Recommendations for Villas abroad for next year please...

cambsno

cambsno

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Just got back from holiday in Cornwall, 3rd time staying at wonderful farm cottages and pretty tempted to book there for a 4th time (tredethick in lostwithiel if anyone is interested and has kids). Anyway, done that in 3 of last 4 years with a couple of days in IOW and a couple of short breaks to centreparcs too. Centreparcs and farm are under consideration still but also keen on a holiday abroad.

So, can anyone recommend (places they have stayed in) any good hotels/villas for a week next year. Four of us, including a 3.5 yo and a 6yo. Ideally going between mid may to early July time. Corfu is preferred as have been there a lot, no to kavos\sidari but yes to quieter places (like paleocastritsa although that was 10 years ago and may have changed).

I did like the idea of an all inclusive but looking at one that fitted the bill, there are a number of bad reports, although a lot of good ones too. Without sounding snobbish, many have said its like butlins abroad and can have a lot of rude chavvy Brits there. Getting personal views is so much better than trip advisor IMO so let me know where is good. Although prefer Corfu, open to algarve, Majorca etc... As long as around 2-3 hours ish flighttime. Budget wise, at a guess £300-£500 for week, but depends on flight costs, may be able to push that a little.

Hit me!
 
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Is your budget per person?

If so, it could probably just about stretch to the "cheaper" places in Majorca, but obviously these are more likely to be "Benidormish."

If your budget is for the whole hotel, I think you may need to rule out Majorca or the Algarve.

In the nicer (read, "less like Butlins") parts of Majorca (Puerto Pollensa, Cala san Vincente to name two) you will be doing £300 on food and drink for the week easily.

I think you will struggle budget-wise even for the cheaper areas of Majorca such as Alcudia (which sounds like the kind of place you are trying to avoid), I was finding minimum prices at £500pp.

I've found the Algarve (Quinta do Lago, Villa Moura, Vale de Lobo etc) are even more expensive, and suited for adults / older children, rather than young families. There is a reason there are so many older expats out there!

Have been to the above multiple times. Never visited Corfu so can't comment.

I think the flights are going to eat most of your budget.
 
Sorry, to be clear the budget was in total for accom only. The all inclusive I had considered was around £1650 depending on when we go (for all of us). A quick google suggested that the budget is realistic for the accom, while if we went package would like to keep around £1500. Yes, the all inc was in alcudia. Not too fussed exactly where we go, the most important thing is getting good feedback about a particular villa/hotel.
 
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We stopped at a cala d'or in Majorca a few years ago at hotel Scorpios. Very nice hotel good food and it's got its own beach, kids club entertainment every night and in a pretty quiet location not too far from the hustle and bustle if you want it but far enough away that you can't hear it.
 
For villa/apartment take a look at holidaylettings.co.uk where you book direct with the owner of the property and can be a lot cheaper.
We have been using this method for several years and it works out well as long as you're prepared to do the leg work yourself booking flights/cars etc.
 
We've been here twice now....

http://www.belvederehotels.net/

All inclusive and we love it :D

Hardly any brits which is a huge bonus.

7 swimming pools which are big (1 olympic) and aren't over crowded, big restaurant with a really good selection of food (lots of simple food, lots of salad, bread, veg etc.), pretty good entertainment.

Kids club is 4+ and runs every day apart from Wednesday. Every evening at 7pm is Mini Disco for the kids which mine loved.

Hersonissos is a bit of a party town, but with my 2 kids (now 7 and 5) we hardly left the hotel as they loved the pools so much. At the bottom of the hill is Star Beach which has a beach, small water park (great for kids), a few more swimming pools. It is all free unless you want to use the slides which is 8 euros a day per person. It becomes a night club in the evening, so we leave by about 3pm.

Also in hersonissos is Aqua World Aquarium which is run by a british couple. It is small, but you can go and hold snakes and lizards (including 2 12ft boas)

http://www.aquaworld-crete.com/

We will be going back for a 3rd year next year as it ticks all the boxes for us.

If you have any questions about the hotel, let me know :)
 
Thanks all so far. Unfortunately Dale Crete is a bit further than we would want, coupled with more expensive flights so unlikely but it does look good.
 
Update - after having a look at various options, have decided on a Villa as that is probably more suited to what we would like.

So, anyone stayed in a Villa in Portugal/Spain/Greece/Italy and can recommed? So much choice out there, nice to have personal views.
 
Villa Linakis www.villalinakis.com This is my sisters villa which is in Arillas, Corfu. I've stayed in this a few times. She has had it built from the ground up in 2004 so I'm quite familiar with it and also put together her website for the villa. I don't know if it is in your price range.
There is plenty of space in the villa, it can sleep 6 +baby and is kitted out with almost everything you can think of, wifi xbox and board games for the kids.

The private pool is walled unoverlooked with its own pool bar (you supply the bevvy;) ) bbq etc and assures you complete privacy. Check the website and if your interested let me know, she might knock off 5% if I tell her your a regular on a forum I visit. Client reviews can be seen here >> Click Here
 
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Been to the Algarve many times in a villa and generally used the Owners Direct website. Each time we have stayed at Praia de luz. Nice small village with decent places to eat. Very safe big beach. Also stayed in Majorca and Corfu in last few years but prefer Algarve- shorter flights, better food and seems to have suffered less in the economic downturn ( no where near as many empty shops/ bars and building sites)

Stayed this area in Luz

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/portugal/P10269.htm
 
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Thanks Frank & Craig. Corfu looks great but bigger than we need and out of budget. Algarve one looks interesting.

One reservation I have, is what protection do we have? If we pay by CC but anything happens do we get money back? Or better to go through an ABTA registerd company?
 
cambsno said:
Thanks Frank & Craig. Corfu looks great but bigger than we need and out of budget. Algarve one looks interesting. One reservation I have, is what protection do we have? If we pay by CC but anything happens do we get money back? Or better to go through an ABTA registerd company?
Click to expand...

There is some protection now ( never was when I used to book)

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/trustsecurity-trav-booking.htm

We have always spoken to the owner- they will usually supply references. Always found it cheaper to book direct and get seperate flights. Easy jet fly to Faro and it's less than an hour to Luz
 
Someone above mentioned Vale de Lobo in the Algarve and I can definitely recommend that. It's about 20 minutes from Faro airport and has villas of all shapes and sizes. It runs down to a fantastic beach and has an area overlooking the sea (the Praca) which has lots of restaurants and a few shops. The overall impression though is of a safe, clean and secure environment with mostly families and golfers, rather than the real rowdies.

We generally stay at the Dona Filipa hotel primarily because of its location and service and there should be some good deals if you are able to travel outside of school holiday times. They do family rooms too and the kids club is open to non-residents. One thing that might put you off however, is that Liverpool FC stayed there pre-season a couple of years ago.

But if that's not your cup of tea, as I say, there are plenty of villas of all shapes and sizes available in the area which you should be able to find with the usual villa search websites. And car hire is (relatively) cheap if you need to get out and about.
 
So, you've noticed the resemblance too? :gag:

Oops! Wrong thread! Sorry.
 
I highly recommend Portugal, The Silver Coast and in particular Sao Martinho do Porto. We have taken the grandchildren their twice now, this time four of them. Flights via Easy Jet were cheap and cheerful.
I go through Ownersdirect.co.uk and used this villa this time round:
http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/portugal/P6310.htm

The beach if pefect for little people, the area is great for families and not full of english people either.
 
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