Villa recommendations required please

[holidayhunter]

Hi,
I am currently in the process of hunting for the perfect villa holiday and was wondering if anyone could recommend somewhere suitable.
We need 4 bedrooms, child friendly (3 yr old dd) private pool, close to the beach (sandy!), nice views, quiet resort! We dont mind where we go aslong as it's not too far on a plane.
So tell me, am I asking to much?
Thanks so much for your help.

I'll bump this and watch with interest, although I could do with a very cheap place with 2 bedrooms, don't care about a pool though

Anyone?
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease

Hi holidayhunter

Are you tied to school holidays? If not, then take a look at our ad here on the small ads, as my parents' villa fits the bill perfectly.

Good luck!

Realised I didn't explain my comment re asking if you are tied to school holidays? Its just they are fully booked from 10th July to 28th August, though if you are flexible, there are a couple of excellent special offers for June/July and end Aug/Sept

This is where we're going this summer

In Empuriabrava, on the Costa Brava.

It looks really expensive, but it's actually very reasonable (although we are going to the first villa, which sleeps 10, so we're sharing the cost with another family)

Thanks aznerac and BIWI.
We are tied to school hols unfortunately which means the prices seem to rocket.
Have spent the day trawling the internet and have found nothing suitable that is still available!
Anyone else any sugestions/ recommendations?
Thanks again

Oh that's a shame holidayhunter - had hoped as you mentioned the 3yr old that you may not be restricted and could therefore take advantage of the offers.

Good luck in your search x

Skymoo We had a lovely holiday here last year. Pretty quiet resort, just a nice beach for the kids and a few shops and restaurants. The house was nice - clean, exactly as described and really safe for our toddlers. Communal gardens and pool area are beautiful and practically deserted (we went just before Easter, would imagine it's busier later). Lots of locals and owners, not too many rented out so v peaceful.

Holidayhunter Have you tried Owners Direct?

Have just come across this site-www.sunlightluxuryproperties.com/12.html
Looks lovely.
Lastyearsmodel, have had a quick look on owners direct but found it hard to narrow my search criteria ie- nr the beach.

Holiday Rentals has waterfront & near beach as search criteria.

We stayed in Nerja on the Costa del Sol (the opposite end of the coast from Torremolinos and not all high rise and tourist tat) in February at El Capistrano Village which was lovely in February. Nice white washed houses and lovely beach. About an hour's drive from the airport at Malaga. We exchanged into this village using our Timeshare we have in Scotland, but it is only part-time share as there a lot of owner occupied property too and there are no time share touts on the site!

You need to scroll to the end of the link to find the 4 bed properties

OK, so this might seem a bit bonkers but have been on mumsnet since dd arrived last August. We have two houses in Cyprus that we let and decided to totally family-friendly them and thought I'd get advice from here on what else we should include. Only to find our own site listed above by Holidayhunter... I nearly fell off my chair.

Anyway, back to the question, they already have (free) high chairs/cots + private gated pools and are very close to clean, safe, sandy beaches. They have BBQs, a wii, dvd collection and books. What else do you think? Climbing frame? Baby monitors? We have a British qualified nanny/babysitter we use.

Tell me... what does a villa need to make a mum's holiday perfect? And yes there is a large freezer for vodka.

Hi holiday hunter - I went to one of those sunlight luxury villas in Cyprus last year on recommendtion from a friend. We have 6yo twin boys and took Granny too and we all loved it. The town it's in isn't the most exciting place in the world but there were some nice kid friendly restaurants to choose from & house was large, well kitted out and clean. Pool was fab and beach easy to get to and very quiet (we went in April). TBH we were really lazy and didn't go sightseeing at all so don't know much about surrounding area but for guaranteed sun and a really relaxing week it was great. I would go again.

Brunhilde - i'll tell you what makes a Villa or any self-catering accommodation perfect for me and that is a kitchen that is stocked with the basics for cooking instead of a barren wasteland of nothing meaning the first thing you have to do is do a huge supermarket shop to stock up the bare minimum to cook with.

The best villa we've stayed in was in Corsica with Simply Travel and instead of binning everything between guests, we had a small starter pack of local basics in order to make a meal, but also a fridge with milk, and cupboards with sugar, salt, pepper, olive oil, jams, herbs, spices, flour etc all the stuff you have at home, as well as detergent for washing dishes.

Oh and the kitchen needs to be equipped with decent knives and a chopping board.

And finally - black-out curtains are a very welcome addition to bedrooms, in particular the bedroom the kids will be sleeping in.

Brunhilde - It sounds as though you're pretty well organised for families! Mobile baby monitors would be fantastic so you could sit outside without jumping up every five minutes! Possibly a bath seat as well for the very little?

Ohhhh I would love you for life though if I arrived at your Villa and there was milk in the fridge and some teabags on the counter!!!

Brilliant, brilliant, thank you. Esp like Kiwinyc?s comment about handing forward unused food and basics. We agree, we like this too. Our cleaners have finally agreed to do it (they think it's a bit chavvy it seems!) so there will always be salt, pepper, washing up stuff, oil etc as well as any treats from previous guests. There are black out blinds in every bedroom. Not that they stop dd waking at the usual 6 am! Great idea on monitor, will have to ship in from UK. And milk. It is done. As of today everyone will be greeted with tea, coffee, sugar, fresh milk and icy bottle of water.
Anyone have any other fabulous ideas on how to make the perfect child friendly holiday villa??

Hi Brunhilde

My parents have a villa in the south of France that they rent out and we truly believe it offers a home-from-home experience as we endeavour to provide everything.

We always provide a welcome pack which includes milk, water, juice, bread etc and there is always tea, coffee and sugar ready and waiting. More importantly, we provide a bottle of local wine for guests to ejoy after a long journey!

Ultimately, in terms of baby and children's equipment, my parent's villa has everything I ever had/wanted in my own home. Cots (travel and wooden as my youngest would NEVER sleep in a travel cot!), 2 pushchairs, carseats, bedguards, 2 x digital baby monitors, potty, nappy changing mat, highchair, bouncer chair, steriliser, toys, books, play equipment....

In fact, everything I can possible think of, they provide! So I definitely think the more you can offer, the better. It makes guests' lives SO much easier if they don't have to lug everything over from home.

We don't need blackout blinds/curtains as the villa has wooden shutters throughout so it stays dark even in the middle of the day!

Good luck!

Thanks Aznerak. Clearly need to go to parents place!! Loads of great stuff in there... GREAT. Appreciate your advice.

I stayed at a FAB place in Cyprus. I have a nearly 3 year old and a 10 month old. We went in November so it was really quiet (which suited me fine), particularly as the weather was PERFECT for the kids. Not scorching hot so that you didn't freak out about sunscreen every five minutes. The beaches were beautiful and within walking distance (5 mins), or a bigger selection a short drive away. There was olive oil, tea, coffee, s&P etc. all there in the kitchen as well as the all important bottle of wine which was opened as soon as we set foot through the door. There was even a selection of great dvds for the 3 year old (mr Ben - anyone remember him?!) It was clean and well equipped with a lovely pool and outside BBQ area (which helps if you can't get out to restaurants in the evening because of the kids). There were even black out blinds in the bedrooms for the kids. It was a 3-bedroom 2 bathroom place (bath for the kids, not just showers - ideal). They also had a brilliant folder with all the local info you'd need - personally done, with proper, helpful comments, rather than just a pile of useless fliers. I'd thoroughly recommend it. Their link website is sunlightluxuryproperties.com. Happy holidays!

this may sound silly but providing pool towels makes my day as they are so bulky and take up loads of room.
Holidayhunter, we like Ibiza for villa holidays. Have booked through villa parade last year and holiday rentals this year.
Ibiza is such a small island, you are never far from the beach.

Hi Brunhilde - looking for somewhere to go next April with Ds who will be nearly 4 and DD nearly 2 (trying to get a holiday in before we have to pay for her flight!)

Your villas look lovely so I was wondering what the weather is likely to be like mid April? Am getting big variation in temperatures when I google!

Brunhilde (if you are still reading!)
I want to book your villa, it sounds perfect.

We are in KSA and loads of our friends go to Cyprus as its quite a short flight for us.
Villa sounds fab as we have a 3 1/2 year old and 15 month old. Will try to find it on earlier link

Last years model - have also just had a look at the place you went last year. It looks lovely - would you say it was a good place for kids aged 2 and 4 and anything I should know before I try and book for next year? Booking a holiday for next year is making me feel better about not having one this year!

Brunhilde,

I would also like to book - do I e-mail you or go through an agent?

Just what I have been looking for!

Who do you use for car hire?