Pros and cons of a villa holiday

[DanceMumTaxi]

Just thinking ahead to next year and we’re considering hiring a villa. For a good while now we’re done big AI resorts in Turkey, usually 10 days. We’ve always had a great time (including this year) but more and more we’re noticing that we’re not really making much used of all that AI offers. DC are 12 and 9 neither are bothered by kids clubs and we don’t watch the entertainment. They like the water slides but went less as the holiday went on. We’ll have a drink but certainly not big drinkers. This year we felt like the room was a bit on the small side, and we got fed up with the buffet even though the food was good. Sick of hearing kids iPads, crying children, people smoking outside, the queues. Also fed up with getting up at the crack of dawn to get a sunbed. This is one of our main reasons for getting a villa. One family secured 7 beds on the first day and left all their stuff on overnight for their whole holiday. This was by a quieter pool not the main activity pool so no staff moved them. Next year we’re considering renting a villa, but the main thing putting me off is that we don’t want to be driving and they all seem quite far away from amenities. I’m also a bit concerned about having to food shop, clean, cook etc. I do want a break, which AI provides. We would eat out but definitely not all the time. We’d be happy to use Taxis to/from a town but I’m a bit concerned that this might be tricky to organise? We wouldn’t want a big lively resort. Also not sure if we’d afford it. Budget is around 6.5K for everything (including spending money). Also considered SC apartment but then that doesn’t solve the sun bed situation. Happy to hear any thoughts or experiences anyone has. Thanks

We’ve just booked a villa with pool through Airbnb for Croatia next year. Was reasonable and then I’ve booked flights with easyJet- £1k for 4 of us with 23k baggage each. 2 adults and 2 dc 19 and 16.
I can’t tell you how much we are all looking forward to not having to share with anybody. Had an outdoor kitchen too so won’t really feel like cooking at home.
Hope you mange to find somewhere x

Yeah we could, and still might. But I’d probably want SC to give us more space and privacy now the kids are getting older. Ds will be 13 next year so doesn’t really want to be in the same room as his mum getting changed. And it wouldn’t solve to sun bed problem. Getting up at 6:30 on holiday is rubbish. We have to go during school holidays so even good hotels are really busy. Our AI this year was nice, but very busy.

We always do gites/villas except for when we are on city breaks. Luckily DH loves to cook and I love foreign supermarkets! We either drive if it’s France or hire a car elsewhere. Having our own pool is wonderful.

We went to a villa this year and loved it. Both our kids have SEN - love swimming but zero interest in entertainment etc. I like cooking so self-catering not a big issue for me but as it was 30 degrees we are lots of fresh bread, cold meat, cheese anyway.

Lagos in Portugal is a good option. Lots of villas in the town with plenty of restaurants and beaches.

Your kids sound like mine and your idea of a perfect holiday is mine too..I have shortlisted Menorca villas with Jet2..they have them close to resort centres such as Cala Galdana and Cala en Porter and and are possibly within your budget even during the school holidays.

Los mojones-puerto del carmen

Also Lanzarote seems to have a lot of villas that are close to resorts, the late flight times put me off the canaries otherwise I would be there in a shot! 🙂

Oh and one more thing..with Jet2 you can choose not to include the car hire and it can take a couple of hundred pounds off the price..obv you then need to arrange transport to your accommodation but think this is good..

We had a lovely villa in Kalkan this summer. It was a 20 min walk into town and about 10/15 to supermarket. We didn’t have a car and didn’t want one, but you’d want to check whether the walk was flat or up a very steep slope…. We jumped into the pool every night after we walked up the hill. AC, fab pool and well equipped villa with a view!

We booked through Turquoise and I was very happy with what we got.

We’ve only ever done Villa holidays when doing ‘sun’ holidays. We love having our own place and pool. We don’t really cook much though, either eat out or do BBQ or bread/cheese/meat type of meals.

The earlier you book your flights the cheaper it will be (typically, anyway) l. Keep and eye out for flight releases from easyJet. BA release their flights about a year in advance.

I much prefer a villa. We used villaplus and they were great - you can filter for “don’t need car” and they pretty much all have ping pong tables etc. The one we had was walking distance to beach/bars/shopping, and I think we could’ve even got away with going into the hotel up the road if we’d wanted entertainment as their side gate was always open 😬

Villa lover here too. Once you've done it I don't think you'll look back. Having a private pool and everyone having their own bedroom and space makes the holiday for me.

Some villas you need a car with but others you don't. It's good to hire a car though so you can visit other places and get a food shop done.

I've always rented privately - VRBO and the like without any issues. As others have said, Cyprus and Lanzarote offer really good value but the flight times are longer and possibly more expensive.

I always book a year in advance so I get exactly what I want.

Only go to a villa if you’re going with people who will properly pitch in! I’ve done many- the BEST was with a group where all the men fought to be the one to go to the market and cook. And the others did all the kitchen cleaning up…

We loved AI when DS was little as he's an only and he would make friends by the pool and have a great time in the pool or playing football ( he was obsessed)

Then as he became a teenager we switched to VRBO to book apartment with a pool - it's quieter , he has his own room , we all love it

• we always hire a car - tbh time you cost the taxi transfer both ways it's not been loads more and we've then explored a bit more

• we don't self cater apart from going to Mercadona on first day and buying water, oj, croissants, ham, cheese, fresh fruit, milk for breakfast , some snacks for DS and Fanta limon , rose and beer for evenings when we are back

We have just come back from 2 week away - DS took his girlfriend (first time) and we ate out every day and had a lovely time, pool time especially lovely as it's just yours

https://www.jet2holidays.com/villas/hotel-resort-villas?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22371720396&gbraid=0AAAAADmgmx9QGG4dVsLAQw1UT5yacm-WW&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzOvEBhDVARIsADHfJJQqQgkKClqJ27AoT-NAVJtTituSUHwupwwKvJC0N-MPpfpDlhmUQ-QaAg-GEALw_wcB

Worth a look

We do AI and Villa/apartment holidays and enjoy both for different reasons. Our Villa holidays always work out lots cheaper than AI, and we always enjoy them just as much if not more than high end resorts. The only downsides for us are that our eldest is quite social and enjoys chatting to new people, and there is inevitably a bit of ‘work’ getting everyone fed and the villa tidy.

Lanzarote is a great destination for villa holidays - the market is saturated with well located, high spec villas. This means the prices are great and you get lots for your money. We have stayed and been able to walk to the restaurants and beaches no problem.

One of our destinations is lake Garda. We’ve only found apartments that are in our budget and well located though, so you sacrifice the private pool. We stay here https://www.homingarda.com/it
the pool is never busy, usually just us in there. It’s an easy walk to the town, ferry terminal and beaches with pedalos. Theres also theme parks and water parks near by so the can still have their fill of slides

It's been a few years since we last stayed there but we absolutely love Bahiazul resort in Fuerteventura. It's a resort full of individual villas with there own pool and hot tubs, right next door to a huge supermarket and about within walking distance into corralejo. Would 100% recommend them.

Cheers for this link, going to have a look! 🙂

Definitely a villa, a few I've stayed in in Spain recently have all been on or walkable to beach, restaurants and a big supermarket. Could get taxis to the bigger cities or towns you want to visit

We always stay in HV in turkey. Sound exactly as you’ve described but our kids still get their monies worth out of an AI.
There are a few local facebook pages (the area is Sarigerme, and it’s absolutely beautiful) a lot of the shop and restaurant owners have their own villas now that they rent out and advertise on them.That’s what we’ll be doing when ours tire from AI

Have you considered a 2 bedroom "room" in an AI resort which has its own private pool.
(and where there arn't sunbed wars at the main pools also)

so you have space, your own pool & sunbeds, and food?

We’re about to do a villa holiday in Croatia. I love AI hotels as for me food is a major stresser on holiday in feeding my fussy kids.

DD1 (9) is autistic and in the past year has really struggled with change and having her own space is a must. We did Center Parcs earlier this year and that set up really worked for her - having our own little house where she could relax and un-mask.

A hotel just isn’t going to work for her as there’s too many people and too much stimulation. We’ve hired a villa with enough bedrooms so everyone can have their own space. We have our own pool and can spend the entire day in pyjamas eating crisps without anyone twats judging us.

I personally wouldn’t want to food shop and cook on holiday. If it’s not a serviced villa I’d chose AI.