British opt for holiday help
28 November 2006
Up to 60% of clients booking a villa holiday request baby-sitting services and around 40% book cooks or chefs, according to villa holiday specialists Owners’ Syndicate, who celebrate their 20th anniversary with the launch of their new European brochure for 2007.
The company offers `accommodation only’ rental of villas and houses and has a vast selection of affordable, value for money properties in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Balearic islands. The new brochure details a selection of around 150 of the 600 – 700 properties that are available to book via the website, ownerssyndicate.com
European Programme Manager, Carolina de Capell Brooke, said “In the twenty years since Owners’ Syndicate first offered exclusive houses across Europe, while all of our houses have maid service, we’ve greatly expanded our optional staffing arrangements.
These days it’s more usual for a family to request baby-sitting than not, but one of the biggest growth areas we’ve seen is the demand for cooks and chefs. As leisure time becomes more and more precious, people just don’t want to spend their holiday time in the kitchen or shopping. We are finding that clients want the comfort and service of a hotel, with the flexibility of villa living and the option of having staff on holiday gives them just that”.
Fattoria Santo Stefano, a 1000 acre estate between Pisa and Florence, is a classic example of a newly introduced property where a shared children’s club takes the strain out of childcare. Accommodation is in a choice of apartment suites at Podere Vignola and Borgo La Casa, two converted properties on the estate, each with their own pools, grounds and terraces.
Both a cook and babysitting can be arranged at L’Olivera, a small house for 4 close to Pollensa on Mallorca, or at the impressive Eu Romani, a grand 6 bedroom stone built house, also close to Pollensa, where Owners’ Syndicate can organise a local cook to prepare a Paella party, or take on the daily cooking and babysitting.
On Ibiza at the villa C’an Pau Owners’ can organise a fully stocked fridge and the option of a visiting masseur, in addition to babysitting, while at C’an Palau, optional babysitting, cook and boat charter is available.
Casa Claudia, a farmhouse on the prestigious Mansi Bernardini estate near Lucca, comes with an optional cook service to shop and prepare meals, and the English speaking owners assist with information to help book restaurants, golf, festivals and local events.
The English estate manager and her staff at the prestigious Santa Virginia, a contemporary country style house on the private country estate of Santo Stefano for 12 guests, situated between Florence and Sienna, are on hand to organise cooking demonstrations and wine tastings, sightseeing and private tours, catering and functions at the house, local spas and beauty treatments, many of which are available at the house, as well as private visits and tours to potteries, gardens, historic villas and olive mills.
Carolina de Capell Brooke added “A villa holiday is about far more than uplifting from one family home to another, it’s about changing responsibilities and reducing the workload and maximising the enjoyment out of the holiday. A villa holiday still represents excellent value for money for a group or a family and adding in a cook or babysitter only marginally increases the total cost, per head, yet the affect on the person on whose shoulders the cooking and childcare would normally fall, is priceless”
For further information, visit ownerssyndicate.com.
