A villa - somewhere nice but different - help please?
A villa - somewhere nice but different - help please?
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anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
Every year the HH family rents a villa in the sun for our two weeks of relaxation. This year we are struggling to choose a location and are seeking some inspiration from PH. We try to avoid the football-top-all-day-English-breakfast type places, and our last five years have been Dalyan Turkey x 3, Marrakech, and Carviero Portugal... Usually use villarenters.com as we don't enjoy organised 'package villas' and prefer to organise our own flights.

We are 2 adults, 3 kids (9,12,14) who enjoy our food, beer & wine and doing activities as well as lazy days by the pool, and like a fair degree of luxury when we go away. Prefer not to drive and would prefer not to have lengthy transfers from the airport.

Thoughts so far for this year are Sri Lanka, Dalyan (kid's favourite - again!!!!) and Italy.

Really looking for some fresh ideas - help me choose a nice place - any advice you can give would be much appreciated!


Puggit

49,142 posts

264 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
How about Croatia, southern Italy (south of Naples, maybe Amalfi...) or Sicily.

Take a look at www.ownersdirect.co.uk, which is where we advertise (central France, without pool - so probably not suitable!).

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
Puggit said:
How about Croatia, southern Italy (south of Naples, maybe Amalfi...) or Sicily.

Take a look at www.ownersdirect.co.uk, which is where we advertise (central France, without pool - so probably not suitable!).
Have heard good and bad things about Croatia - and villas seem very, very expensive. Have been there a couple of times on business and enjoyed it, so maybe worth another look. Sicily on the other hands sounds good- thanks for the response!

toxgobbler

2,903 posts

207 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
Sorry but have you tried http://www.jamesvillas.co.uk ?

davidspooner

24,021 posts

210 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
had ham said:
,,,,,

We are 2 adults, 3 kids (9,12,14) who enjoy our food, beer & wine ,,,,
Your kids are alcoholics!

andy ted

1,317 posts

281 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
Have a look at North Sardinia or Corsica as another option...

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
davidspooner said:
had ham said:
,,,,,

We are 2 adults, 3 kids (9,12,14) who enjoy our food, beer & wine ,,,,
Your kids are alcoholics!
Parents probably, kids, nah....

Stephanie Plum

2,797 posts

227 months

Friday 1st January 2010
quotequote all
Sicily.

Have a butchers here - http://www.thinksicily.com/

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
Thanks for the suggestions guys, much appreciated - Sicily/Sardinia/Corsica now looking like the shortlist - although any more suggestions very welcome!

As for the James Villas suggestion, many thanks, but not for us again - my experience is that they are very badly over-priced and quality a little hit and miss. Cheers anyway though!

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
Stephanie Plum said:
Sicily.

Have a butchers here - http://www.thinksicily.com/
Great website and steer - thanks for that - going to pop open a bottle of wine with Mrs HH this evening and work through that and see what we can find.

Some stunning properties on there!

Puggit

49,142 posts

264 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
For Sicily, the NE coast around Taomina/Giardini Naxos is probably the most touristy. Don't read this to mean chavvy though, chavs will be hard to find. It has a real mix of European visitors, especially Germans. Lots of places to eat out.

English is not spoken everywhere, far from it. When we went out in '99, there were no direct flights from the UK!

Must do visits are Etna, Agrigento and Syracuse. The Autostrada around Messina is 'interesting' to drive. Tunnel, bridge, tunnel, bridge, cliff, tunnel, bridge, tunnel wink

The [url]Aeolian Islands|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolian_Islands[url] just off the NE are supposed to be really quite something, if you can tie that in to a trip.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
Puggit said:
For Sicily, the NE coast around Taomina/Giardini Naxos is probably the most touristy. Don't read this to mean chavvy though, chavs will be hard to find. It has a real mix of European visitors, especially Germans. Lots of places to eat out.

English is not spoken everywhere, far from it. When we went out in '99, there were no direct flights from the UK!

Must do visits are Etna, Agrigento and Syracuse. The Autostrada around Messina is 'interesting' to drive. Tunnel, bridge, tunnel, bridge, cliff, tunnel, bridge, tunnel wink

The [url]Aeolian Islands|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolian_Islands[url] just off the NE are supposed to be really quite something, if you can tie that in to a trip.
That's great advice and very much appreciated Puggit, thank you. Sicily looking very attractive to the HH family right now...

moleamol

15,887 posts

279 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
It's a pity you don't want to drive as I would have recommended moraira: http://www.everythingmoraira.com/ Been there the past two years and it's a great place with some other great places within a short drive!

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
moleamol said:
It's a pity you don't want to drive as I would have recommended moraira: http://www.everythingmoraira.com/ Been there the past two years and it's a great place with some other great places within a short drive!
Rather not drive, but certainly don't mind - and we love Moraira - never had the kids there though and it had slipped my mind - any other good villa websites/villas you could point me towards?

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to reply...

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

70 months

Saturday 2nd January 2010
quotequote all
had ham said:
moleamol said:
It's a pity you don't want to drive as I would have recommended moraira: http://www.everythingmoraira.com/ Been there the past two years and it's a great place with some other great places within a short drive!
Rather not drive, but certainly don't mind - and we love Moraira - never had the kids there though and it had slipped my mind - any other good villa websites/villas you could point me towards?

Once again, many thanks for taking the time to reply...
Ignore my last request, just clicked the villa link and it's taken me to where I need to be...cheers

Rum Runner

2,338 posts

233 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
St.Lucia http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/Caribbean/holiday...

I know the house, very nice.
Actually I know a good number on Island

JCW

905 posts

223 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
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Stephanie Plum

2,797 posts

227 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
quotequote all
had ham said:
Stephanie Plum said:
Sicily.

Have a butchers here - http://www.thinksicily.com/
Great website and steer - thanks for that - going to pop open a bottle of wine with Mrs HH this evening and work through that and see what we can find.

Some stunning properties on there!
Pleasure smile

We're using them this year in September - me and the other half are driving down there in our 2 Elises, taking in part of the Swiss Alps, the Italian Lakes for a couple of nights, then a bit of the Mille Miglia, then taking the ferry over from Naples - spending a few nights at the Masseria Maggiore hotel which is on their website - plan to drive the Targa Florio, go to Agrigento and Etna as mentioned by puggit, and also have a mooch around Palermo before ferrying back to Genoa and heading home through the Alps.

Can't wait bounce

Furryballer

548 posts

243 months

Sunday 3rd January 2010
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Just to throw something different in, Mrs B & I have a place on the island of Rhodes. If your still deciding take a look at www.afandouhills.com.

kingofherts

383 posts

212 months

Monday 4th January 2010
quotequote all
My mum owns a luxury 3 bed villa in the Spanish Mountains, 15 mins from the beach..

http://luxuryspanishvilla.synthasite.com/

Tell them Alex told you about it smile