When planning a villa rental holiday in an exotic location, is luxury your top priority? There are some great vacation choices in this segment.
Luxury villa holidays are for those who seek a unique lifestyle experience. You get superb location, privacy, security, leisure with all the frills in an opulent setting, great cuisine, superb interiors, private beach or pool and grounds, helpful, polite staff to cater to your every need, Cordon Bleu chefs, baby-sitting, lots of add-ons like music, movies, the arts, entertainment.
Villa holiday providers usually have tie-ups with other luxury travel operators, brands and top restaurants. They also offer complete holiday packages which include flights, visas, transfers and local transportation. Value-adds can include personal guided tours, maid or valet service, butlers, chauffeur-driven limousine facilities, concert tickets, art, cooking or music classes, wine-tasting, cheese-making etc.
One of the advantages of a villa holiday is that you can travel in a group and share the expenses. This would be a big plus if you’re opting for the luxury segment, since individually it may be beyond your budget limit. There are luxury villa options which can house up to 18 guests, with plenty of bathrooms and lounges and self-catering facilities.
In this category you may also find historical mansions, castles, stately homes or heritage properties which have been authentically restored. Furniture, antiques, libraries, paintings and family traditions are well preserved in these locales and would offer a unique experience. Other luxury villas may be contemporary, huge, architect-designed homes with state-of-the-art modern conveniences.
An equally priced 5-star accommodation would be much less spacious, you get far less privacy and the rooms are so standardized, you can hardly see the difference between them, whether you’re holidaying in Crete or Cambodia. Personalized services are one of the cornerstones of luxury villa holidays.
Luxury villa stays are famous for providing sumptuous local cuisine if you opt for catered services. You can also make special diet requests for diabetics, heart-patients, those with dietary restrictions, allergies or food intolerances. In this regard, opting for self-catering would be more feasible.
Some of the great locations for luxury villa vacations would be Greece, Italy, France and Spain. Parts of the UK like the Cotswolds or the English countryside with farmhouse or cottages, stately homes and castles, Eastern Europe and parts of Asia like Bali, Pattaya etc are very popular options for luxury villa rentals.
Whatever your choice of location, make sure that luxury is what you’re looking for. This could be in terms of space, amenities, design features, location or value-adds. So go ahead, pamper yourself and your family!
