What guests really want in a villa...

[Entirelyidentifiable]

Be careful on there Rosie as they are really strict about surveys/ market research unless you go through their official pages for that. You might be okay though fingers crossed.

[Marks]

Just going back to the cost of installing air-con, you get what you pay for. Last year, in the Costa Blanca area, you could buy A/C units (non inverter) for 199€ from Leroy Merlin and then pay a professional say 70 - 100€ to fit. These will run you up a whopping electricity bill.

Personally I opted for, at the time, top of the range Panasonic Econavi inverters. These are super efficient operating at 460 watts when heating/cooling and then tick over at 50 watts when the desired temperature has been reached. They are also very quiet running. They cost 700€ each supplied and installed.

These were two additional units making three in total. These were fitted in January 2013. I don't charge extra for electricity or A/C (only to long winter lets). In 2013 my electricity bill for the year was 10% higher than the previous year for a very similar number of nights booked which I thought to be a pretty good outcome.

[Entirelyidentifiable]

Great info on the aircon. Thanks. We won't need the heating function in theory as there's central heating radiators but it might not hurt to have it if it doesn't cost extra as back up.

[HoneypotCottages]

Going back to the piano thread.....we had an enquiry recently who was pleased there was a piano and then came back and asked if we also had a ukulele

[Entirelyidentifiable]

Sadly our project is on hold as we had to pull out of the purchase with the villa after the survey. Keeping looking!

[Casscat]

Oh dear, that's a shame EI

[annedab]

We have a ukulele Honeypot......and a didgeridoo

[annedab]

Sorry to hear that EI....but the right place will come along and in the meantime you have plenty of reading to keep you busy here.

[Mouse]

Aw sorry to hear that. Having been through the mill when looking to buy here I know how stressful it can be....but, and I can honestly say this, I look back now at some of the villas I was in love with and realise they would have been wrong for us. So sometimes things do happen for the best.

Mouse
x

[Entirelyidentifiable]

Well we are back on! We renegotiated the price to account for the concerns we had and agreed a new one.

So...back to obsessing about all this!
We have decided to stay there ourselves asap after completion before committing to anything much change wise as we found with our main house it was only when we had been here a little while that we understood the priorities for our budget.

The good news is the renegotiation releases a bit more for refurb and that all-important pool heating.

[Nemo]

Well done and a good idea to stay to spot all sorts of things you wouldn't otherwise. Have fun!

[Entirelyidentifiable]

Quick question, on the Algarve do you guys think it's essential to have air con in living areas? I am definitely getting it installed for the bedrooms but the living area is big and open plan with three huge patio doors and there's always been a breeze in summer when I'm out there. Thoughts welcome.

I will post elsewhere about this but I'm also curious about the relative merits of electric shutters versus metal window bars (prison-like!?) as the villa has both in various areas at present and I'm not keen on the latter.

[Casscat]

Not having air con in the living area will make a very big difference to your electricity bills - people are much more inclined to leave the air con running in the living room while they are outside than they are in a bedroom. I would just get a few really good quality floor standing fans personally. I charge a supplement for air con so many guests just make do with fans in the bedrooms as well.

I am not well acquainted with the Algarve so I don't know what the vernacular style is when it comes to windows. My insurance company insisted on the sort of locks to windows and doors which were not going to be practical for me without replacing all the windows and doors throughout so I opted for the Spanish 'rejas' - black ironwork. I thought they might make my house look like a Mexican prison but they don't, they actually look very attractive and authentic. I did go for decorative rejas rather than plain though.

[Entirelyidentifiable]

A lot of the villas in the area seem to only have aircon in the bedrooms so for now I will take that on board and leave the living areas out. It would be a big area to cool and expensive too. Fans are a good idea just in case.

What about fire safety though with the bars?

[Marks]

Charge for electricity. If guests want to leave A/C running 24/7 they can, they pay for the privilege not you.