About Us

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WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY?

We are a grand total of two people: Daniel Morneau and Martha Quaresma. When you work with “us”, we mean that you will actually speak by phone with, or correspond by email with, one of us personally.

I’m Daniel Morneau. As I write these words in February 2004, I am 55 years old, 6 feet 2 inches tall, and a little less overweight than I was 5 years ago. I was born in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, grew up in Maine, underwent a Jesuit high school education, graduated from Johns Hopkins, and spent 5 years not completing a PhD in Literature at UC San Diego. I am an unreconstructed 60s person.

I lived in San Francisco from 1976 to 2000, then moved to New York City. I lived in Rome in 1980-1982 and now divide my time among the three cities, with the vast majority of my time spent in Rome. Other than operating Vacanza Bella, my interests include opera, 19th-century novels, ecclesiastical architecture, film, eating, and visiting with friends. My passion for Italy long predated the founding of Vacanza Bella. My first visit was in 1971. I speak Italian fluently; most of Vacanza Bella’s property owners are Italian, and I deal with them in Italian on a daily basis.

In 1983, I met my life companion Thomas Lalor, and we lived together until October 28, 2001, when Tom died of a massive heart attack in my presence in Rome. He is buried at the Protestant Cemetery. Tom spent his life teaching pre-school deaf children, but he had huge, largely unheralded part to play in starting Vacanza Bella.

Martha Quaresma is my assistant. She is based in our office in San Francisco. It is she who answers the phone, conveys messages to me, handles Vacanza Bella’s books, prepares and mails correspondence, confirms bookings and sends directions packets, arranges client arrivals, resolves computer issues, and keeps me sane. She is a literate, charming, supercompetent adult with whom it is a pleasure for clients and for me to deal. She has been with Vacanza Bella for 6 years, and, I hope, for many more.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?

Since 1985. This is our sole and only business.

WHAT’S YOUR MAILING ADDRESS?

2261 Market Street, #281
San Francisco, CA 94114
Phone: 415-554-0234

ARE YOU A TRAVEL AGENCY?

No. Our sole and only business is short-term vacation rentals in Italy. We have no interest in renting cars, reserving hotels, arranging guides or drivers. We do one thing and one thing only, and that’s the way it is.

WE’D LIKE TO COME IN TO VISIT YOU IN PERSON TO DISCUSS OUR TRIP. CAN WE DO THAT?

No. We work strictly by phone and by email. Why? There’s a very simple answer. Time. When I first started Vacanza Bella back in 1985, I did meet personally, in my own home, with dozens of prospective clients. I really enjoyed it. But in no case did such a meeting last less than 2 hours; indeed it often went an entire afternoon, followed by dinner out. This was nice, but I couldn’t get any work done.

So now we see no one. If you feel uncomfortable dealing with faceless beings, I understand. The ways we try to reassure you are to have you phone people who have rented from us in the past, especially people who have rented the very villa you’re thinking of renting. That way, you can cross-examine to your heart’s content someone – a former client who has no mercenary interest whatsoever in whether you rent or not – both about Vacanza Bella’s reputation for integrity and about the particular villa in question. Believe me, people love to talk about their past travel experiences and are quite objective about sharing with you all the pluses and minuses of the villa you’re asking them about.