Villa blog: news, tips and special offers

Casa dos Zefiros is a new addition to the better houses we offer in the Algarve: set in the Ria Formosa Nature Reserve just to the East of Faro, it is front line to the sea with heated pool, air conditioning, lovely garden and all equipment.  More about Casa dos Zefiros

What changes during a recession in the holiday market?  In previous recessions people gave up their holiday as an unaffordable luxury.  This time round people see things differently: of course, a six week cruise in the Seychelles might downsize to a week or two in France, but this time round the holiday is indispensible.   (Also see this). But the inexorable collapse of Sterling against the Euro makes things a bit more uncertain for UK holiday makers with many preferring to wait and see what happens to exchange rates: after all, what’s the point in going to the Eurozone for a holiday if you can’t afford dinner?  Some tips on how to turn the economic uncertainty to your advantage. (more…)

Casa Abril is an unusually nice villa in Quinta do Lago, in mature gardens with a heated pool and air conditioning.  It is on special offer at 20% reduction until April: example July 25 week was £6460 now just £5150.  For a limited period!

Abril, a villa in Quinta do Lago, Algarve

Two charming new houses in Tuscany:

Villa Il Conte is literally 20km from Florence: on a clear day you can see Brunelleschi’s Dome from the garden.  Restaurants and shops are an easy walk. It is a modern and comfortable house but with a real history:it was a hunting lodge of the Medici family and the neighbouring park was the hunting ground.  Now it is a beautifully restored villa with a nice pool set in a large garden cypress and olive trees. Location is important in Tuscany: this house has it as well as everything else.

Villa Le Noci is close to San Gimignano in Chianti, set in 24 acres of beautiful grounds with sensational views from all of the bedrooms.

What’s the discount?  I like the villa, but how much will you give me off?  Somebody else is offering me a 30% discount and you’re not offering me anything.

Most of the time we don’t do discounts: the price we advertise is carefully worked out so that it is competitive (OK usually not cheap, but they are very nice villas!).  It takes supply and demand into account and lands always in the customer’s favour so that the price advertised gives you great value for money.  If the prices we advertise are not competitive then customers just go to another website: that’s what the internet is for!   So if someone is offering a villa for £6000 with a £1000 reduction and we are offering you a villa for £5000 with a 0% reduction then just be aware that the £6000 villa is really a £5000 villa that started out too expensive. Compare what you are offered not the discount: the discount is not the holiday, the villa is the holiday.

And ours will be nicer.

Last minute availability exists at Chateau de Plessis an exceptional holiday rental in Pays de la Loire, sleeping up to 8. After an expensive and painstaking restoration by American owners the result is a beautiful and exceptionally well-kept house. Set in 20 acres with lots of grass around and interiors are delightful. Equipment excellent throughout. 25% discount for last minute bookings. More details about this chateau in the Loire.

A word we never usually use is stunning, but that is the result of the full top-to-bottom refurbishment of La Chenoiserie, a  luxury villa at Beauvallon near the superchic St Tropez.   All rooms are beautifully furnished and designed in light shades.  The contemporary comfort sits very nicely with the traditional French style of furnishings.  A full staff of driver, chef and housekeeper will help with everything including picking you up from Nice or Toulon airport (while the others are queuing for their hire cars).  Views across the Bay to St Tropez (where you can see the boats in the harbour) are beautiful.  Walk to the beach in about 10-15 minutes, drive to the night spots of St Tropez (or rather, be driven) in a few minutes, or get the salt in your nostrils by taking the powerboat that runs across the Bay of St Tropez several times a day.   Pros and cons: some may wish to be closer to St Tropez but very few other villas in St Tropez (and none in this price bracket) offer this quality of design or this level of staff.

Quinta do Lago has some of the best villas in Europe set alongside a National Park among 72 holes of championship golf, all individually designed and constructed and with the lowest building density of any such development in Europe.

For this summer there isn’t much left but there are a few odd weeks and availability is not limited to the super-expensive houses. If you want to just see all that are available for a week between mid-July and end-August then click here: Quinta do Lago summer holidays.

Here are some picks in the under-£5000 per week bracket:

Sotavento: recently added for 2008 so many peak weeks available. Exceptional value for money at just £3600 per week. Sleeps 6. Satellite TV, walking distance from the lake. Sotavento, Quinta de Lago

Moja: at time of writing, available from 9 August onwards: a very attractive villa in a nice part of Quinta do Lago with golf all around, tennis, beach and lake all about 1km. Moja, Quinta do Lago

Lima: one of the very nicest houses in the area, now only available from 16 August onwards. Very comfortable, recently refurbished. Villa Lima, Quinta do Lago

Just added is our newest feature: a 3-D walkaround, an interactive tour of Villa da Rocha in the Algarve which enables you to see all around you as you move around the villa.  It gives you a much clearer idea of what is where, furnishings and which rooms lead to which.  Does it work for you? Let us know what you think (email or leave a comment below). It’s  not quite a substitute for going on holiday at a villa in the Algarve, but it might give you a better idea of what it is actually like.

Villa Sundowner is now reduced from £5270 to £4210 (£1060 or nearly 20% off) per week for all available weeks between 15 March and 15 May. It is a personal favourite - it is perfectly located in Parque Atlantico, Quinta do Lago near the sea and it is within walking distance of the beach and the Quinta do Lago Hotel. It is new with excellent furnishings and decoration and golf facilities all around are among the best there is anywhere.

Rooms are all large and equipment is excellent throughout. A separate TV room with sofas has large flat screen and surround sound. The dining room is served from a well equipped kitchen with its own small breakfast terrace. Each of the bedrooms has either an en suite bathroom or a shower room. Outside is a built-in gas barbecue and dining area, the pool is heatable and there is a shower, terraces, a small lawn and a mature garden. Broadband and cable TV. Currently available all dates 6 March to 15 May.