So what do villas offer that you can’t get in a hotel? For starters, family villa holidays present the opportunity to break away from the crowds and have your own private space.
Both hotels and luxury villas have their advantages and there’s nothing wrong with a holiday in a hotel so long as you choose the right one; but you may find that the size of the hotel and the sheer number of travellers that you share with might mean losing some independence and compromising on peace and quiet.
Why share a swimming pool with scores of eager children or compete for the best spot in the sun when the majority of modern holiday villa rentals will have a private pool where you can enjoy the privacy of your own back garden. Your children will love having their own pool.
Often hotels will tie you in to a certain number of meals in a restaurant; with villa holidays your family can eat in a different restaurant every night, and experience what the local area is all about in terms of culture and cuisine, you even have the choice of heading to a local market and cooking yourself should you wish.
You might usually book one room for the adults and another for the kids; of course, this is exactly what you’d expect to get as standard from a luxury villa. So what about the services that a hotel offers? It’s good to know that many of the best holiday villa rentals have a maid visit once or twice during the week; you should check the details of this before you book. What’s more you can book luxury villas equipped with appliances such as a washing machine, dishwasher and microwave. (You’ll also find many have extras like a DVD player and satellite TV) Hopefully, this means you can fend for yourself without the morning interruptions of someone trying to clean your room when you’ve decided to sleep in.
Perhaps you feel that there’s a social aspect to large hotels that villa holidays might not be able to offer. In fact, there are a number of holiday villa rentals built with as many as four rooms, or that are large enough to accommodate eight holiday makers or more. With that kind of capacity, you can combine your family villa holidays with those of another family, so you can enjoy the company of your friends from home. One example among many suitable luxury villas is the Villa Galina, set in the fresh pine woodland of Cephalonia. With five bedrooms and four bathrooms it has space for between two and ten people to stay. It has an eight metre long pool from which you and your friends can take in an amazing elevated view of the Ionian Sea.
There are plenty of exciting Mediterranean destinations where you can find quality holiday villa rentals. Other prime resorts include the Algarve, Mallorca, Crete, and Cyprus.
Holiday makers are coming to realise that family villa holidays can deliver ‘a home away from home’ in a sunny climate with beautiful countryside or a beach nearby.
