Tell me about your perfect (luxury-ish) rental villa: what are your must-haves and wow factor draws?

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We have just put an offer in on a villa in the Algarve (hence the name change as several of my friends and family know about this!)

I want to run it in a business-like way for rentals as well as using it ourselves. So, with this in mind, what are your absolute must-haves for a luxury (think upper 4star/ 5 star equivalent but not rock star type place!) holiday villa and what luxuries/ fripperies/ things for children would win you over to booking mine not someone else's?

It has four bedrooms all ensuite, a smallish garden as well as three terraces, pool (with lowish wooden picket fence around the pool terrace but would help for safety for those with toddlers) and is very well-located (walking distance to gorgeous beach and some restaurants, two spas within a walk, golf and tennis galore, kids' club options, larger communal pool for those who fancy that etc).

The master suite with walk-in wardrobe, seating area and ensuite and a large terrace is on the first floor, with the other three bedrooms downstairs so not sure if this would be a problem for young families? Maybe nice if the grandparents can be upstairs and the others down though for extended families. I imagine this will not suit everyone. I could maybe have an option of a folding bed or travel cot for the master suite if that helps as there is space (just).

I do want to attract families but also adults playing sport and travelling in a group etc. The rental company I am intending to use will provide travel cots, highchairs etc. so no need to mention that but I could provide a microwave steriliser etc.

So far I have the following in mind: outdoor table tennis, basketball net (both out of sight of the pool area and with older children in mind), coffee machine e.g. Nespresso, juicer, hammock or swing seat (stylish) for outside, board games, maybe PS or X Box, big tub of Lego and blocks for younger ones, books for children and adults.

Beach and pool toys, beach towels.

What else? What makes you swoon at a holiday home?!

Sorry to hear that, I always believe these things happen for a reason.

Good fun to keep looking when your there on holiday. Remember when we bought ours, looked for a few years holidays when staying in rentals, a bit like buying your wedding dress you just get that feeling:-)

Something better will turn up.

Pichet

Thanks Pichet. It was a shame that we spent the money we did on the survey etc. but then again absolutely money well spent too given what we found. The owners might be able to sort it out so you never know.

Onwards, upwards and more internet searching for 'the one'!

Yes that is true about house hunting on our next trip!

We are back on!
I now have a slightly bigger budget for refurb as we renegotiated the price and managed to wangle buying our currency with good timing.

Am very excited and hopig to have it up and running for this summer but we will see as there is a lot to sort out!

The best bit of advice we had was to not worry about appealing to families with school aged kids. You will be full in the school holidays anyway if your property is half decent. Its the out of school holiday bookings you need to encourage- adults, walkers etc. and families with pre-schoolers. We offer some yoga etc. to appeal to adults.

That is really good advice, thank you.

Can I ask anyone on here...is a saltwater pool instead of chlorine a good or bad thing or neither way? I am not keen on saltwater but apparently lots of people like it as it's kinder to the environment and skin.

Just a little update! We are hoping to exchange and complete on the property in the next few weeks. Really exciting. Those who have asked for a PM with details, I will send this once we are set up but will be a bit late for this summer now!

Your ideas and thoughts have been so useful but I might pop back with a few other questions!

Another few for now:

• Gas bbq or charcoal?
• the swimming pool is a saltwater system i.e. chemical free as far as I know, is this a positive for small children or sensitive skin? It seems marketed as such but would it be good or bad? Would you want this explaining in the advert or would you get that it is a good thing. Apparently it is not like sea water in the pool.
• Nespresso machine but you have to bring capsules (and not everyone has these) or more normal filter machine?
• Taking our unused PS3 but we only have two games as never got into it. Would people take their own or expect some?
• There is a large terrace outside the upstairs bedroom - do people use these (we never ever have and just sit by the pool!)? Table and chairs for breakfast or more lounging type furniture?
• Other ideas for making the downstairs 'second master' bedroom gorgeous please!

And finally there is a small grassy area away from the main terraces and pools. Should we make this a chill out zone with some sort of seating/ sofa (but would anyone really sit round the back, albeit it's secluded and not looking at the bins or anything bad) or a play area?! The pool is gated so I am thinking we should go for the preschool family market in shoulder season and therefore go with play area. Not keen on trampoline or anything that will require lots of extra cleaning though.

Thought I'd pop in and give you a few answers:

• Either would be fine, but I think I'd prefer gas as it's just easier to use. If you do have a gas bbq, definitely provide enough gas - it would be an issue if it ran out halfway through the holiday and there wasn't anywhere easy to pick some more up. Thinking about that, perhaps a charcoal BBQ would be better - you could provide a couple of bags of charcoal and leave instructions as to where these can be bought.
• Not sure about salt water pool but I'd definitely mention it in the info about the property.
• If you're going to provide a Nespresso machine I think you'd have to provide the capsules - I'd go for a normal filter machine as it's easier.
• PS3 - could you get a couple more games? No need to get them brand new; you could always pick some up second hand. If it's advertised then people may bring their own, but it would be a shame to only have a couple of games if it's a novelty for a family.
• I'd go with little table and chairs for breakfast (if it's a master bedroom, maybe just a couple of chairs up there as long as you have bigger table and chairs downstairs). You could always include a little outdoor sofa as well if there's room in your budget. We'd always use a terrace like this, especially if going with family - it's nice to be able to get away for a bit and gives people the opportunity to go somewhere quiet to read etc.
• Musts for me: more than one pillow per person! Even if you keep these in a cupboard for guests to grab if necessary, this would be an excellent idea - I sleep on two at home and it's always a pain if people don't provide enough. Make sure ensuite is modern and sparkling - and provide cupboards to keep toiletries. It's not a great feeling to walk into a messy bathroom on holiday because there's no storage for suncream, makeup, etc. Last thing - definitely include a full-length mirror in each room; there's nothing more annoying than going on holiday to find that there's no mirror! Good lighting and mirror in the bathroom would be a plus as well - sometimes you can get mirrors with lighting around it which makes it good for applying makeup if there's no natural light in the room; those are always a nice surprise on holiday.
• I'd just go with some seating/a sofa in the grassy area. Again, it's nice as a spot to read and I'm not sure whether you need more activities if you're going for a table tennis table, badminton, etc.

Thank you velvetmoon - fab answers!

Definitely thinking charcoal as the gas would be much harder to get hold of I think and if it runs out we'll be letting people down.

A big yy to two pillows - I hate that too!

Hmm maybe the badminton net and croquet could be for the grassy area but with some outdoor bean bags too.

I will look into some extra PS3 games and also I plan to take quite a few DVDs we never watch here and maybe pick up some extras in the charity shop.
Filter coffee it definitely is then!

Maybe that's the reason we never use the bedroom terraces - we have travelled just as a small family and I can see that in a 4 bed place it is more likely you will want that privacy. I will have a look in the shops and see what we can do there.

We have masses of good outdoor furniture in the main terraces and pool area but I do fancy one of those wicker swinging chairs too! I would get irrational about that when booking!

Well, just been out there and loved it!

Some things to change for sure but really good foundations to build on (not literally!)

A quick question to those who might still spot this - if you were renting this kind of place, would Ikea plates bother you or would you expect 'better'?
They wouldn't bother me at all as plain white plates are plain white plates but would you expect, I don't know, Villeroy and Boch or similar?

No need for posh china but it must be matching and not chipped (the top end ikea stuff would be fine). Cutlery must be decent and plentiful (probably need a step up from ikea - I hate their barely thicker than aluminum foil stuff)

Yes want decent cutlery - what is there at present is dreadful and horrid faded 80s crockery.

Another question: quantities. I read somewhere that you should have 3x occupancy but the dishwasher would be more than full at 2x occupancy (it sleeps 8) so that seems excessive!

So 16 plates/ sets of cutlery or 24 of everything?!

16 would be more than enough for leaving in the house but I'd bulk by for spares.

Personally in the house I'd do 12 x
Dinner plates
Pasta dishes
Cereal bowls
Side plates
coffee cup
Large glasses
Tumblers
Red wine glasses
White wine glasses
Champagne glasses

Thank you chips...a very appropriate name given chips on crockery...