Raccourcis
Location de villas : escroqueries et avertissements
The French Riviera is full of both good people and scammers, but the concentration of the latter is especially high when dealing real estate and luxury villa rentals. Renting a villa in the South of France can be a delightful experience, but like in many popular tourist destinations, it comes with the risk of encountering scams and dishonest tactics.
Notre conseil n°1 le plus important : visitez toujours la villa en personne avant de la réserver pour éviter les situations d'appât et de changement.
Voici ce qu’il faut savoir si vous envisagez de louer une villa sur la Côte d’Azur :
Réservation via une agence
Booking through a large well-known agency may sembler safe, but it’s only as safe as you are savvy. There are many ways that these agencies can –and frequently do– scam people, in both big and little ways. Knowing their tricks can help you avoid them, but be prepared to put in some work before renting anything.
In fact, the CEO of Carlton Group emailed us trying to get us to remove their name from this guide, and in his email he said “Your journalism may have been appropriate, if unfortunate, in its negative slight against Rental Agents in general, but naming our company…” admitting that what we warn about below is true.
Appât et interrupteur
Vous savez déjà que toutes les agences essaient de rendre leurs annonces aussi attrayantes que possible. Mais ce que vous ne pouvez pas savoir avant votre arrivée, c'est à quel point ils ont modifié les photos, ce qu'ils ont n'a pas vous montrer dans les photos et la vidéo, et quels sont les problèmes de la villa qu'ils ne vous disent pas.
We audited luxury rental listings from the big agencies (in the price range of €20,000 to €50,000 per week) and found that they routinely advertised villas as “luxury rentals” even when they were in very, very bad condition, or not luxury at all.
We found that most of the villas were in very bad state of disrepair, with major water damage and mold issues, many maintenance issues, and things like massive overhanging power lines and overlooking neighbors that had been edited out of photos.
We even visited one “luxury villa rental” where –to our surprise– a new house was being built right next to it and there was one shared private road. It took the construction vehicles, that were blocking the entrance, 25 minutes to move, despite them knowing we had a previously scheduled viewing, with us and two agents waiting. When we finally got to the house we noticed that, unlike what the agent had just told us, the construction noise was très loud, and the ‘sea view’ photograph had clearly been taken with a telephoto lens, zooming in on the tiny far-away slice of sea view — and cropping out all the ugly rooftops in the view. Beyond that, the two bathrooms that weren’t in the photos were in a very bad state.
La seule façon de vraiment savoir ce que vous obtiendrez est de visiter la villa à l'avance, avant vous le réservez.
Contrats de location
The big agencies’ rental contracts typically have many loopholes that would allow them to kick you out at any time. Don’t assume they won’t do this.
We hear stories of big agencies evicting people at the beginning of their stay, and keeping the entire rent and deposit for a seemingly inconsequential infractions, like having a visitor, or leaving towels outside (yes, these clauses are in contracts from big agencies like Carlton, etc.) Many agencies also include clauses that let them evict you and keep the money if a ‘neighbor’ complains of noise.
Agents also often agree to terms verbally, then leave them out of the contract so they don't have to adhere to them. Or they tell you verbally that they never enforce those clauses, but then refuse to remove them (…because they intent to enforce them).
Usually, the agencies keep the villa listed online even once it’s been booked. If there’s someone else who is willing to book for the same time-frame, and they have a legal (unethical, yes, but legal) way to get you out, keep the money, and get paid twice for the same weeks, then they really have no legal reason not to. Agencies are more concerned with making maximum profit than potential bad online reviews. After all, it’s easy to have bad reviews removed, most people don’t leave or check reviews, and there’s no way to review individual villas.
Le volume est en baisse et les prix sont très négociables
After Covid, when Americans were able to travel to Europe again, there was a boom in travel and bookings. Even then, the most that luxury villa rentals were booked was around 40% to 70% for the very best villas. From 2023 to 2025, villa rentals were only been booked up less than 20% of the time.
Before Covid, the typical discount you could negotiate on a luxury villa rental was about 30% to 40%. However, we had been hearing that in 2024, people were getting massive discounts on luxury villa rentals of around 50% to 75% off of the asking prices. We did some negotiating ourselves and found this to be true. We expect this to continue throughout 2025, especially with what’s been happening geopolitically.
Comment vous protéger
Si vous envisagez de louer une villa de luxe sur la Côte d'Azur via une agence, vous pouvez prendre certaines mesures pour réduire le risque de vous faire arnaquer :
- Do your research on the property before you book. Ask for a video tour and information about the villa, including its exact address and amenities. Read reviews from other guests and check the villa’s address on Google Earth to make sure it actually exists.
- Ne payez jamais une villa au complet d’avance. Les agences de location réputées n'exigeront qu'une caution et vous devriez pouvoir payer le solde une fois arrivé à la villa et l'avoir inspectée.
- Make sure the contract contains a clause that gives you a full refund (within a specified time-frame, with penalties for not refunding you on time) if you arrive and the property doesn’t meet your expectations, or has damage, privacy issues, bedbugs, or nearby construction.
- Read the rental contract very carefully before you sign it. Make sure you thoroughly understand tous the terms and conditions, and that the contract includes all of the details you agreed upon with the rental agency or individual. Do not trust what is only said verbally.
- Ne signez pas un contrat comportant des failles qui pourraient permettre à l'agence de location ou au propriétaire de vous expulser. Si l'agence ne supprime pas ces clauses, vous saurez que c'est parce qu'elle envisage de les utiliser.
Nos conseils francs ? Ne réservez pas via des agences ou directement auprès des propriétaires, où vous n'avez aucun moyen d'obtenir un remboursement en cas de problème. Réservez uniquement sur des sites Web comme AirBnb et VRBO, où vous pouvez obtenir un remboursement si l'annonce est une arnaque, ne ressemble pas aux photos ou à d'autres formes d'appât et de changement.
Plateformes de réservation en ligne
Des sites comme AirBnb et VRBO ont également leurs problèmes (bien que moins qu'avec les grandes agences), mais ils constituent l'option la plus sûre puisque vous pouvez vous plaindre auprès de la plateforme en cas de problème. Le principal problème de la réservation sur ces sites est que les propriétaires mentent parfois sur les « dégâts » et conservent votre caution.
Jamais réservez une villa que vous avez trouvée sur un site de petites annonces comme LeBonCoin (la version française de Craigslist). Les fraudeurs utilisent fréquemment ces plateformes pour créer de fausses annonces de villas de luxe. Ces annonces peuvent contenir des photos et des descriptions qui semblent convaincantes, mais elles peuvent concerner des propriétés qui n'existent pas réellement ou être copiées à partir d'une annonce légitime.
Voici quelques-uns des problèmes et escroqueries courants dont il faut être conscient :
- Fausses annonces: Scammers may create fake listings to attract attention and money before individuals realize the place doesn’t exist. Once a deposit is paid, the ‘owner’ becomes unreachable.
- Fausse déclaration: The property doesn’t match the description in the advertisement, or has major problems with it.
- Double réservation: La propriété est peut-être déjà louée et vous ne trouverez aucun accès à votre arrivée.
- Détournement de courrier électronique: The email address of the owner or agency might be hijacked or spoofed, and you could end up interacting with a criminal instead of the actual owner. An owner or agency avoiding in-person meetings could be a red flag as they might have something to hide.
En étant vigilant et en prenant des mesures de précaution, vous pouvez minimiser considérablement les risques liés à la location de villas de luxe dans le sud de la France.
Attention : Crime
Rental villas are the prime target of the crime rings and criminal gangs that operate along the French Riviera. They often don’t have bars on the windows and they know that tourists are not as cautious as locals. There’s a major problem with these criminals breaking in, often using sedative gas, and stealing valuables like your watch and wedding rings right off your hand. Learn more about that here.
Given all the risks associated with villa rentals on the French Riviera, we recommend that you book a hotel instead (here’s our guide to help you avoid disappointment when booking a hotel). But if you’ve got your heart set on a villa, make sure to follow these tips to protect yourself from scams and enjoy a luxurious vacation on the French Riviera.
