Photos in holiday brochures and online

[CaroleF]

I am in the process of looking for a holiday rental, probably in the South of France, for next summer. John and I have a 'significant birthday' so we thought we'd treat our family to a stay in a lovely villa. This means there will be elder daughter, son-in-law, and two children, nearly 7 and 4, then younger daughter, son-in-law and baby of 10 months, plus us of course. So I've been searching the websites for somewhere that has most of what we want - the word 'compromise' will have to be used. Daughters think that it needs to be somewhere near a beach for the children - 30 mins at the most. I think we want a suitable bedroom set up - children to be near parents, enough bath/shower rooms and lots of outside space, including a pool, some comfortable seats in the shade - for me!

So I've been searching - we are happy to spend more money that we would usually spend on a family holiday to find somewhere really lovely. Well I did discount one website which informed me that they offered a nanny system with a special playroom in each property - all air conditioned of course, and with a chef who would cook for us having shopped at the local market for fresh produce. The price for all this in the South of France, was £2,700 - each!

I ended up with three possible properties, two very near a beach, inland from Nice, and one in Provence around 50 mins from a beach. So lets call them A, B, and C. Everyone said which one they liked best. Both daughters went for A, I liked B and John liked C! Then my younger daughter told me she had been searching the internet to see if she could find more pictures of villa A. She found the same villa on a different site and the pictures there were awful. What looked like a wonderful pool area, really lovely, when seen from a distance showed it to be surrounded by dried, patchy grass, not very good garden furniture and I think if we had turned up there we would have been really disappointed. The inside photos, taken from a different angle weren't as impressive as the ones we had seen previously. So Villa A is off the list. We are now searching the internet for photos on more than one website as we have learnt that what you see in the pictures may be incredibly disappointing. We were very surprised that a holiday company would put photos on their site which looked so awful - but we're very glad they did!

The girls are both keen to be near the sea and to be somewhere where sun is guaranteed. We spent many holidays in the Dordogne when the girls were young and I love that area and would be happy to go back there. However, there were a couple of years where we had a complete week of overcast skies and some rain - this in July - so the girls are worried the same may happen again. I can understand this and that's why we've been looking at the South - I would quite like to go to Provence but we'll see. If anyone has any websites they can suggest I'd be grateful Villa A by the way is on the CV Villas site - most surprised. John and I want to drive to wherever we decide to go which is why we've chosen France. We have had lovely family holidays in the north of Majorca but I don't want to have to fly. John and I will probably have a second week after the girls have left which may be in the same villa if friends would like to join us, or go to somewhere smaller.

I didn't realise I would get fed up with looking at holiday properties!

Carole

[GillD46]

Sounds a logistical nightmare! I hope you fimd something suitable that you are all happy with.

[david63]

Although it sometimes needs to be taken with a "pinch of salt", and you need to be able to spot the genuine from "non genuine" reviews I always look on Tripadvisor to get a general overall view of hotels etc. - worth a try.

[oldbluefox]

You need to join Holiday Property Bond Carole!!!

[Mervyn and Trish]

You need to join Holiday Property Bond Carole!!!

Hear hear.

Although it sometimes needs to be taken with a "pinch of salt", and you need to be able to spot the genuine from "non genuine" reviews I always look on Tripadvisor to get a general overall view of hotels etc. - worth a try.

And I'd agree with that too. If you ignore the 10% best reviews and the 10% worst, both of which are often posted by people with axes to grind, what's left usually give a pretty good guide. I'd also check though dates of reviews, as older ones are sometimes inaccurate as places have improved or deteriorated over time.

[Dancing Queen]

It's quite a few years ago now but we've been with James Villa Holidays and we were delighted with everything about it.

We were in Portugal but we avoided 'resort area's' and I think this was a good choice, our villa was privately owned and the owner lived just along the road, we didn't have any problems but if we had he was always around, we were even offered the use of his tennis court at his villa should we wish to use it, I would add this was in no way intrusive he just used to pop along daily to clean the pool and do a bit of gardening.

James Villa Holidays usually have one of there 'reps' on hand too we saw her a couple of times over the 14 days but as we had absolutely no problem with anything her services weren't required, it was nice to know the back up was there if needed though.

[GillD46]

That's reassuring Jo,because we are looking at a quick week in September and have been looking at James Villas today.

[Raybosailor]

I know its not South of France but we can thoroughly recommend this villa in Cyprus it is luxurious with an amazing outdoor seating area, heated pool, pool bar and some of the best views on the island.

http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8110732

[GillD46]

Looks lovely, Ray, but we are looking at the Balearics so that the flight is as short as possible.

Oooops, just realised your comment is aimed at Carole

[emjay45]

As I'm all 'cruised out' and we don't want to fly I've also been looking at villas in France for next year. I've thought of going on Brittany ferries and then driving. We've had lovely holidays in Provence and the Dordogne in the past. We've also had some good holidays booked with Meon villas who don't seem to do France anymore. I'm a little wary of the website 'owners direct' quoted by Raybosailor although my son has rented a villa from this site, as I read or saw on the television (can't quite remember) that people had been duped on this site. I know a villa we once rented in Tuscany through CV villas was also on that site, but I won't risk it now.
What's Holiday Property Bond OBF?
Unlike you Carole I love looking for holidays but I agree it's difficult to suit everyone.We also had 3 weeks in the Dordogne, the first week lovely weather the second it rained all the time and the third lovely again.
BTW I've found a lovely villa in Biarritz but I'm not sure if it will be warm enough for my husband. Perfect for me though.

[Raybosailor]

Not at all Gill it was posted for everybody to have a look at, I would not build a property abroad but if I did there would be a lot of features from that villa that I would include. I wish I could take my dad out to see it as he was a master builder and I know he would appreciate the unique craftsmanship on the stonework, but alas he is too frail for the flight.

Emjay if you are looking for a place in France with not too much traveling there is a farmhouse we have rented in Saint Josse au Bois near Hesdin that has 4 en-suite bedrooms and a heated pool set in a few acres of land. The small town of Hesdin has 3 supermarkets and a few nice restaurants and bars.
It is in the Pas-de-Calais area only about 45 minutes drive from the port of Calais on a good dual carriageway, a good base for anyone interested in the war graves and beaches in the area.
I can supply details of this property if you P.M. me.
Ray

[Silver_Shiney]

Many years ago, being in need of a cheap holiday, we booked a break at Butlitz in Minehead. The pictures of the bog-standard chalet in their brochure made it look lovely. It was the pits.

A few years later we decided, as we then had kids, to go again, but this time book a deluxe chalet. Again, the brochure made it look lovely. Again, it was the pits - the only difference between the bog-standard and the deluxe was the presence of a small TV.

A couple of years further on, we booked again (it was all we could afford at the time) and decided on one of their mobile homes. Again, the brochure made it look lovely but, having been bitterly disappointed twice before, we took it with a pinch of salt. A humongous pinch of salt! The reality actually exceeded the pictures, it was absolutely lovely.

I think the moral is: take brochure pictures with a very healthy dose of skepticism - you can't beat the Mk 1 eyeball and personal experience. Tripadvisor didn't exist in those days but, again using skepticism and common sense, read as many reviews of the proposed destination as you can find.

[CaroleF]

Thank you everyone for all your comments. Emjay, I do like searching for holidays, it's just that when you've looked at innumerable sites and one property fades into another. We've sort of narrowed it down to one villa in France and my elder daughter has had a very detailed conversation with CV Villas and the woman she spoke to had just returned from the area and had been to this property so she was able to give us more information and details that weren't obvious from the photos. I have been searching Trip Advisor for reviews but haven't really found any about the properties we are looking at. I have, however, found several properties also advertised on a site called Homeaway, which is a site for owners to advertise. In some cases there is much more detail about the properties than on the different companies' sites. It'll be good when we've decided and booked - maybe later this week - hopefully!

Foxy, I have talked about the Holiday Property Bond with John but he's not keen. We have been to one of their properties in Brittany with friends which was lovely.

Carole