Villa Diana, Lipari

Advantages: Privacy
Disadvantages: Lack of security

...We booked our villa in Calpe, Spain last year. On arrival the keys to the villa had been left unattended in a plantpot. All our holiday money was subsequently stolen. James villas did not provide a safe, they told us that they could not determine what individual villa owners put into each villa. Surely if they rent them out to us, then they have some responsibility for our personal security. Needless to say they took no responsibility for these events when we contacted them after we arrived home. The customer service was non existent. Anyone could have copied or stolen the keys, (only one set was available for us)and we spent the rest of the week afraid to go out, and even more afraid to stay in, fearing that someone would try to enter the property again. For your own safety, do not book with this company.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Unfortunately most things.

...Have been reading other reviews with interest. Wow. We must have been unlucky. The reviews are so good and in so much detail that they almost could have been written by James Villa holidays (joke) My wife, 3 children and mother and father in law and myself of course took a 2 week holiday to Majorca in August last year. The list of problems we had was unbelievable. James Villas holidays were not prepared to fix our problems. Even though we had spent £3,648.27 (this was without flights). We telephoned them for the 1st three days complaining. We even sent them a solicitors letter on the 3rd day and they still refused to accept that there were problems. When we did complain we even telephoned head office in the Uk in Maidstone in Kent. The staff were rude and sarcastic. They told us to complain when we get back home. Not much good when... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Well away from tourist trap hotspots
Disadvantages: 2-3 hr drive from capital; but Chania has the second airport

...Micke has on a small private estate a very special group of spacious villas for visitors and tourists, in a part of Crete that is much less spoilt by seasonal overloading with holidaymakers. Whereas the great Knossos, near the capital (Iraklion), is a major disappointment, on the contrary, the lesser antiquities in the east (Chania province), around the villa location (Maleme town), are far more satisfying, as are the historial sites associated with the battle for Crete in 1941. The infamous Maleme airstrip can almost be seen from the villas, and hill 107 is behind them. Both German and Commonwealth cemetaries are easily accessible. Numerous medieval monasteries and churches are worth visiting. The provincial capital of Chania is the former Cretan capital, and its old town is suprisingly easy to visit by car for museums and inexpensive... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful