84,000 self-catering holiday homes & villa holiday rentals across Europe, USA & worldwide

Frequently asked questions

Advertising on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk

Creating and managing your advert

International advertising options

Enhancing your advertising on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk

Trouble shooting


Why should you advertise on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk?

Holiday-Rentals.co.uk is the UK's largest and most trusted site for private holiday home rentals available direct from the owner:

  • With over 11 years experience, 30,000 home owners trust us to promote their homes through our website
  • We send more booking enquiries than any other site in the UK
  • You pay no commission on your rentals with our simple annual subscription
  • You remain in control of your bookings & choose who stays in your home
  • The only website that includes advertising on 12 leading international sites
  • Your advert is easy to set-up and maintain, and our friendly team is on hand to help by email or phone

Your home is promoted to a massive 40 million website visitors each year - more holiday-makers using our website means plenty of potential guests for your holiday home!


What is included in the standard subscription?

Our standard subscription includes a full advert on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk including four photos, property description, location information, rental rates and availability chart. We also give your property free promotion on 12 of our leading international sites. We also offer a range of additional services, which allow you to tailor your advertising to suit your property from increasing your international advertising to enhancing your advert on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk.


How much does it cost to advertise?

Our standard subscription costs just £155 (€230) ex VAT for a one year listing and there is no commission to pay on our bookings. If you have a property with multiple units on the same site, you can add up to five units to your main advert for just £40 (€60) ex VAT each.

Please Note: Our British Pound and Euro prices are not based on current exchange rates. You are free to choose which of those prices you wish to pay.


How do you pay for your advert?

The easiest way to pay for your advert is online using our secure payment system. However, if you prefer you can pay for your advert over the phone by calling +44 (0) 20 8846 3436 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm GMT. Alternatively, you may send a cheque payable to Holiday-Rentals.co.uk Ltd to:

Holiday-Rentals.co.uk Ltd
Hythe House, 200 Sheperds Bush Road,
London W6 7NL


How will you receive booking enquiries?

All your booking enquiries are visible in your Holiday-Rentals.co.uk account and are sent by email to your personal email address. You can also choose to receive your booking enquiries by SMS free of charge. In addition, potential guests may contact you on the telephone number that appears in your advert.


What is our Refer a Friend Programme?

When a new owner joins Holiday-Rentals.co.uk as a result of a referral from an existing advertiser, we reward you both with benefits worth £40!

If you would like to refer someone, simply use our referral form to send a special code to your friends. If they order an advert using this code, they get 8 free photos and you get a free one month featured listing. So if you'd like a fellow home owner to benefit from our service, refer them today and reap the rewards.


How do you create an advert?

Once you have registered your details, simply login to your account and follow the simple step-by-step instructions to add your property details, location information, rental rates and availability. You can get tips on creating your advert along the way by clicking the help signs marked ?

The easiest way to create your advert is online and this also helps you to familiarise yourself with your account. However, if you would rather create your advert offline, you can download our download our booking form and return the completed form by post. Our team will then create your advert on your behalf. Please note: there is a £20 ex VAT administration fee for this service.


How do you advertise a property with multiple rental units?

If you have a property with more than one rental unit on the same site, you can add these rental units to your main advert at a reduced rate of just £40 per unit ex VAT, up to a maximum of 5 units per advert. Each rental unit will be displayed with its own page within your main advert with a full description of the individual units facilities, rental rates and availability. Learn more


How do you add photos to your advert?

To add photos to your advert, click on the 'edit advert' link next to your property photo on our advertiser homepage and select the grey photos tab. Click on the links in your photo placeholder to upload photos to your online photo library and then transfer the photo onto your advert. Your photos will be displayed in your account as 'awaiting approval' until they have been manually approved by our team which takes up to 2 working days. The easiest way to add photos to your advert is online, though you are also able to send photos by post or email if you prefer. Learn more

With your standard subscription you can add four photos to your advert. You can add up to 8 additional photos to your advert for just £5 (€7.50) each for 12 months. If you are adding photos after your standard advert has gone live, the rate is charged on a pro rata basis at £0.42 (€0.63) per month left on your subscription. Learn more

Alternatively, you can earn 8 extra photos for your advert free of charge with our Refer a Friend Programme. Learn more


How can you add a link to your personal website?

Our 'Link my Property' programme allows you to add a link to your personal website from your advert on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk when you add a link to your Holiday-Rentals.co.uk advert from your personal website in return. Learn more


How do you make amendments to your live advert?

You can make amendments to your advert at any time by logging into your account and clicking on the 'edit advert' link next to your property photo on your advertiser homepage. Select the section you wish to amend from the grey tabs, make the changes and click on the save button.

Changes that you make to facilities, contact information, rental rates and availability are updated automatically and will be visible on your live advert within one hour. Changes to photos, property description or location information require approval by Customer Support and therefore take a little longer to be visible on your live advert.


How do you keep your availability up to date?

Simply click on the 'availability' link next to your property photo on our advertiser homepage to take you to your availability calendar. Select the dates you wish to update and choose to show these dates as either booked, available or 'unknown/on request'. We recommend that you eliminate as much 'unknown' availability (shown in yellow) from your advert so potential guests know which dates are available. Please note: at the beginning of each month we remove the previous month and add a new month to the end, which will be shown as 'unknown availability' until you update these dates.

Your property can also move to the top section of the search results by updating your availability once a week.


How do you set up free SMS booking enquiry alerts?

You now have the option to receive your booking enquiries by SMS text alert so that you can receive booking enquiries even when you are away from your computer. SMS alerts are an additional service, so you will still receive booking enquiries by email and they will still be visible in your Holiday-Rentals.co.uk account. To set up SMS alerts, simply login your account and click on the link to set up SMS, alerts which is next to your property photo on your advertisers homepage. This link will bring you to your contact details page where you can enter your mobile number and tick the box to request SMS alerts. Learn more


How can you move up the search results on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk?

You can move your property into the top section of the search results once a week by simply updating your availability chart. If you have no new bookings, you can still 'update' your availability by selecting a previous date and changing the status from 'booked' to 'available' or vice versa.


What is the HomeAway family of websites?

The HomeAway family of sites includes many of the leading holiday rental sites in Europe and the USA. Together our sites are visited by a massive 100 million holiday-makers from around the world every year.

As a member of the HomeAway family, we give all advertisers on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk free basic promotion on 12 of our international sites as standard. We also give you options to upgrade your advertising to full promotion on individual sites and add further sites from our family to your subscription.


Which international sites do you get free promotion on?

With our standard subscription you get free basic promotion with translation of the basic text on the following sites which are visited by over 40 million holiday-makers per year:

US Flag HomeAway.com (America) German Flag FeWo-direkt.de (Germany)
Spanish Flag HomeAway.es (Spain) Finnish Flag HomeAway.fi (Finland)
Italian Flag HomeAway.it (Italy) Danish Flag HomeAway.dk (Denmark)
Dutch Flag HomeAway.nl (Netherlands) Swedish Flag HomeAway.se (Sweden)
Norwegian Flag HomeAway.no (Norway) Portuguese Flag HomeAway.pt (Portugal)
US Flag USAtoday (America) British Flag TimesOnline (UK)

Which international sites do you not get free promotion on?

There are five sites in our international family which are not included in your standard subscription but which are available through our upgrade packages:

US Flag CyberRentals.com (America) French Flag Abritel.fr (France)
US Flag GreatRentals.com (America) French Flag Holidayrentals.fr (France)
US Flag A1Vacations.com (America)      

What is the difference between free promotion and full promotion?

The main difference between free promotion and full promotion is your position in our search results, which are split into two levels. With basic promotion, your advert will appear below an properties that have specifically paid for a subscription to that site. In addition to the difference in search results position, adverts with basic promotion show less comprehensive property details and may not show out thumbnail photo in the search results.

On HomeAway.com, USAToday.com and FeWo-direkt.de you have free basic promotion which means your property appears in the lower half of the search results without a thumbnail photo. You can get full promotion on these sites with our upgrade options. On the 9 remaining sites you have free full promotion for an introductory period.


What are the benefits of upgrading your advertising?

Our data shows that the best way to attract more enquiries is to appear near the top of the search results. By upgrading your advert, you get full promotion in the top section of our search results on those sites. In addition, with our French and US Network Upgrades your advert is displayed on extra sites which are not available with your standard subscription.

To help you choose the best sites to upgrade, we recommend you consider where tourists in your area normally come from. For example, if you have property in the Swiss Alps which is a popular destination with German, Austrian and Swiss holiday-makers, you may consider upgrading on FeWo-direkt.de with our German Upgrade to attract renters from these countries. If you have a property in Florida, you may choose to add our US Network Upgrade to attract renters from across America.


Which international sites can you upgrade on?

We currently offer 3 international upgrade options:

US Flag

US Network Upgrade - Full promotion on 5 leading American sites - visited by 25 million holiday-makers per year

French Flag

French Upgrade Package - Full promotion on the leading site in France - visited by 19 million holiday-makers per year

German Flag

German Upgrade - Full promotion on the leading site in Germany - visited by 12 million holiday-makers per year


What is our French Upgrade Package?

Our French Upgrade Package gives you full promotion on the number one site in France, Abritel.fr and our French sister site, Holidayrentals.fr which receive a combines 19 million visitors per year from French speaking renters. If you have a property that would appeal to French holiday-makers, our French Upgrade Package is a simple and effective way to attract French speaking renters to your home. Learn more

To help you decide if our French Upgrade Package is right for your property, please read our report on the French Travel Market.


What is our German Upgrade?

Our German Upgrade gives you full promotion on FeWo-direkt.de, the number 1 German language holiday rentals site which is visited by over 12 million renters a year from across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. If you have a property that would appeal to holiday-makers from these countries, our German Upgrade is a simple and effective way to get massive exposure for your property in this lucrative market. Learn more

To help you decide if our German Upgrade is right for your property, please read our report on the German Travel Market.


What is our US Network Upgrade?

Our US Network Upgrade gives you full promotion on HomeAway.com and USAToday.com plus full promotion on 3 more leading sites which are not available with your standard subscription: GreatRentals.com, CyberRentals.com and A1Vacations.com. Together these sites are visited by a massive 25 million renters a year from across America. If you have a property that is in a location which is popular with American renters, our US Network Upgrade is an effective way to attract more American renters to your holiday home. Learn more

To help you decide if our US Network Upgrade is right for your property, please read our report on the US Travel Market.


How do you order an upgrade on our international sites?

To add an international upgrade to your advert, simply click on the orange 'place order' button at the top of the page to take you to our order basket. Simply select the upgrade option you would like to add and place your order using our secure online payment system. Alternatively you can place your order by phone by calling us on +44 (0) 20 8846 3436 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm GMT.

Please note: Before we can add your advert to our French sites, you must provide details about your property in French. You can do this yourself by using the language editor to add a property description, location information and titles, or purchase a translation for a one off cost of £25 (€37) ex VAT.


How do you manage your international adverts?

Your international adverts are managed from your Holiday-Rentals.co.uk account and there is no extra work involved in managing your adverts on these sites. Changes you make to your advert on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk like rental rates and availability are automatically updates across all our sites. However, changes you make to your descriptive text (such as property details and location information) on our German or French sites are not automatically updated as these require full translation.


How will you receive booking enquiries from our international sites?

You will receive enquiries from our international sites in the same way as you would for enquiries through Holiday-Rentals.co.uk. This means that they will be sent by email and SMS alert if you have added this service. Your enquiries will also be visible in your Holiday-Rentals.co.uk account. Each enquiry will tell you which site the enquiry was made on so you can keep track of which sites work best for you.


What is a Featured Listing?

Featured listings are a great way of getting more exposure for your advert on Holiday-Rentals.co.uk from just £20 per month ex VAT. With a featured listing your property's thumbnail photo and basic property details appear in rotation in one of five prime slots at the top of your local region, country and continent page. When a visitor clicks on your photo they go directly to your advert. Learn more


What is our Special Offer Directory?

Our Special Offer Directory is a great way to attract more attention to your advert and help fill those empty weeks at your property for just £25 ex VAT for 2 weeks. Special offers are very popular with our renters who can search for an offer by date, location, price and other search criteria.

Our Special Offer Directory is given prominent promotion on our Homepage and throughout our site. A link is given to all special offers in every search results page and adverts with a special offer are also highlighted in the search results. In addition, they are featured in our bi-monthly holiday-maker newsletters and other online advertising.


What is our Ski Holiday Directory?

Our Ski Holiday Directory is an effective way of promoting your property to holiday-makers planning a ski break. If you have a property that is suitable for a skiing holiday, a listing in our Ski Holiday Directory is a great way to gain additional exposure for your property to this lucrative market. Our Ski Holiday Directory is given prominent promotion on our Homepage and a link is given to all ski properties in each search results page. In addition, our Ski Holiday Directory is featured in our holiday-maker newsletters and in press releases on a seasonal basis. Learn more


What is our Golf holiday Directory?

Did you know that golf holidays are now the most popular type of holiday searched for on the internet? If you have a holiday home in a location that has great golf facilities, then you could attract more renters from the lucrative golf holiday market by adding a listing in our Golf Holiday Directory to your subscription. Our Golf Holiday Directory is given prominent promotion on our Homepage and a link is given to all golf properties in each search results page. In addition, our Golf Holiday Directory is featured in our holiday-maker newsletters and in press releases. Learn more


How can you add extra photos to your advert?

Did you know that with your standard subscription you can add four photos to your advert. You can add up to 8 additional photos to your advert for just £5 (€7.50) each for 12 months. If you are adding photos after your standard advert has gone live, the rate is charged on a pro rata basis at £0.42 (€0.63) per month left on your subscription. . To add extra photos, simply click on the 'edit advert' link next to your property photo on our advertiser homepage and select the grey photos tab. Click on the links in the second photo placeholder to upload photos to your online photo library and then transfer the photo onto your advert. Learn more


How do you add additional items to your advert?

To add additional items to your advert simply click on the orange 'place order' button at the top of the page to take you to your order basket. Simply select the additional item you would like to add to your subscription and place your order using our secure online payment system. Alternatively you can place your order by phone by calling us on +44 (0) 20 8846 3431 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm GMT.


Forgotten password

If you have forgotten your password, simply enter your email address into the password reminder page and we will send it to you by email:

>> Password Reminder


Booking enquiry scams and fraud attempts

The vast majority of booking enquiries you will receive through Holiday-Rentals.co.uk are genuine enquiries about renting your holiday home. Unfortunately, you may also occasionally receive scam enquiries from people who are attempting to fraudulently obtain money from unsuspecting advertisers. Learn more


Contacting Holiday-Rentals.co.uk

Customer Support general enquiries:
Call +44 (0) 20 8846 3444 or contact us online at Customer Support

New or potential advertisers:
Call + 44 (0)20 8846 3436 or e-mail advertise@holiday-rentals.co.uk

Renewing your advertising with Holiday-Rentals.co.uk:
Call +44 (0)20 8846 3442 or e-mail renewals@holiday-rentals.co.uk

Holiday-Rentals.co.uk fax number is: +44 (0)20 8846 3441

Our postal address is:

Holiday-Rentals.co.uk Ltd
Hythe House,
200 Shepherds Bush Road,
London W6 7NL,
United Kingdom