Tour Operators and Travel Agents

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James Villas
34 Posts
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Hi, can only go by my own experience with James Villas to Mallorca.
The satelite tv is only euro sport and cnn news all the other channels are Spanish or German.
English dvds dont work (the sound is taken away and substituted for English subtitles)
The welcome pack is very basic, coffee sachets and sugar sachets.
The furnishings where very basic, we had wicker patio furniture in the lounge.

Maybe our experience was just bad luck and I hope I havent put you off. Maybe if you tell people the name of you villa or google the name you may find someone who has stayed there.

Sorry I couldnt be more possitive.

Sally
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We are thinking of using James Villa's in Crete next year - at May halfterm. Anyone had any experience using this firm - thoughts and comments please.
Looking at going to the Rethymnon side, also cant seem to see which airline they use. Thanx :sun2
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moved to travel agent and tour operators forum
wizard
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Hi :wave:

If you use the search box above near the top of the page and enter a search for James Villa's there are many various entries for them, taking a quick look they appear to have a good name and come recommended.

Graham
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Anyone been on a holiday with James Villas? We're such nosey people we usually book on a complex, but these villas are becoming more attractive as we get older. Sometimes we go as a group of 4 or 6 or maybe just the 2 of us. Are they fairly central in the resorts are do you have to hire a car - which hubby flatly refuses to do!?
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It seemed to me they have a lot more villas which are out of resort and where you need a car. Their website does say car recommended/optional/essential or something to that effect when you look at each property which is helpful. I have looked several times when researching villa holidays, but as we didn't want a car we were limited in choice. I have always booked DIY now for my villa holidays so I can get more choice of properties in resort and this has actually always worked out cheaper anyway!
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Hyia - our problem is that we both work in a school, so cheap flights are rarely available. I too have noticed on the web that they often say a car is recommended - I just wondered if it's essential. Up until last summer hubby worked in a job that entailed driving up to 200 miles a day - so understandably- he really does not want to drive on holidays. Saying that,, he's always willing to rent a motorbike. We do like to eat out of an evening & have a couple of drinks, which would also mean no car - which was my main reason for asking.
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Hi Helen - we don't usually get great deals on flights being in Scotland, so I sympathise! I always thought that if it said car recommended on James then the property probably would be a bit out of resort/further away from things, and only those which said car optional would be close or in the centre. I was concerned about it saying "car recommended" and the villa being quite a walk from things. Don't mind walking, but prefer to be close-ish to things for getting back after dinner out. I don't drive, so car essential is completely out!!!!
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Being in West Wales we don't get any bargains either & the next big airport is 4 hours away, which usually means an overnight stay at both ends of the holiday - thus adding to the expense. Not always - but more often than not, a package holiday is the cheaper option for us.
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We have stayed in quite a few James villas and most need a car but we have stayed in 2 where we didn't
one was in Lanzarote, we had a car but could have managed quite easily without as it was only a short walk to the harbour in Puerta del Carmen
The other was in Nerja on costa del sol, we had a car to get there from the airport but we were right next to the balcon overlooking the sea in the centre of town and didn't need the car to get to bars and restaurants which was great.

When you are searching for a villa you can select car optional

we usually just book the villa with James and book flights seperately unless they can do the flights at a good price
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Thanks Mc Babe for taking the time to answer!
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We did have an initial look at James Villas when we first started going on villa holidays and always found them to be much more expensive than some of the other villa rental companies that were around. We tend to always book with http://www.villaplus.com now. I don't think they have as many destinations as James Villas but I'm sure they are worth a look. :)
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Thanks for the link Samabache
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Hi, I get email offers from James Villas all the time, but they always quote flights from Manchester, Gatwick etc. which puts me off as we are in Scotland. I wonder if they do holidays from Scotland?
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We went to Portugal through James Villas back in 2001 (travelled 2 days after 9/11, what fun that was!). Everything was fine with them although there was very little information supplied and the rep that was supposed to call in never did. Not a problem as everything was fine and we had our own directions. The villa was as described and pretty good overall. You'll definately need a car, firstly to get from/to the airport as most villas are in residential areas, and it'll prove invaluable throughout your stay.

Darren
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We booked flights and a villa seperately last year - what a brilliant holiday. Our villa was £500 per week - school holiday time, I thought that was a great price - ok I know you get wht you pay for.
Hoping to do the same this year although maybe just younger son coming with us this year.
Having your own pool is wonderful.
Take at look at owners direct.
Irene
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We stayed at a James Villa last year in Ibiza. It was amazing and like Irene says, its great having your own pool. We did need a hire car as we were staying out in the sticks but you can arrange transfers with James Villas for an additional cost. For most of the accomodations they provide, I would think that you would need a car but there are some where cars are optional - Calan Bosch in Menorca has a lot of properties where a car is optional.

Personally, although we loved the villa we prefer apartments and hotels where there are more people around but having your own pool, coming and going as you please and wandering around with your hair looking a mess with noone to worry about does have its advantages ;)
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thanks everyone - I think that the need to hire a car is going to be a sticking point.
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We have booked a James Villa in Majorca for April. It stated 'car optional' and is a 20 minute walk into the resort but their offer at the moment includes car hire and we like to look around the island whilst there. Really looking forward to going.
If you search their properties there are quite a few where a car is optional.
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