Ruralidays.com Reviews 1,332

Lovely villa - very clean and well maintained. Great location, 10 minutes from Nerja

A distinct lack of communication. Emails were seemingly ignored.

We've stayed in many luxury properties over the years, and the difference is almost always in the details. This villa got them all right.The location is peaceful and private, despite having neighbours nearby, the isolation is excellent and you genuinely don't hear a thing. The pool area is beautiful, with a lovely jacuzzi section.Inside, the villa is modern, comfortable, and genuinely well-equipped. We're used to high-end properties where the kitchen looks great but lacks the basics when you actually want to cook. Not here, everything you could possibly need was available (they could add some oven gloves and a blender to make it perfect), and that made a real difference to our stay. Great beds, a high-pressure modern shower, oven, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, it's all there. The bedrooms/beds are on the smaller side compared to some luxury stays we've had, but perfectly comfortable and well thought out. Also there they have good compartiments to arrange your clothes.What truly elevated the experience were the hosts, Desirée and Antonio.Warm, professional, and genuinely helpful, they went well beyond the standard host role.Every step of the process, from booking through to arrival instructions and getting there, was seamless and professionally handled. Not a single moment of confusion or friction.We would recommend this villa without hesitation and would absolutely return. If you're looking for a well-equipped, peaceful retreat with hosts who actually care, this is it.

We had a terrible experience with this company. Borderline traumatizing. We rented Villa Robus in Frigiliana. Reference MAL 5359. Don't go there!

On the day of our arrival the electrical panel broke down. It was way beyond just a fuse blowing and it took many hours to repair while we were sitting in the dark and the cold. And when we complained about this taking so long, the owner angrily yelled at us to keep quiet and just wait! And we got blamed for drawing too much electricity using the heaters that were actually there!?! The panel never really got repaired as it tripped regularly and that was stressful. And we had to deal with repair people for hours, not something you want on your holiday.

But this was not all. There is a lot wrong and outdated with this house. The kitchen has no hot water!!!, the dishwasher doesn't clean the dishes, the washing machine is very low quality and barely does the job (and has a temperature failure). On top of this the kitchen is not very well outfitted. Ruralidays' description "The bright and well-furnished kitchen is fully equipped with everything you need to prepare from a quick breakfast to a full dinner. Its functional and aesthetic design makes it a pleasant place to cook and socialize." is severely misleading. Even more seriously misleading are the pictures on the website of this rental. The pictures are warm and clean/uncluttered. The reality is that when we came we were shocked to find out that almost all the walls in the house were cluttered with lots of (in our opinion) very poor quality sentimental paintings. And the light wasn't warm and cozy, but cold and harsh, the kind of light you expect to find in hospitals. We would have never booked this house if the website photos gave an honest representation of what it is actually like. This level of being mislead is in our opinion fraudulent.

We asked for the light bulbs to be replaced with warm ones and Ruralidays (through their partner Nerjazul) bluntly refused. Hard to believe, but true.

There is much more wrong with the house, such as all the mattresses and cushions for the loungers being mouldy and the single mattresses inside being way past their life-cycle. It goes on and on, but we're sure you get the picture. To top it all off the owner marched into the house at 10AM sharp yelling OUT OUT OUT. Insane. And it went downhill from there. Aggressive volatile behaviour including us being physically pushed. Never experienced anything even close to this. This person should not be in the hospitality business. And Ruralidays should have made sure that we were protected from such an unsafe owner.
But Ruralidays did absolutely nothing to come our way. terrible experience.

They were very helpful and attentive

Easy and effecient booking process

Absolutely terrible. Booked a property near Nerja. Paid 1500 euros . Arrived in Malaga to be told by the owner that there was no booking.

Contacted Rural Holidays. Booked elsewhere for the first night before being offered a plan B. It was in the middle of nowhere, a dangerous drive up the mountains for 1 hour and we still have not been reimbursed for the days lost or the mis representation of the plan B which we left as soon as we could.

Still 1500 out of pocket and had to book elsewhere because we totally lost faith in this company. We also lost two days of our holiday.

We are now forced to begin legal action. Avoid Avoid Avoid.

Neat communication, very complete. Available for questions. Accommodation even much more beautiful and complete than in the description. Great.

We searched for a suitable accommodation for extended family to celebrate my mother's 70th birthday. This came up and fit our needs perfectly providing ample accommodation and facilities for us all to. Be comfortable and enjoy. The location is nothing short of idyllic with some of the most impressive views I have seen. Within easy reach of many much of the regions attractions by car, but with local supermarket and restaurants on the doorstep.The en suite rooms were beautiful and the kitchen/dining and leisure facilities fantastic.

Unfortunately the house we booked was too cold and only the bedroom was sufficiently warm. After 2 days we left the property with agreement from the owner and paid her for the time we had spent which she thanked us.
When we asked Rualidays for a partial refund they refused because the bedroom was warm enough!!. I was very surprised so I would be very careful with this company as they do not appear to vet houses sufficiently unlike other companies.
Rualidays response illustrated why you have to be careful, they had no input with our problem, the owner realised that we had a problem with the main body of the house when we arrived, bought us an electric heater and said that we should try out the house. This we did but after having 2 heaters on fully we decided in conjunction with the owner to leave. I think the owner t was surprised that we said we would pay for the time spent. When we contacted o Rualidays we received no apology and no refund so be very careful

Straightforward and transparent process providing excellent experience for years in a row.

Great villas at reasonable prices and quick, efficient and friendly service

When things go wrong, this is an opportunity for a company to earn customer loyalty by making their customers feel heard & understood. Unfortunately, Ruralidays did not do this and as a result I will not use them again.
Ruralidays showed no interest in what kind of experience we had as customers. They did nothing to understand or investigate some issues we had with our booking.
When we had an issue with the property (the heating was broken & we had to wear coats/hats inside the apartment), they wouldn’t consider compensation because we only reported it to the owner, not to Ruralidays. Doing a simple check with the owner, or requesting evidence of our communication with the owner would not have been difficult & would provide a much better customer experience.
When I had an issue with excessive bank charges on the return of deposit (£38 charges on a £175 deposit), Ruralidays said that they couldn’t help as this was between me & the owner. However, they previously stated that they had sent instructions to the owner advising them how to pay. My bank advised the high charges were due to the way the money was sent (Swiss system) & there was a much cheaper way (SEPA). As a business operating across multiple countries, it would be wise for Ruralidays to be informed on this, so as to avoid unnecessary costs to customers.

Website easy to use. Returning customer because of the excellent customer service previously received.

Easy and straight forward

easy website to navigate found just what I wanted straight away using the filters

Really easy to book.

BOOKED A VILLA FOR 2 WEEKS JUNE 2025. THE VILLA HAD A BROKEN OVEN AND BROKEN OUTSIDE REFRIGERATOR. WE REPORTED BOTH FAULTY APPLIANCES TO OWNER WHO SAID THEY CAME OUT TO CHECK THE OVEN AND REFRIGERATOR. WE NEVER SAW THE OWNER SO WERE HE CAME TO CHECK CONVENIENTLY WHEN WE WERE OUT IS TO BE DEBATED AS HE SAID BOTH APPLIANCES WERE WORKING FINE. I SENT VIDEOS AND PICTURES OF THE OVEN THROWING UP A FAULT CODE WHEN TRYING TO USE IT AND IT JUST CONSTANTLY CUTS OFF I WAS TOLD TO GO TO THE MAIN CIRCUIT BREAKER AND MESS AROUND WITH SOME SWITCHES. NOT A CHANCE WAS I DOING THAT. I REPORTED THE FAULTS SO THE OWNER SHOULD DEAL WITH IT. ANYWAY WITH VIDEOS AND PICTURES SENT I HAD THE PROOF THE APPLIANCES WERE NOT WORKING. THE OUTCOME WAS THE OWNER PAID US COMPANSATION FOR THE HASSLE AND THE FOOD WE LOST IN THE FAULTY REFRIGERATOR. AFTER I LEFT MY REVIEW ABOUT OUR STAY RURALIDAYS ALLOWED TJE OWNER TO FOLLOW UP AND REPLY TO OUR REVIEW THAT OUR WHOLE PARTY WERE TELLING LIES. EVEN AFTER THE VIDEOS AND PICTURES SO THE CAMERA DONT LIE BUT ON TOP OF THAT HE PAID US €500 COMPANSATION BUT STILL INSISTS WE WERE WRONG ON HIS REPLY. NOW RURALIDAYS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED ABOUT HIS LIES ON HIS REPLY BUT SAID THEY HAVE TO LEAVE HIS REPLY THERE EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THAT ITS ALL LIES AS THEY WERE SENT VIDEOS AND PICTURES OF THE FAULTY APPLIANCES AND THEY PAID THE 500 COMPANSATION TO MY ACCOUNT. SO THE 1 STAR IS FOR THAT EXACT REASON AND ITS SUCH A SHAME AS THEY ARE A GREAT COMPANY AS WE BOOKED B4 AND HAD NO ISSUES BUT THE FACT THEY HAVE THE EVIDENCE (PICTURES, VIDEOS) BUT ALLOWED HIS LIES TO REMAIN THE DESERVE THE 1 STAR. AMONG THE FAULTY APPLIANCES THERE WERE ISSUES WITH THE VILLA, BLOCKED SHOWER, WILD STRAY CATS LIVING IN THE OUT BUILDINGS BRINGING BACK RODENTS LEAVING THEM DEAD AT POOL SIDE CAUSING THOUSANDS OF ANTS (NO MENTION OF CATS LIVING THERE ON ADD) TJEN OWNER COMPLAINED WE USEDTOO MUCH ELECTRIC 🤣🤣 EVEN THOUGH THE ADD SAID ELECTRIC WAS INCLUDED. POWER OUTAGES IF U TRIED TO MAKE SOME TOAST THEN THE POWER WOULD CUT OFF IN THE WHOLE VILLA.

Reply to your reply ruralidays

So yous have the evidence of videos and pictures but yous still let the owner tell lies on his reply as ling as it meets your content guidelines? Yous should be embarrassed that yous allow owners to reply with lies and do nothing about it

Easy to book and if you have any questions you are able to request for a call back. Staff is very helpful and efficient

The prices and variety of villas is good.
We booked a villa and then decided after a couple of days that it wasn't quite what we were after and wanted to change to another within the same area.
We contacted Ruralidays and it was all sorted within 1 day. Very responsive and accommodating with any issues.