Recent villa stays/booking experiences

[Laurabelle84]

Hello

We are booked to go back in 2024 - had booked it last year with an agent we gave used a few times before & has never let us down. (and in no way think he is now) At the time he just booked the villa & he said he had a good relationship with the owners but told us, quite correctly, that flights would need to wait until 2022/2023. At the time he quoted us for Virgin flights from Glasgow based on his best prediction with the reassurance that when they were released, if the prices shot up too much he'd refund the deposit.

Fast forward to now & Virgin have changed to flying from Edinburgh & a 14 night trip isn't an option due to the flight days, it's 13 or 16 nights. We're obviously going for the 16 nights because who wants to loose even a minute! So we have contacted the agent to see if the villa is available for the extra 2 nights we need or if we've lost out on that one (it looked amazing so was keen to keep that booking). He has contacted us today to say he's very wary of not just that villa booking, but any at the moment as he's been getting a lot of feedback about villas being in a terrible state, people not getting keys to booked villas and just a load of horror stories (which I've seen myself on other forums - some poor family ended up getting an air BnB when they got there as they couldn't bear to stay in the villa they had used loads of times before). He had offered us a full refund of our deposit or said we can keep the booking but he will look at alternatives for us and get back to us when flights are available, again with the promise if its ridiculous pricing he'll refund the deposit.

Anyway, long story boring - what experiences have people had of villas recently/post covid? Is it as bad as I'm seeing everywhere or am I just unfortunately only seeing the poor souls who've had it rough? Just seems to be quite a common theme at the moment.

I know we have time, like I say it's 2024 before we go back, thanks to maternity leave & a new house or I'd be back tomorrow!

[lovestoplan]

We returned on Monday from a 2 week stay in a villa on Windsor Hills. We found it through Home Away and booked direct with the villa owner. It was beautiful. Exactly as it appears and no issues at all. Would book again without hesitation. It's certainly not problems across the board.

[EssexSue]

As a villa owner I'm obviously biased but I have not heard any horror stories about Villas. What forums are these reports on - there's nothing on the Facebook groups.

[JudeB]

We have stayed in two Dibb villas this year and both are just as we experienced last time we visited pre Covid. I do think there are a few more permanent residents in the development (Highgrove), but other than that - haven’t noticed anything different about the quality of the villas. Different scenario though as I was dealing directly with the owners.

[Buggles94]

The Dibb villa Palm Tree Villa is still as amazing as it was in 2022 and Windsor Palms remains a lovely community 😀

[JanetteP]

I always like to book a villa privately, and would prefer a Dibb villa whenever possible, and we've stayed in quite a few. I have done AOA, and whilst the villa was fine, it was further away than what I would have liked to be. I have certain requirements ie privacy, a lanai with a fan if possible, and depending on how many are coming with us, a lot of bathrooms. Why don't you put a request on here and consider a DIY holiday, I'm sure it will be much cheaper. I've only booked a package with Ocean Florida on our first visit to Florida in 2004, and once more with Thomas Cook in 2015, but I wouldn't do it again. I find it much cheaper to do everything myself.

[Paradise Palms]

Hi, I think most of the horror stories recently are AOA via Virgin, TUI etc. These villas are normally bought for investments and owners rarely visit or upkeep. If you book direct with the owner you will know what you are getting.

[garryboy11]

We are just back from a two week stay in a townhouse in Paradise Palms, rented via Airbnb and it’s our worst experience in 6 visits to that resort (despite it having a lot of 5 star reviews)

A litany of issues (air conditioning leaking and soaking carpet in bedroom, patio doors not locking, broken beds and polyester sheets) on top of a property that wasn’t properly cleaned and is badly in need of redecoration / re-furbishment.

A lesson learned to ask for most recent pics than those posted I guess. Still like the resort, but won’t be back to that property.

[Bootrip2]

Sorry it sounds to me like your agent is a bit dodgy! why cant he get 14 day flights? also he seems extremely limited with the villa options he can offer. put in a request on here and see if something comes up that will suit you - probably at a much more reasonable price as you wont be paying his commission. i would get my money back and book it myself.

[Laurabelle84]

Originally Posted by Bootrip2

Sorry it sounds to me like your agent is a bit dodgy! why cant he get 14 day flights? also he seems extremely limited with the villa options he can offer. put in a request on here and see if something comes up that will suit you - probably at a much more reasonable price as you wont be paying his commission. i would get my money back and book it myself.

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I have no issues of trust or anything with the agent, as we've used him before a few times. He can get us 14 day flights if we go with TUI or BA but we originally asked for Virgin only & you can't do direct for 14 nights out of Edinburgh now (same if booking with virgin direct, they fly out on wed & sat and return tues & Fri so 13 or 16 nights are the options now).

Thanks for all the replies. I'm sure our agent goes direct with the owner so it's reassuring most people's experiences have still been good. Reading more today & Ocean Florida seems to be the common name amongst people with the issues.

I'm a bit nervous about a diy booking in regards to abta/atol protection etc, have never done it before plus there's 10 of us in total so don't want to mess it up for everyone. I'll pull my big girls pants up though & will put a wee post on the rentals forum and see how it goes x