Villa Booking Advice

[howlongtillsummer?]

Morning guys.

I am busy planning next year and we are thinking of going back to a villa holiday as we will have a big group going.

We have booked in the past with Travel Plus Ltd but they seem expensive this year (£3150 for 18 nights in July).

We know we want Windsor Palms and at least a four bed. Any advice?

I am a bit nervous of private rentals and our travel agent has booked for us in the past. But after the globespan debacle I am thinking that using a credit card might be just as safe.

At the minute my dates are flexible but it must be 18 nights - I thought I would go when flights could be cheapest. Thing is, continental will release while we are away so I will not get in there first like I always do. Our public holiday here is the 12th July so I thought that maybe going on the 12th itself would be cheaper as most people would already want to be away? Any logic??

Many thanks

 

[wayneg]

I know next to nothing about villa rentals but if I did rent one I would want contact direct with the owner to answer all my questions on that specific property, no way would I want to rent thru an agent.
£3,150

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Even virgin are cheaper than that!!

 

[lin85prest]

WE have always booked our villas direct with owners and never had any problems. We have booked on for 18 nights next october 6 bedrooms, 7bathroom and with pool heat £2100. So it would be well worth looking at villa sites, there are plenty of them

 

[Pegasus928]

We have always rented villas direct from the owner and have never gone through a travel agent. The main reason for this being that we don't fancy the idea of 'allocation on arrival' that many of the travel agents do. We like to see what we are getting in advance.
There are many websites out there that advertise fantastic villas which put you in touch with the owner.
One that we have used for most of our trips is

http://www.orlandovillas.com/

It has a really useful search facility that enables you to specify the rooms you need, and when you send a PM to the owner of a villa you like to ask if your dates are free it will also send the same email to all members on the site that have the same size villa. This cuts down on a lot of searching - you just sit back and wait for the emails to come and discount the ones you don't like the look of.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Thank you both very much I will go and have a look. Do you just pay by credit card for security?

 

[wayneg]

I paid with Paypal in $'s(US owner) for the Condo we rented 2 years ago but Credit card would give more protection I should think.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Many thanks. Thinking with Paypal they would not have your card details - but I am sure they would want a security deposit on a card anyway.

 

[Pegasus928]

Up to now our deposits have been paid with either a cheque or paypal.

I would also advise having a list of what you facilities you would expect your villa to have. Our list includes free wi-fi, free international phone calls, south facing pool that is not overlooked, games room and at least one of the bedrooms downstairs. We know that we can all of these in many of the villas that make our short list, so if any are not offered that particular villa is not considered.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Cheque or paypal sounds good then.

I have been on the website and there are two suitable Windsor Palms villas - one @ £865 per week and another at £750 per week (second has no free phone calls but good in other respects). Much better value - thanks.

Any other good websites?

 

[lexie32]

If you like Windsor Palms you can also look at Windsor Hills, same area also gated and built by the same people, i usually look at http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/windsor-hills/s/2385/fa/find.squery

 

[T16GEM]

has anyone suggested the Dibb? they have a dedicated villa rental part and all of the villas on there belong to members of the forums.
might be worth a try.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

This is really appreciated guys - I am lost here. Many, many thanks.