PRIVATE VILLAS IN SPAIN, with pool, Alicante, Costa Blanca, Spain




	QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Over the years we have been asked the same questions time and again, this section answers the most common questions, but if you cannot find the answer here just Contact Us. Simply click on the Question to be taken to the Answer . . . HOW DO I BOOK? DO I HAVE TO BOOK SUNDAY TO SUNDAY? DO YOU ALLOW PETS? ARE THERE ANY BARS / RESTAURANTS / SHOPS NEARBY? DO I NEED A CAR? IS THE VILLA ACCESSIBLE FOR THE LESS ABLE BODIED? WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE? WHERE IS THE COMMUNAL POOL? DO I NEED TO TAKE TOWELS/BED LINEN? IS THERE WI-FI OR INTERNET ACCESS ANYWHERE? HOW CAN I GET TO AND FROM THE AIRPORTS? IS THERE A BIDET IN THE BATHROOM AT THE VILLA? WHERE CAN I FLY FROM AND HOW MUCH ARE THE FLIGHTS? IS THERE A COT FOR A BABY AT THE VILLA? WHAT IS THERE FOR THE CHILDREN TO DO? DO YOU PROVIDE A WELCOME BASKET? OUR COOKIE AND PRIVACY POLICY HOW DO I BOOK? Call us on the numbers in the Contact Us and Booking link to confirm your dates are available. We will hold the villa for 5 days whilst you send a £50.00 Booking Deposit for each week booked (min. £200 required on long lets). Once we receive your Deposit we will confirm your booking in writing. The full balance of your Booking is due 8 weeks before you travel PLUS a REFUNDABLE £50.00 Villa Key Deposit. Ten days or so before you go we will post you the Villa Keys, Directions to the Villa, some General Information about the Villa. Upon your return home send us the Villa Keys back and we will refund your Key Deposit. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . DO I HAVE TO BOOK SUNDAY TO SUNDAY? No, we offer bookings from Sunday to Sunday because flights tend to be cheaper on Sundays than Saturdays if people want to travel at week-ends. Provided the villa is available (check availability using the Prices and Availability link) you can book what you like when you like, Tuesday to Saturday, 1 week, 2 weeks, what ever you require we will try and accommodate your holiday needs. The only restriction is a minimum of a 5 night stay. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . DO YOU ALLOW PETS? Yes, at our discretion, and provided an additional deposit of £100.00 is paid. After our caretakers have cleaned the property (usually straight after your visit) and reported back to us that there was no damage or unpleasantness, we would refund your £100 deposit at the same time as we refund the Villa Key Deposit. Please Contact Us to discuss this further, thank you. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . ARE THERE ANY BARS / RESTAURANTS / SHOPS NEARBY? Yes, about 20 minutes walk away for the Villa is a useful complex of Restaurants, Bars and Shops, there is also a Supermarket selling both English, Spanish and European foods as well as freshly baked bread, there is a newsagent with English and Spanish books, magazines and newspapers. There is also a small "corner shop" (next door to the local Computer shop) which sells many essential items about 10 minutes walk from the Villa. There are other shopping facilities exist in the area but these are the closest. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . DO I NEED A CAR? It depends:- If you want a relaxing holiday sunbathing, lounging by the pool or visiting the local beach then you probably will not need a car. Once there you have full use of the Communal Pool and facilities. Local Shops and Bars are all within 15/20 minutes walking distance and should you wish to go to La Marina Beach it is about an hours walk or a taxi could cost you as little as 4-5 Euros to get you there. If you hire a car you can do all of the above but if you prefer to get out and about exploring foreign countries then a car is a definite bonus. In the Villa is an Information File with leaflets about local attractions, Terra Mitica (a kind of Alton Towers), Mundo Mar (sea world) and Aqualandia (a pool/slide paradise) are well worth a visit and are about 1 hours drive towards Benidorm and are open for the most part of the year. Also the Fonts de Algar in the summer months is excellent. Have a look at our Image Gallery for more details about the area. There are several Car Hire companies situated in the Airports which you can hire cars from on arrival. If you would prefer to book your car prior to going then most Car Hire companies have on-line booking facilities. If you prefer to book through an established car hire company we recommend AQUACAR, they are based both at the airport and in La Marina itself which is very convenient. We have a special offer with Aquacar, if you book with them and use the code PVS after your name on the booking you will receive a FREE UPGRADE to the next level of car you book. We have always found their cars to be virtually new, reliable and clean and their customer service is excellent. Please see the separate section under Car Hire for more details. SOME MATHS THAT MIGHT HELP YOUR DECISION ABOUT A CAR: A Taxi to and from the airport is going to cost you about 60/70 Euros total for the two way trip to the villa and back to the airport at the end of your holiday. A car could cost you around 140 Euros for 7 days, if you take off the cost of the potential taxi's (70 Euros) then the hire is only costing 70 Euros for the week (10 Euros/day)? CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . IS THE VILLA ACCESSIBLE FOR THE LESS ABLE BODIED? The Villa is accessed by 4 steps up to the Front Porch, there is no ramp. Once inside the Villa it is all on one level which allows people with mobility issues to get around. The Roof Terrace is accessed by a flight of stairs at the back of the Villa, this would be difficult for anyone with mobility issues to negotiate. We would recommend that you contact us if you have any doubts or questions about facilities for the less abled prior to booking. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE? In short, much better than England! During the Winter months the weather is generally warm during the daytime and the temperature falls rapidly at night. In Autumn and Spring the weather tends to be warm to hot with the evenings being warm. In the Summer it's hot! The evenings are usually balmy and long. Of course we can not guarantee the weather but the area the Villa is in usually averages around 300 days sunshine per year. The nearby Salt Lakes create a kind of Micro Climate around the immediate area of La Marina and Torrevieja which generally means that the weather is warmer than the inland and other nearby areas. The Villa is equipped with Climate Control Heating/Cooling where you can set a comfortable temperature inside whatever the weather outside, when it's cool out it can be used as a heater and when it's hot outside the air conditioning works to keep a comfortable cool temperature in the Villa. Below are the average monthly temperatures for each month in Alicante. 15°C for January 16°C for February 18°C for March 20°C for April 22°C for May 24°C for June 28°C for July 30°C for August 27°C for September 25°C for October 18°C for November 15°C for December WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE IN ALICANTE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS? . . . (you will be taken off this site - click your "BACK" button to return here) Click here to be taken to the BBC Alicante Weather Site WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE IN ALICANTE RIGHT NOW! . . . (you will be taken off this site - click your "BACK" button to return here) Click here to be taken to an actual live webcam of Alicante Port! CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . WHERE IS THE COMMUNAL POOL? The Pool is only a 1 minute walk from the Villa. There is a key, at the Villa, for the pool gate. Only about 30 Villas have access to the Pool which means that even in the height of Summer there is not many people using it, everyone who has visited the Villa has commented on how nice the Pool is. (Have a look at the Home Page photo!) CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . DO I NEED TO TAKE TOWELS/BED LINEN? Towels - We do not provide towels at the Villa unless requested and there is an additional charge of £5.00 per set of towels, a set being 1 Beach Towel and 1 Bath Towel. You need to advise us at the time of booking how many sets you require and these can be added to the price of your booking. Bed Linen - All bed linen is provided and included in our prices. Before you arrive, the Villa will have been cleaned through and all the beds will have been made-up with fresh bed linen and pillow cases. Whilst you are staying in the villa there is a washing machine, iron and ironing board should you need them. We do not operate a "Maid Service", however if you are staying for more than one week this can be arranged at extra cost. You will need your own hairdryer and adaptor for Spain's plugs! CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . IS THERE WI-FI OR INTERNET ACCESS ANYWHERE? We have Wi-Fi at the Villa itself, the code is in the Villa Information Folder at the Villa. As an alternative there are many bars that offer either free use or charge a small fee to use their computers for internet access, and nearly all bars have Wi-Fi access if you want to use your own laptop or smart phone, just buy a drink and they will be happy for you to use their connection. These are usually full broadband connections and are just a fast as in the UK. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . HOW CAN I GET TO AND FROM THE AIRPORTS? There are always lots of Taxis at the Airports. We will have sent you (with your Villa Keys) directions to the Villa which also include the actual Villa address, you can show this address to the taxi driver so he knows where to go in case your Spanish is not that great. At the Villa is a Villa Information Folder, in there is the telephone number of an English taxi driver based in La Marina who will be happy to take you back to the airport (booking recommended) or you can make your own arrangements. As a suggestion - what we do we when go to the Villa is to book a hire car from Aquacar, who have an office in La Marina itself, for a few days AFTER we arrive (booking a car at the airport is often stressful as they tend to have long queues). We get a taxi from the airport to the Villa and have a few days on foot in the area, we then go and collect the hire car on the date we have booked it for and Aquacar allow you to take the car back to the airport and drop it there so our ride back to the airport is therefore sorted. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . IS THERE A BIDET IN THE BATHROOM AT THE VILLA? Yes, would someone please tell me what it's for! CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . WHERE CAN I FLY FROM AND HOW MUCH ARE THE FLIGHTS? This is a common question but is the least easy to answer! It depends on where you live in the country, where you want to fly from, where you want to fly into, and what time of year! There are too many variables to answer this question properly! However, try searching the websites of EasyJet, BMI Baby, Ryan Air, FlyBe, Jet2 and other low cost airlines, find out where they fly from and whether they fly into either Alicante or Murcia Airports, then if you go through the booking process you will come to a point just before you pay for it where you will have a total price for your flights. If those prices are good enough, call us and check availability BEFORE buying. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . IS THERE A COT FOR A BABY AT THE VILLA? We can arrange for a Cot to be at the Villa when you arrive, this usually costs £15.00 extra irrelevant of how long you stay and is payable to us in the UK. If you require the Cot please let us know so we can arrange it for you. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . WHAT IS THERE FOR THE CHILDREN TO DO? People often ask about occupying children and it's the hardest question to answer because we don't know what different children like. All we can say is that the local area has all the facilities most Spanish resorts have only cheaper because it's also a residential area. We have taken our own children many times at all different ages and they still want to go again. There is the communal pool, La Marina Recreation Centre is nearby with a fun pool, pool tables, bars, etc. The beach is only 10 minutes drive away and it has excellent, golden sand with the clear blue sea which stays shallow quite far out, there is a beach restaurant, and for the summer months of the year there is a rustic beach bar actually on the beach. Alicante itself often has something called Children's World set up on one of the promenades which has children's rides, space bouncers, kids trains, a simulator and much more. The castle in Alicante is well worth a visit for people of any age. There is a Burger King and McDonalds in Alicante also. Overall the Spanish love children and the whole area is very family friendly. Of course, don't forget the area caters for the adults too! Call us and we will answer any specific questions to the best of our ability. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . DO YOU PROVIDE A WELCOME BASKET? To keep our charges down to a minimum we do not provide a welcome basket service. However, there are three main bar/restaurant/shopping areas around the Villa which are open long hours if you have late/early/Sunday flights. One of them is The International Supermarket which is signposted from the main road into La Marina Urbanisation. You can also download a map to show all the main shops/bars/restuarant locations near the Villa under the Where is the Villa? tab of this website or click here to download it now. If you think your arrival is going to be so late that you might need a bit of something to eat or drink then we can ask our caretaker nicely for a few general, non-specific, selected items, these would be charged at £20.00, payable in the UK before you go. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . OUR COOKIE AND PRIVACY POLICY COOKIE POLICY Cookies are small text files that can be used by web sites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your machine if they are essential to the operation of this site but that for all others we need your permission to do so. PrivateVillaInSpain.com does use some non-essential cookies. We do NOT do this to track individual users or to identify them, but to gain useful knowledge about how the site is used so that we can keep improving it for our users. Without the knowledge we gain from the systems that use these cookies we would not be able to improve the service we offer. We use Google Analytics, a popular web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us to analyse how users use the site. It counts the number of visitors and tells us things about their behaviour overall – such as the typical length of stay on the site or the average number of pages a user views. The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google undertakes not to associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. If you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (most computers do) and you use audio or video players, Google Analytics will try to store some additional data on your computer. This data is known as a Local Shared Object or Flash cookie. This helps us to analyse the popularity of our media files. We can count the total number of times each file is played, how many people watch videos right to the end and how many people give up half way through. Adobe's website offers tools to control Flash cookies on your computer. If you want to delete any cookies that are already on your computer, please refer to the instructions for your file management software to locate the file or directory that stores cookies. You can access them through some types of browser. Search in your cookie folders for 'PrivateVillaInSpain' to find our cookie and the Google Analytics cookie if you wish to delete them. Some third party cookies are set by services that appear on our pages. They are set by the operators of that service and are not in our control. They are set by Twitter, Facebook and the like and relate to the ability of users to share content on this site, as indicated by their icons. PRIVACY POLICY We will not share or pass any of your information to any third parties. If you wish to know what information we hold about you please email us at [email protected] or contact us directly. Should you wish us not to keep any of your information upon completion of your holiday then please notify us by email or call us and we will erase your details from our database and files. If you have any queries concerning your personal information or any questions on our use of the information, please contact the Owner of this site, Mick Walpole. CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO QUESTION LIST . . . BACK TO TOP . . . Please note - all booking deposits are non-refundable. Should you have paid the full balance of your holiday and need to cancel for whatever reason we can only refund the balance paid IF we are successful in re-booking the dates you were originally going to travel, thank you.