Many people are turning away from the confines of staying in a hotel and instead are hiring or renting a villa. Here are the reasons why you should consider booking a villa instead of a hotel.

Renting a villa is a brilliant alternative to staying in a hotel especially if there are a few of you. There are many plus-points to consider.

ADVANTAGES

• Cost. If there are four or more people then if you divide the total cost by the number of people you usually find you can make a massive saving compared to the cost of hotels.
• Space. You have a home rather than a cramped room in which you are on top of each other.
• Privacy. Most villas are sheltered from the neighbours. In any case it has to be better than having a thin wall separating you from the noise of other hotel guests.
• Facilities. You are likely to have your own private pool, your own kitchen of course which you wouldn't have in a hotel room and many other features.
• Kids. Staying in a villa is great when you have kids. As they tend to wake up early there is nothing worse than trying to keep them quiet when everyone else is trying to sleep - or having other people making noise when you are trying to get your own kids to sleep.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

A villa holiday is not without potential problems. It would be best to read all our tips on what to look out for before you rent a villa. This is an invaluable guide to preventing possible problems so you can have a fantastic holiday.

Perhaps the biggest potential pitfall could be if you are booking with a private individual. At least if you are in a hotel you can complain and have something fixed and put right quickly. In a villa that might not be so easy. It's important to realise that you can either book direct with the owner which is often good value or you can book through a major company, this might (but not necessarily) cost you more but you will have local reps to look after you if there are any problems.

The other major potential problem is not obvious. It's the people you are sharing with. Many people opt to share a villa with family and friends and while it does make good financial sense we have heard reports of people falling out and being too close for comfort. Most importantly have separate hire cars so you can do different things if you want to.

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