Where to look for affordable nice villas

[Holidayaddict]

Thinking of booking a nice holiday abroad for next summer to make up for the last couple of shit years!

Would like a villa with pool in Europe for 2 adults 2 teens. Had a bit of a Google and am a bit shocked at the prices but tbh not sure what's the norm and whether best to book a package or flights/Villa separately.

Not too fussed where we go (had vague idea of Portugal purely as never been but pretty open). Criteria is 2-3 bedrooms, ideally 2 bathrooms, own pool, decent kitchen with dishwasher a must! Ideally walking distance to some restaurants/bars. Also some options for trips out to break up sitting round the pool. Nice/fairly high spec more important than big!

Would be grateful for some suggestions on where to start looking for a villa novice.

Thank you

What is your idea of 'affordable'?

I would suggest Lanzarote. We always booked the villa and flight separately. You could also look at Fuerteventura and Menorca.

What is your idea of 'affordable'?

I was hoping no more than 4k for villa & flights for a 10 day holiday, no idea if that's realistic. I was seeing villas alone for well over 3k (James Villas which I presume are not the cheapest!).

James Villas are definitely among the more expensive. You can rent villas through Tui or Jet2 if want a package, or through Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO if you're happy to book your own flights. Flights to the Canaries can be really expensive in the school holidays (£700pp is not unusual), so that would eat up a lot of your budget. I'd suggest looking at Portugal, Spain, Balearics and Greece.

I think decide for certain on a destination, otherwise you could be browsing forever!

In my experience, nice but not grand villas with private pool in the school summer holidays are about £1600 to £2000 per week. At least this has been my experience in France, Spain and Croatia.

We have had some bargains in Albufeira, Portugal.
Usually book via Villaplus. Not the most luxe but fine for a family holiday!

We've booked places all over the world through Airbnb and have always been really happy. Just make sure you choose one with good reviews. You can narrow the criteria to whatever you're looking for and there's something to suit every budget. We've stayed in some fabulous villas 😊

Steer clear of the holiday companies like James villas etc. We always book through Vbro or Airbnb usually direct with the owner but sometimes through a smaller local agent using those sites. You get better value. My advice would be if you want a nice high spec villa at a good price look in the less touristy areas. I would expect to pay around £2k a week in school hols, maybe a bit more. Also look at flight costs because some destinations are much cheaper to fly to than others. As an example we had booked a villa for last year (before covid really hit - we didn't go in the end) near the coast south of Lisbon. The villa is 4 bed, pool, 3 bathrooms. Not flashy but nice enough and not super old fashioned which can be common with villas. Cost for 11 nights is around £3500 but we are splitting that with another family. Flights to lisbon in school hols, even pre pandemic were as low as £80 per person, average of £120ish. Compare this to flights to Spain which can be twice as much. Car hire was around £300-400 for 11 days.

We had to move the booking to this summer, and I think we will move it again to next year so not sure if that's going to impact on the costs and make it unaffordable.

Re: flights in school holidays - yes do check the price before you commit to any property. Just from places we've been, Ibiza, Canaries and Cyprus all have lots of nice villas, but the costs of even Easyjet or Jet2 flights during school holidays can easily be £2800 for four people if you want to do Sat-Sat during those peak weeks.

Its a lot cheaper for flights if you do midweek.
Some villas only do sat to sat but a lot are flexible. We always use airbnb or vrbo. James villas always seem expensive.
Villas seem roughly similar prices all over Europe but flights to the Canaries and greece are more expensive than Spain, S of France, portugal.

Have a look at villa plus for Portugal

Booking.com also has villas and apartments, often with free cancellation. We also quite often use Eurocamp type places for self catering as we like the facilities. They vary a lot so they are not as 'holiday camp' as you may imagine and you just join in what you want. Also great for kids meeting others their own age and enjoying the freedom. We do not use Eurocamp as they tend to be expensive. Canvas, Lifestyle and Venue offer good prices and Allcamps is like a comparison site which also searches European companies. These place really attract the Dutch and German crowd who make great travel companions. The only thing to be wary of is that the continental providers usually do not include end of stay cleaning as most prefer to do it themselves.

Just to add, some of the mobilehomes are kitted out with dishwashers etc. We stayed in a lodge tent last year with its own kitchen and bathroom which really felt like a holiday and it was really comfortable. We ate out or had a bbq in the evenings.

We stayed here in Lanzarote

villaspuertorubicon.com/en/

Pool only small but fine for cooling off or splashing about in. Location great, few minutes walk to marina, beach, restaurants, good sized supermarket.

Not high end but nice enough and you get a dishwasher and washing machine.