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

do people find their villa and then find flights afterwards?

Yes. Right now is not too early to book a villa.

A PP mentioned Majorca - there are some nice villas on the edge of Cala d'Or. You wouldn't need to drive every day if you were there - maybe the occasional taxi ride for a big shop (there's a couple of full-size supermarkets).

We tend to alternate our main holidays as AI hotel then villa next hol. There are pros and cons to both. We love having a pool to ourselves (we always make sure we get a villa with a good sized pool) and the space. I love a nice AI hotel also as I never have to think about meals/snacks or cleaning.

We usually book our villas through Jet2. Bit of research and you can find a villa where you don't have to drive for shops and restaurants although of course if you want to explore a bit you probably need a car or you can book days out with local agents. Our last villa in Menorca was lovely, 2 mins away from a shop and lots of lovely restaurants within a 15min easy walk.

We went to Rocha bravo in Portugal at Easter - villa with a pool it’s on a complex so there are also shared pools you can access. Ubers were really cheap. Don’t know how much it would be in the summer hols but it was really lovely and nice being on a complex rather than in a suburb. There was a shop on site and a small spar nearby but you could uber to a local supermarket for supplies. We would walk along the coastal path to nearby towns and get an uber back.
I would usually hire a car but felt I didn’t have to here.
my kids are teens so everyone having their own room and space is definitely a positive.
We went self catering but I think they do half board? A few local cafes and restaurants but it isn’t in a town.

@cupfinalchaos I don’t personally cook a thing - most I do is croissants, bread , fruit , yoghurt and cooked meats in fridge for breakfasts -and I quite enjoy sourcing those - not exactly a big deal - all other meals are out - then again I’m not really one who goes for lunches - the odd toasted sandwich or salad out etc - everyone is different -

@cupfinalchaos I don’t personally cook a thing - most I do is croissants, bread , fruit , yoghurt and cooked meats in fridge for breakfasts -and I quite enjoy sourcing those - not exactly a big deal - all other meals are out - then again I’m not really one who goes for lunches - the odd toasted sandwich or salad out etc - everyone is different -

@cupfinalchaos I don’t personally cook a thing - most I do is croissants, bread , fruit , yoghurt and cooked meats in fridge for breakfasts -and I quite enjoy sourcing those - not exactly a big deal - all other meals are out - then again I’m not really one who goes for lunches - the odd toasted sandwich or salad out etc - everyone is different -

@cupfinalchaos I don’t personally cook a thing - most I do is croissants, bread , fruit , yoghurt and cooked meats in fridge for breakfasts -and I quite enjoy sourcing those - not exactly a big deal - all other meals are out - then again I’m not really one who goes for lunches - the odd toasted sandwich or salad out etc - everyone is different -

That’s not too bad then .. we’re all different. The last thing I want to do on holiday is source food. Happy to eat out though!

I've been to one villa and the pros and cons were

Pros-
Plenty of space for everyone to hang out, either in groups or alone.
A lovely pool that's private.
Nobody around to snoop or bother you.
You can buy as much it as little food and drink as you like.
Feeling of freedom around the house, stay up late and know you won't bother anyone.

Cons-
You need to drive as even though the local town was a mile away, it was too hot to walk there and back.
Roads were quite dangerous, narrow and winding.
Have to travel for at least half an hour or more to get to the beach/other attractions.
Had to drive to to put the rubbish in the communal bin on the main road.
Couldn't go out in the evenings as everyone was to drunk to drive.

This was in Southern Spain.

We have always rented villas in France with their own pool. They tend to be better value and price isn't per person. I don't like being in towns though so we have always had to rent a car and go to the supermarket/cook. I would really like to find something that is closer to shops and amenities to avoid having to drive so much though.

The price is per person though so prohibitive for families.

@cupfinalchaos I think it’s easy to get into the mindset that everyone who does villas or even apartments does it for cost - as everyone always seems to mention doing a massive supermarket shop - I can honestly say I’ve never ever done a full or even a half shop in a villa or apartment and ate out every night apart from maybe BBQ one night if everyone fancied it . For me it’s top up of bread, croissants, cold meat , maybe some bananas and some ice cream for freezer! And that’s it - I’ve even used paper plates and dishes at times to avoid dishwasher - lol!!

Sounds fine then!🤣

That's fine if everyone in the party can afford to eat out every night. It ends up being very very expensive.

Thanks everyone, lots to look into and think about. But I do like the sound of more space and our own pool would be amazing. The resort we went to this year also had villas on site but they were over 13K for 10 days. Driving is putting me off though. We’ve never driven abroad and it’s an additional cost. I think we’d likely have breakfast and most lunches in (but this would be simple stuff) and then most teas out, but I don’t think we could do all teas out. We ate out once this year and the bill was about £130, admittedly we did have starters and a few drinks, but we couldn’t be paying this every night. We like to have 10/11 nights too. A week just doesn’t seem enough. Don’t think we could stretch to 14 nights. Our budget really is about 6.5K for everything. We don’t have 10K+ to spend on a holiday. Thanks everyone.

If you search using the map function on AirBNB or Booking, with filters set for number of beds, price and pool, you'll quickly see just how many villas with pools there are within walking distance of any resort you're interested in, even if you don't eventually book through them. You can then use Google Street view to check that nearby roads are ok for walking. Are you sure you want to rule out driving though? So long as it's not an area with busy traffic, we've really enjoyed the freedom to roam around e.g. out of the way beaches, up to the mountains & renting a villa out in lovely countryside. Car hire in the canaries seemed cheap 2 years ago. with Cicar who are reputable. If you go to Malta, they even drive on the left (usually).

PS you could rent a villa in town next year, hire a car for just a day or two and see how you get on, with a view to having a villa with car in future. You might find it easier than you think. Although I've driven for years, I wouldn't say I'm a particularly skilled or natural driver and I've driven British and foreign cars abroad many times without disaster. I wouldn't drive on the other side in a major city though.

We just had a villa with private pool.in a posh bit of Corfu, walking distance to shops, bars , tavernas. 4k for a week in August. So flights and food would be just in budget.

We found that with villa holidays we tended to go out for lunch rather than dinner which, on the whole, was a bit cheaper.

Get up late, go out somewhere for a walk or just to a local town. Nice lunch and then back to the villa for the pool, sunbathe, snooze, read, in the afternoon.
Then something easy to throw together in the evening for dinner - bread, cheese, salad, pasta, local nibbles etc. We’d then sit out with a drink, play card games, chill. A different timetable to an AI resort where at 6pm we’d be heading back to the room to get changed for dinner but it worked for us.

We mix it up - often villa holiday with other families or our extended family. Have had a chef in to cook in the villa, which was amazing, cheaper than eating out. But as we usually go France or Italy it does involve driving and with a large group a few top up shops. The pros are the space, peace, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms compared to a hotel. A pool and garden to yourselves. Also you can do a wash and take less clothes…also European supermarkets are amazing and you can buy very nice wine etc and load the freezer with ice creams the kids and adults love - The cons are there is still washing up/dishwashers to sort and also laundry and cleaning up surfaces and kitchen and dining floors - Working out often highly specific rubbish rules and driving to municipal dumps… usual self catering issues like crap bbq and no sharp knives and a rubbish chopping board. Truly pros and cons. Planning meals is essential and we tend to bring a few things from home, spices or bbq rub / sharp knife / sandwich bags etc. in terms of booking I tend to find villa, check flights, book Villa and flights, then sort car. Have used James villas, Oliver’s travels. Air BnB, VRBO - sometimes have found Villa direct and booked direct. If it possible to add mid week cleans it is worthwhile.

@sarhumph1 I second Sarigerme, the area is lovely. Trips to Dalyan and turtle bay. Only 20 minutes from the airport.

Airbnb or VRBO. I would never want a hotel holiday personally - we like to be on our own. Perfect

You could easily get a fortnight in France for that including travel (driving is very easy)

We have only hired a villa in Orlando but I liked it:

Pro’s

The space, everyone had their own rooms, important when kids getting older.

Washing machine - meant we could take less clothes, important as we went for 3wks. And I took a case of clean clothes home.

Own pool - none of this reserving spots business.

Self catering - again important as didn’t want to eat out every day for 3wks. Meant we could make a packed lunch for theme parks too.

Cons

Yes we had to drive everywhere. Not a big problem if you’re not the type of people who want to have multiple drinks every evening.

Felt less relaxing as I was still doing the dishes, hoovering now and then.

Does feel a bit less transitional holiday as you’re not mixing with others, and I know some people like to meet other families etc. But that can also be a plus.

I’ve only done AI on a cruise. All the family holiday's have been Airbnb , which I assume are the same as a villa holiday (a pool, whole house, garden space etc).
We chose it over hotels mostly because we like to be quite specific about country and location. We like places we haven’t been to mainly but do go back to a favourite (which only has one super expensive hotel). That’s a big PRO if the kids would benefit from visiting somewhere useful to school.
We’ve never hired a car.

We quite like visiting the supermarkets abroad. So interesting seeing what they sell and the prices of things. Like most others we just buy bread, cheese and cold food. We eat out everyday too because that’s part of the fun. Never hired a car ( although we sometimes drive if it’s France)

CONS are things like cleaning or breakages. I’ve always got half a mind on the fact it’s not our property.
There’s always a bit of a lottery as to how nice the property will be. We’ve had a scary secret room and a pool that was only “deep”. I guess a proper villa company will vet their properties better. The downside to “ villas” being that they seemed to have set weeks and changeover days. Means you can’t always get cheap Tuesday flights as you need to travel weekends. As you have the freedom to go whatever day, you might find Airbnb suits better.