cheap holiday villas

Gone are the days when you needed to search the small ads in 'Daltons Weekly' or 'The Lady' to find a cheap holiday villa.
Not only does the internet provide a greater choice, you'll usually find lots of pictures and you can quickly check out the surrounding area online before you book (our 'about your holiday' page is a good place to start).
Villa websites
Villa websites fall in to three categories - single villa websites where individuals offer just their own villa, brochure websites where you book direct with the villa owners and holiday company websites where you book with the holiday company.
It would be impossible to review and recommend single villa sites, so here we focus on brochure and holiday company sites. But that doesn't mean that you should ignore single villa sites. It's always worth doing a google search on '(your destination) villa rental' to see what it throws up. You never know.

Hints & Tips to help you find the perfect cheap holiday villas
Before we get to the websites, here is a quick checklist:

In general, you will pay less if you book a villa direct with the owner via a brochure website than booking a villa via a holiday company. You can also get more information and the owner may be prepared to be more flexible. However, if you have a problem, it will be more difficult to get compensation or a refund if you book direct rather than via an ABTA member.
Read the description carefully. 'Conveniently situated for the airport' can mean directly under the airport flight path. If you want peace and quiet, ask whether the villa will provide this.
Ask questions, particularly about the things that are important to your holiday. If you want to swim every day, check that the pool is heated. Not all Florida villa pools are heated, for example.
Get answers in writing, particularly for the import things like costs, dates and times. This is particularly important if you have agreed anything 'non standard', such as a late departure.
Print a copy of the information from the website and keep it.
Take the phone number of the owner with you and make sure you have the address and telephone number of a local agent in case of problems or emergencies.
Once you're at the villa, think 'security'. Thefts from rented villas are more common than thefts from hotels or holiday complexes.

Cheap holiday Villas - Brochure Sites
Ownersdirect - a well-designed and easy to use web site with plenty of pictures. The site has a several hundred holiday homes spread across the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, the Bahamas and Florida. Property details include availability and via e-mail or telephone contact details of owners are provided.
1001-villa-holidaylets - a UK based site with prices in £'s and properties worldwide, this site is much better for the US than for Europe (it has one property in Menorca, but 8 pages of properties in Florida).
Holiday-rentals - a directory of 6,000 privately owned properties from all over the world. Very quick search - by location or availability and price.
Holidaybank - this company sits between a brochure site and the holiday companies. It lists individual properties and pulls together information from many specialist villa companies, with over 1,000 properties across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand.
Cheap Holiday Villas - Holiday Companies
A few words of warning - brochure websites usually quote a price per week for the villa, holiday company websites often quote a price per person per week. If you are looking across the two make sure you are comparing like with like.
Interhome - offer over 20,000 privately owned holiday homes spread throughout Europe and in Florida. Choose from villas with pools, historic castles, manor houses, city apartments and holiday villages, with prices from £5 per person per night to over £100! It's easy to select and book online, just enter your criteria and the search engine will locate the perfect property for you.
Cottage Selection - 9,000 properties in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain. Quick search, clear property descriptions. Book online or over the phone. Owned by the people who bring you RCI, so a name you can trust.
James Villas - an independent company offering villas throughout Europe and Florida. A good website with a late availability section, you can also request a copy of the company's printed brochure.
Meon Villas - owned by First Choice, the search engine is a bit ugly and the prices quoted are per person not per villa. But, it has a wide choice, an 'offers' section and you can order a brochure online.
Bowhills - a French specialist with a good choice of farmhouses, cottages and villas. You can check availability and reserve a property online, but must wait for a booking confirmation.