A Beginner's Guide to Villa Holidays

It's always a bit daunting booking a holiday. You start with the sudden thrill of booking, knowing you're going somewhere exciting, getting the time off work and the dates marked in your calendar, but then the questions quickly start creeping up - What if the place isn't like the pictures? What do I need to pack? What am I even going to do for the week? Rest assured, I was in this exact position after booking my first villa holiday! 

Read on to learn all about the tips and tricks I picked up on my very first villa holiday abroad, exactly what you need to prepare you for an unforgettably heavenly holiday...

Packing

Not only was my escape to the Algarve my first time booking a Solmar villa, it was also my first time leaving the country! Needless to say, I was terrified. 

The first wave of dread washed over me as I started packing my bags, what to pack for a villa holiday? What if the villa was completely empty? Bed sheets? Pillows? Blankets? I can't fit all of that into my carry on. I hastily threw a few pairs of shorts, a shirt or two, far too much underwear and not enough socks into my now bulging bag, pulled the zip and called it a night, full of worry that I'd forgotten something, a thought that followed me into my nightmares.

Maybe the villa won't have plates or cutlery. Or beds. or a toilet? That's it, I'm not going. Ah but I've booked it now, I might as well go. Best get some sleep - oh, it's already time to go.

The Flight

A worry of oversleeping and car troubles kept me on edge all the way to the airport, I'd watched Home Alone one too many times, who knows what could happen to stop me making the flight? And I certainly don't want the Wet Bandits after me. 

Where to begin on the flight itself... I anticipated random security checks, my luggage to go missing, even a cavity search or two, and that's before I'd even get on the flight! The nightmares of no leg room and boarding the wrong plane were becoming a potential reality.

After watching far too many "factual" documentaries on the Bermuda triangle, I did some extensive research on the long route from Birmingham to Faro. With assurance that there were no cyclones, no meteor storms and no solar flares, the idea of boarding a plane became much less daunting.

Packing

With the useful shopping list emailed to me by Solmar a couple of weeks before I jetted off, packing was a doddle. I easily managed to get everything into my bags, ready to go for the big day.

Rising bleary eyes from my bed at 3am, I lugged my rucksack and travel bag out of my flat and into my trusty VW Fox - it was time to make my way to the airport. En route to BHX, I drowned out the nagging thoughts of what I'd left behind with some ear piercing music. There I was, flying down the empty motorway with Radiohead performing a live concert in the passenger seat, I think I've only just started hearing properly again.

The Flight

After asking a friendly policeman where I was going, I eventually sailed my way through security and into the craziest gift shop I've ever seen. I strolled straight through, turning down some free perfume samples on the way, and met up with my friends. Credit where it's due, their ramblings about mundane topics helped calm my pre flight nerves!

One step, two steps, three steps, that's it, I'm too high up now and I'm only halfway up the staircase to board the flight. The flight assistants started their routine, the captain murmured something down the mic, and suddenly the rollercoaster launched, taking us into the air. Surprisingly, it was pretty smooth sailing whilst we were 40,000 feet up, although we won't talk about the bumpy landing.

The Algarve Arrival

What if I get lost when we get there? We'd booked a transfer, but what if they don't turn up? These thoughts gave me many a sleepless night in the run up to the holiday, but couldn't have been further from the truth...

A Worrier's Insight

As the age old adage goes, there's no point in worrying as it only makes you suffer twice. However, we can tweak that slightly to make it a little more accurate to the villa holiday experience - there's no point in worrying as there's nothing really to worry about! From the flights, to the transfer, to the villa itself, my holiday was nothing short of hassle free. Before we travelled, everything I needed to know was communicated with me either over email or a phone call, and it was so nice to know that help was always on hand, even whilst we were in resort.

The Villa

The biggest worries of all that I had, what if the villa is nothing like it is on the website? Is there anything to actually do in the area? And how will we get in? Looking back now, it's funny to think how worried I was in the run up to one of the best weeks of my life!

The Algarve Arrival

There we were, Portugal, in one piece - This little lad from Doncaster is now international. Now, where to go? We followed the crowd of people to the arrivals exit and spotted Bruno, our friendly driver, holding a Solmar Villas sign, perfecto. He helped us with our bags and asked us how the flight was before taking us to the van to bring us to the villa. Full of recommendations for restaurants and activities in the local area, we felt like we were local experts by the time we arrived! Although this villa looked amazing, surely it couldn't be ours?

The Villa

Lo and behold, it was indeed our villa, and what a villa it was! Words can't quite do it justice, but one did quickly leave my mouth when we arrived - "WOW". We hastily entered in the keycode that we'd been sent, grabbed the keys and rushed inside our new home away from home. As soon as we stepped inside, we were blown away by how amazing it was, with a huge living room, massive sofas and a fully fitted kitchen all for us. Upstairs there was another living room, more bedrooms, a balcony and even gym equipment - stunning.

After picking up our jaws from the floor, we peeked through the windows and out onto the pool area, a private, bright blue oasis just for us. I can't quite remember how many hours I spent just lying on the loungers by the water, but I assure you, there were many.