HAVE you, like me, spent the last few months dreaming of your holidays? As summer approached and the fears grew that you cannot rely on the Irish weather for anything approaching a sunny spell, I started -- at first idly and then with serious intent -- scanning the internet for possible bargains. The mood in our house went something like this. First nonchalance: "Will we have a summer holiday this year with the recession and everything?" This moved quickly on to wistfulness: "It would be really nice to get away." Then on to justification: "I genuinely need a summer holiday." Finally, we arrived at desperation: "Book, book anything -- we've got to get away, who cares about the money." It was thus buoyed up by thoughts of sunshine and dining al fresco that I first visited holidaylettings.co.uk , searching for a holiday home in Spain to rent for my family. It's a website where villa and apartment owners advertise their properties directly to the public, cutting out the middlemen and keeping the costs down. On it we found the perfect house,...