Villa Holidays in Cyprus

The first piece of advise for any holiday home owner looking to place your property in the competitive Cyprus holiday market is to assess your villa critically. Remember that your paying guests are looking forward to their main two weeks holiday in Paphos and will be looking to have their expectations met for the price they have paid. Does the villa need a little TLC to make it shine and are there any essential facilities missing? Why not make yourselves the first people to stay and ask the whole family to appraise the property honestly and write down what improvements could be made. You cannot expect to achieve high holiday rates if your furnishings are second rate or your sun umbrellas have bent spokes. Your holiday guests are paying to stay in comfort in your private home. Add some extras to surpass their expectations and your paying guests will return year after year.

Top 7 Essentials:

1) Basic first aid kit – No medicines or drugs. Emergency No’s for Police, Fire, Ambulance and Hospital displayed on Fridge.

2) Check that everything is working propertly including all utilities and household fittings i.e. kitchen appliances, umbrellas and sunbeds, shower heads and BBQ.

3) Your guests have chosen a home environment so supply them with the home comforts and items they do not have to pack. They will expect to find an iron, ironing board and hair dryer.

4) If they are a family, Mum or Dad will want to cook at home so make sure they have what is required. Provide a good variety of kitchen equipment, utensils and pans. One plate and cup per person is not sufficient – accidents do happen as we know.

5) A nice welcome pack does not break the bank. As a minimum guests should be provided with sufficient supplies to provide a drink and breakfast if they are arriving at an unsociable hour. Tea, coffee, milk, water, fruit juice, bread, sugar, butter, cereal or eggs and fruits of the season. A nice bottle of wine or a six pack of beers never goes amiss either.

6) If you wish your property to be looked after properly then leave some cleaning supplies and replacement items to encourage your guests. Washing up liquid, cloths, washing powder, salt for the dish washer, a sink plunger, replacement batteries for air-con controls and light bulbs.

7) A telephone number for guests to call 24 hours a day to deal with breakages or property maintenance and keep a guest book for comments. Ask for honest feedback – it’s the only way to improve your facilities and stay ahead of the crowd!

Top 7 Extras to make your property stand out:

1) An information book supplying details of local restaurants, shops, beaches, attractions and places to go.

2) A water cooler in the kitchen and a coffee perculator or filter machine.

3) Things to do for all the family on an evening or rainy day. DVD’s, CD’s, board games, cards, jigsaws, books and a few children’s toys. Second hand items are more than acceptable as long as in working order.

4) Well maintained and colorful garden. Hammocks and a good BBQ.

5) Beach towels, buckets and spades, pool toys second hand push bikes.

6) How about placing a disposable camera in the welcome pack.

7) Try creating some postcards using a quality picture of your villa or an outstanding sunset or view taken from the villa balcony.

Advertising is the backbone of successfully marketing your property. Use the internet as your shop window. In our current climate of computer surfing, the internet is the ideal place to advertise. With a large number of people worldwide using the internet search tools every day, choosing a company with a well proven visitor rate enables you to reach a wider market. In order to get the most from your advertising you’ll need to have good clear information on the property and location, great photos and a sensible, realistic price structure in mind. Incorporate your air-conditioning expenses into your advertised price. Holiday makers do not appreciate having to pay out extra on arrival.

Following the above advice will assist you to compete well in the holiday market and to encourage the type of guests that will respect your property as they would their own.

It is possible to find holiday villas to stay in, in many European countries. Holiday villas can be either leased for a certain period of time, or outrightly bought from their past owners. Some countries that are home to nice holiday villas are Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal. People build holiday villas in these countries, particularly in their coastal regions, because the weather is favorable for taking holidays and the holiday villas allow easy access to the water, so tenants or owners of holiday villas can participate in water sports in comfort.

If you are planning to rent one of the many holiday villas available in Europe for you and your family, it would be wise to bear in mind certain things you should arrange for:

1.Access to steady sources of electricity, water and gas in the holiday villa – If the current or former owner has vacated the holiday villa, he might have had the electricity, water and gas turned off. So ask the real estate agent arranging for your stay about this.

2.Bed linen and towels – Ask the agent as well if the owner of your holiday villa will permit use of his clean bed linen and towels, or if you have to purchase or bring your own along with you. Many people overlook this because they assume their rented holiday villa functions like a hotel where clean bed linen and towels come with the room.

3.Laundry and housekeeping services – Again, visitors to holiday villas may assume that the rent for their holiday villa automatically includes laundry and housekeeping services. You may have to arrange for laundry and housekeeping services before you arrive, or ask around at other tenants of surrounding holiday villas if they can recommend providers of such services.

4.Taxes – Since people who rent holiday villas in one country often come from other countries, they might forget that there could be taxes charged on their stay in the host country. The real estate agent can help you figure out what taxes apply to your stay.

5.Airconditioning – There are holiday villas in Europe that do not offer airconditioning because the owners expect you to savor the refreshing breeze from the nearby ocean. If you prefer a holiday villa that has airconditioning, you might have to ask for this from the agent.

6.Extra furniture and bedding – If you have children or are expecting guests, it may be necessary to ask for extra furniture such as a high chair and crib for your toddler, or perhaps folding cot beds with bedsheets and pillows so you can accommodate visitors in your holiday villa.

7.Payments – If you are going to rent a holiday villa, ask the agent how you will be paying for your stay. The owner might ask for a deposit and then installment payments during the term of your stay. One common feature of lease agreements for holiday villas is the returnable breakage deposit.

8.Duration of your stay – Find out when the agreement stipulates you should consider your stay at the holiday villa to have started. For example, if the agreement says it starts at 8 am local time on the Monday of that week, and you arrive at noon, then maybe you can ask for a discount or reduction of the charges for your stay. Of course, you should also be aware when the lease agreement says you should have departed from the holiday villa, to avoid charges for overstaying.

These are just some of the things you should bear in mind when arranging for holiday villas to stay in.