is Plum Guide, our personal experiences of using Plum Guide, the pros and cons of using Plum Guide, and tips on booking through Plum Guide. Plum Guide does operate a 24/7 customer service chat (on their website) and are also available by telephone (there is a worldwide number and a USA specific one). Top Secret Hotel from lastminute.com - any idea? Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover along with his former wife. We wanted a property we could drive to and a place that would allow us to explore a new area. Thanks! Got no refund (their proposal was 200 pounds refund and a cleaning team..). There is a list of 150 criteria upon which each property is evaluated, from WiFi speed to property location. There were several apartments in Paris that sounded interesting and we kept track of them by adding them to our favorites list on the platform so we could easily find them again. Like other sites, Plum Guide serves as a marketplace for property owners and people wanting to book them. The listings are also well organized. Well never book with them again. Being your first time, I am sure it was quite an adventure. The company is based in London, England and the website first launched in 2016. However, if we are being picky, we would have like to have had more oven-safe dishes and some more serving dishes. The apartment was also spacious, comfortable, and well decorated. When the time of our stay came we arrived at the apartment, our host was waiting to greet us and was very gracious. So I would keep those policies in mind when trying to choose between vacation rentals or websites. Glad that you have found our Plum Guide reviews and advice helpful. In terms of layout, this was definitely one of the most unique properties weve ever stayed in. Weve seen a lot of growth in Plum Guide in the past year, and we expect we will see a lot of continued growth in the next few years as Plum Guide lists more properties and covers more destinations. Some of the properties on Airbnb are also on Plum Guide (and Booking.com and Vrbo) for instance. This is indeed a shame and something they are hoping to improve by hiring more staff. On most of the Plum Guide listings they do have a section called Home Truths I think these points are influenced by the inspector visits and guest feedback so are important to pay attention to when booking. How to use Oyster Cards, Travelcards and 2-4-1 offers in London? They said that they were having some issues due to the increased calls due to the coronavirus and staff needing to work from home. The welcome bottle of French wine left by the hosts was also much appreciated! We also note how it compares to other vacation rental websites like Airbnb and Vrbo. Plum Guide currently has over 12,000 properties listed in 17 countries: United Kingdom, United States, France, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Mexico, Cyprus, Malta, Ireland, and Turkey. This review is then sent privately to the host and to Plum Guide for review. Plum Guide refuses to return or give us credit for our deposit saying it was their policy at the time even though their policy has changed now. If you make a purchase using one of these links it means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. November 20 we got an email from Plum Guide that the home had been double booked and that they were cancelling our reservation. The next time you are thinking about a vacation rental, we definitely recommend checking out Plum Guide! Once we were booked, we got a message from the host. I am wondering what you thoughts are on booking in advance in terms of COVID-19 cancelation? We chose Plum Guide because they seemed to vet the management companies and homes so carefully and only represent the best of the best but the fact that they would continue to represent a homeowner who was so unprofessional in the way they treated us seems very contrary to the service they advertise that they offer. However, Plum Guide doesnt accept private rooms and shared spaces like on Airbnb, so you wont find private rooms in someones home on Plum Guide. Our apartment was exactly as pictured. There were a couple minor things that could have been improved, but they didnt impact much on the quality of our stay. Plum Guide is not a replacement for Airbnb or Vrbo as it currently has only about 10,000 properties listed in a select number of destinations. The companys website says that only about 3% of all properties evaluated make the cut and are listed on the Plum Guide. Would you recommend them or a different company? You can find out more and list your property here. I am really sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with Plum Guide. Good luck with your trip and hope you find a wonderful vacation rental for your family vacation to London! Our experience booking with Plum Guide in Paris, Our experience booking with Plum Guide in England. Currently having a horrible experience with Plum Guide. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter. I've rented two high end propties in two months. **Disclosure: As travel writers, we were invited to write this review by the Plum Guide who reimbursed us for our stays. Being a subscriber also makes you eligible to enter our monthly travel and photography giveaways! We stayed in 2 Plum Guide properties, one in London and one in Edinburgh, both were fantastic and were clean and well-located! I do agree that its tough not to be able to read other previous renters reviews since thats a huge deciding factor when I book a condo. And happy to hear that our travel blogs were helpful in planning your trip to England and Scotland. The other was a detached property in a small village in the rural county of Somerset in England. Booking a property on Plum Guide is easy. But these reviews are not posted publically. Forewarning we had a terrible experience with Plum Guide. I will update once I receive the funds. If you don't see the confirmation e-mail, please check your spam folder. The company is based in London so that is where they started and they do have a pretty good selection of properties in London and southern England. ), and the review we left is not public. There is also a small outside toilet down the stairs which we didnt use. Some of the criteria that are tested as part of the Plum Guide test are: These are just a small number of the things that a Home Critic will check, but it gives you an idea of what Plum Guide looks for in its properties. Then there is a 3% service fee for each booking. Booked an apartment in Paris and got the seediest part of twin, right next to sex shops and dug addicts. The entire booking fee is due at the time of booking, so be sure to read the propertys cancelation policy carefully. If approved, the property can be listed on the Plum Guide website. In conclusion, although there are areas for improvement, we enjoyed our experiences at the Plum Guide properties and would certainly use the service again. The Plum Guide website was easy to use to search the properties. However, we did find that a number of properties had a 3 night or more minimums which limited our options a bit since we only wanted to stay for one or two nights. However, you can still find some good deals on the platform with spaces starting as low as USD $70 per night when we searched in our local area. Since I love taking baths when I travel and Laurences prefers showers, this was perfect. a pack of matches in our luggage and were able to get the fire lit. Hi Seana, Yes, I think curated marketplaces like Plum Guide are needed, even within the peer-to-peer market. The Plum Guide actually currently has a really great cancelation policy in relation to COVID-19. But I imagine at the time the policy would have been whatever the host had set for that property booking and the terms were a non-refundable deposit. They have both a worldwide number and a USA specific number you can call. However, each region is different and some places are doing much better and may be open for tourism by the time of your trip, especially if you are thinking about late summer. The last big difference between the Plum Guide and the vast majority of other booking websites is that there are no peer reviews on the platform. Now lets talk about how Plum Guide is different than Airbnb and similar platforms. Well share the details about our experience booking the apartment with Plum Guide, checking into the apartment in Paris, and our actual experience spending three days in the apartment. Plum Guide Review: Our Plum Guide Experiences, Overall thoughts on our Plum Guide experience. Given that Plum Guide is marketing itself as being a more premium vacation booking website with a higher quality level of properties, it has a lot to prove in terms of ensuring its properties do live up to the higher standards. Required fields are marked *, Notify me of replies to my comment (just replies to your comment, no other e-mails, we promise! I am guessing you are coming from the USA, and if so, yes, many European countries are unlikely to be fully ready for a return of tourism this summer. Thanks again for sharing your experience with Plum Guide as hopefully it will help future readers! more, Reply to: Concerned about Plum Guide rental. Limitations that might be pointed out for a property might include a tiny kitchen, slow WiFi, lack of air-conditioning, a smaller TV, or lack of nearby shops. Don't miss out on our exclusive monthly giveaways with lots of fun travel and photography related prizes! We were looking for a holiday home within an hour or so from where we lived. I would say they pick well based from both experiences, luxury stays. Some properties require approval by the host, but most are Instant Book properties, meaning that the booking should be confirmed shortly. I agree and do wish that the reviews for individual properties were public as reading the reviews can be very helpful. We didnt spend the night there but would have loved to do so if the weather was a bit warmer. The apartment was also within walking distance of a number of popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Seine river cruises, the Rodin Museum, and the Army Museum (Napoleons Tomb). But I have been looking to an alternative to Airbnb to also check and compare prices and this one happens to have a few properties in the city I am booking in. Also send me the latest blog posts by e-mail, Independent Travel Cats Monthly Newsletter, Logos, images, and content all protected by copyright. Information about the sleeping arrangements (number of beds, size of beds, number of bedrooms) bathrooms (how many, whether they have shower/bathtub), cleaning standards, and amenities are more standardized and clear on the listing pages than on some other sites. If you are the property owner of an apartment or vacation rental, you can apply to have it listed on Plum Guide. This post may contain affiliate links. For the non-refundable deposit, you can try requesting any money you were not able to get back from your travel insurance if you have insurance that covers your trip. I will never use them again. I am not sure what their policy was when you booked regarding deposit refunds so I cant really comment on the conditions of your booking. The Plum Guide already has a good filter system in place allowing users to narrow down their search results by basic things like date availability, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, parking, whether pets are allowed, and whether it is recommended for families with children. How does Plum Guide compare to Airbnb and Vrbo? Initially, Plum Guide focused only on properties located in popular cities. It was originally an old signal box for the old Somerset and Dorset Joint railway line. There was a welcome gift of a bar of chocolate and some coffee pods. We have booked dozens of vacation rentals across the world and are happy to try to help. We messaged the host to let them know this needed to be fixed before we left and they said they would send someone to fix it. Click here to see our current giveaway and enter! Please check your e-mail to confirm your sign up. So this was a bit concerning and well talk more about this later in the review. So you cant read reviews from other travelers about individual properties that are listed on the platform. Then you can search properties by dates, locations, and other information. If you have any questions about Plum Guide or booking a holiday home online, just ask them in the Comments section below. First, some of the pots and glasses had not been properly cleaned when put away by previous guests. It had all the usual search features plus you can filter by a number of amenities like washing machines, bathtubs, and parking. Referred to as the studio, this room has wrap-around windows on three sides (presumably for a good view of the railway line back in the day) and has been turned into a cozy lounge space. I see you must have gotten through to Plum Guide by now and have left a review on TrustPilot about your experience as well. I do think apartment rentals can be especially great for families traveling with kids as they give you the extra freedom and space. Our Plum Guide review is based on our recent experiences booking and staying in Plum Guide properties. Doing so revealed the second problem, which was that the sink stopper in the kitchen didnt work. Like on Airbnb, there are varying levels of cancelation policies hosts can have for each property. Our first stay with Plum Guide was in an apartment in Paris. However, if you are looking for Airbnb alternatives, it is another vacation rental website to consider when booking your next apartment or holiday home. The kitchen was spacious, had all the kitchen essentials, and a dining table. So we are glad to see another vacation rental booking website in this space! Now heading back to the kitchen and outside, an exterior staircase leads to the main room of the old signal box which sits above the kitchen. Highlights for a property might include a beautiful view, quirky decor, a rolltop bathtub, an infinity swimming pool, or a well-stocked kitchen. Customer service asleep. However, the phone lines are not currently open 24/7, only during business hours which is a definite drawback. Any suggestions? When we did reach staff, the staff were friendly and helpful. There was also fast WiFi, an elevator (definitely welcome as it was on the sixth floor! We found an available apartment that sounded just perfect for us in terms of location, amenities, and pricing. For more information on how we work, you can read ourCode of Ethics.**. Many of the properties across the major vacation rental sites are actually listed on many sites so you get a lot of the same places, although some are unique and only on one of the sites. It is nice to know what people think of things like using the washing machine or info about the shops or public transit located nearby which is not always something you can find out from the listing. The stand out feature of the Paris apartment we booked was the incredible views of the Eiffel Tower! On the date of our checkin-in, we arrived early and had lunch at the local pub which we later learned was just a couple minute walk from the property. Travelers have to put their trust in the initial Plum Guide review, inspection, and that the initial quality has been maintained over time. So we got a message from our credit card saying it wasnt verified but then received a confirmation email from Plum Guide. The check-in process was a totally contact-free experience as we just needed to have the keycode and then we were able to retrieve the keys and the detailed instruction manual at the house. I am glad that your first experiences were good ones. It should be noted that you can read general customer reviews for Plum Guide on review platforms like Trust Pilot (see reviews here), and Plum Guide even has some of these reviews displayed on its website. But I am sorry you were not able to get in touch with them quickly and were not happy with your apartment. We booked a suite in Sloane Square, London through Plum Guide early 2020. So the majority of Plum Guides properties are located in major international cities like London, Los Angeles, Paris, New York City, Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Tel Aviv. Honestly, it was hard to find much to fault with this apartment. I didn't necessarily buy their claim that they combed through all the listings to find the "best " ones, but the picture of the property looks very nice and is more reasonable than some. I'm fine with this simply being another listing site, as long as it is legitimate. I like the idea of also being able to leave the private feedback to Plum Guide and the hosts, but there should also be public feedback you can post like on other vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The way the search and booking process works is very similar to that of Airbnb. It didnt have a TV (as it is not that sound proof), but it was a perfect place to sit before and after dinner. We ran away after a single night and booked another hotel, in the middle of high season. however I agree that they should allow people to post public reviews of individual properties, I find the tips and advice from people who have stayed before invaluable when planning travel. All fees and charges (e.g., cleaning, service fees) are included in the total price displayed on the payment page. It was out first trip overseas. The bedroom, which was a double height room with a beautiful wooden ceiling, featured a large bed on which bath towels had been folded into a swan shape. Wishing you a safe trip home, and many return visits! These include apartments, houses, houseboats, bungalows, yurts, castles, and country villas. This means that the property has been booked before and has been approved by a Home Critic. thanks for this review, my family tried Plum Guide for the first time on a trip to california usa and booked one villa near Santa Barbara and one apartment in Los Angeles. Plum Guide did nothing to try to make it better, the apartment is still listed/available through Plum Guide (and shows as being nominated for an award! Thanks for sharing. Best area to stay in London as a 3-day tourist? Plum Guide Review: A New Alternative to Airbnb? best way to get from Heathrow to Kensington Church st, Getting around London from South Kensington, Best way to get to Mayfair hotel from Heathrow Airport, Rail strike August 20th - Accounting for traffic. For the most part everything about the apartment was great. The wonderful Eiffel Tower view, central location, and spacious well-decorated lounge were the things that really set this place apart from others we had stayed at in Paris. Sorry that you didnt have the best experience with Plum Guide. We have also been in contact with them this week in regards to your comment about not being able to reach them quickly outside of normal business hours since this is a company that we have written about. You can also filter by more specific amenities like whether the property has a washing machine, swimming pool, bathtub, or fireplace. Let me know if I can be of any further help! To do this, we store the data as outlined in our privacy policy. Jessica, Your email address will not be published. We messaged the host after our stay to let them know, and they said theyd replace the lighter and matches. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k10091881-Plum_Guide-London_England.html. How much does it cost to book vacation rentals on Plum Guide? The biggest issue we had during our stay was lighting the stove. However, this was made very clear in the property listing, and honestly, we dont normally watch a lot of TV when we travel, so this wasnt a problem. We then checked in after 4pm as agreed. We also got in touch with our bank and let them know that we had made the transaction. He gave us the keys and security codes, showed us around the apartment, and answered our questions. Guide to Visiting the Titanic Belfast & Other Titanic Sites in Belfast, Quality of guest toiletries and linens provided, Whether basic pantry items are provided in the kitchen (e.g., pepper/salt, oil, coffee, tea, sugar). The first room we stepped into was the kitchen. As of right now (do check for the COVID-19 travel policy when you decide to book), the policy basically allows you to cancel for a full refund if you cant travel from your own region due to COVID-19 restrictions, travel is not allowed in the region you are traveling to due to restrictions, or you test positive for COVID-19 and need to quarantine. Our first experience booking with Plum Guide didnt actually go as smoothly as we had hoped. There were walking paths for us to follow that took us out into the countryside. We asked some questions about the property such as whether wood was included for the fire (it was) and agreed on an arrival time. Their website currently has over 12,000 apartments and vacation rental properties listed in a number of countries around the world. We hope that our Plum Guide review has been helpful to you if you are thinking about using the service yourself. Be sure to read all the details about the property, look at all the photos, and check the cancelation policy before booking. However, there were a few things that we felt could have been better. Despite it being located in an apartment building in central Paris, it seemed to be well soundproofed and we didnt hear the neighbors much at all during our stay. We would definitely recommend this for someone looking to stay in this part of Somerset. It is pretty similar to VRBO but fewer properties, many in western Europe. This made us concerned about the cleanliness of things in the kitchen, so we decided to wash all the crockery, pans, cutlery, and glasses before we used them. It is free to apply and to initially list on Plum Guide. Some properties are ones you can book instantly and some require approval by the host. Your email address will not be published. We booked through Plum Guide for a home for a Christmas stay. The biggest and most concerning issue we had with the Plum Guide was an inconsistent customer service experience. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Plum Guide has been working to expand its offerings and list more properties in rural areas, coastal areas, popular, ski destinations, and smaller cities. For the most part, the types of properties that can be listed on Plum Guide are similar to those that can be listed on Airbnb. Thanks for your great review and expert advice . I did find a really cute place and Im trying to decide between using this site or the VRBO one. They gave us detailed information about finding and accessing the apartment, and we arranged our arrival time. The bed was large and comfortable, the living area was spacious, and there was a separate dining space where we could have coffee and meals. First, you just need to go to their website. This in-person evaluation is done to ensure that the property is a good fit for Plum Guide, that the listing information is correct, and that guests will have a great experience. No one is picking calls. If I was with no kids I would prefer a hotel so u can have access to bars and so, but with kids plum guide offer a luxury stay while u still have the space and the kitchen. I am glad you were refunded, but it is a shame that you were not able to get the deposit back as credit to use for a later booking.
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