Villa in Spain - new website for review

Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
Casa Isa Elena
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:40 pm
Location: Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain
Contact:

Villa in Spain - new website for review

Post by Casa Isa Elena »

Hello,

We've lived and breathed our developing website for too long to see its problems now. We've booked villa holidays before but are beginners on the hosting side.

We think our market is going to be mainly two family groups who want to share a largish property. The area has a definite summer season and we expect very few out of season bookings.

We feel the USP of our villa is the unusual design for the area - many Spanish villas are built to keep the sun out (and we know why!) but ours is bright and light and has more fluidity between indoors and outdoors than most do there.

Look forward to hearing feedback from more experienced hosts. Website is www.casaisaelena.com

Many thanks, Sarah
COYS
Posts: 795
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:24 pm
Location: Greek Islands

Post by COYS »

Welcome aboard LMH.
I'm gonna be constructively critical from a totally personal perspective because I'm not a huge fan of auto content. I much prefer static pages where I am able to browse/read without too much distraction & find my way around links/pages that interest me.
I know many, if not most websites follow the dynamic templates but clean, structured easy to read home pages with a reasonable amount of relevant, informative text tend to get my vote.
You have all the info there that any prospective renter would need, plenty of photos, dedicated booking system etc. I just find the main page a little busy.
Cracking property by the way.
This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires.
gardenboy
Posts: 283
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:14 pm

Post by gardenboy »

Sarah, i just had a quick look and am by no means an expert but here goes.

2.5ke pw on a fixed saturday changeover july and august. Look at flight prices on saturdays, x it by 4 or 5, add cases and seats. Now look at car hire prices per week with the extras.

It becomes a v expensive holiday for a mainland spain family trip, it isnt ibiza or formentera after all.

So with that kind of spend, what confidence does the booker have in parting with 2.5k, or 5ke?

Hope i dont come across in a negative way but my villa sleeps 6 and generally i get families of 4 or 5. I reckon their summer holidays are costing c 5k gbp. The profile of family has certainly gone upmarket over time. I price in gbp and took the post brexit hit.

Good luck with the venture, just keep asking the clients what they want and respond to their needs.
Ele
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:26 am
Location: Moraira, Costa Blanca, Spain

Post by Ele »

Hi Sarah

First of well done for getting up and running! You clearly have put a lot of effort into your property (looks great!) and it comes across how much you both love the area too - so if you pour as much passion into looking after your guests, then success will come!

A few suggestions from me:

Location - it's currently not clear where the property is. I went looking for a map and it took me a while to find one. Whilst the home page image captions mention a town, nearby beach and golf course, that didn't help me as I'd never heard of any of them so still had no idea where the property is. Suggest make the location clear by having a map or at least location details on the home page.

Home page - I agree with Coys that it's a bit busy. The main improvement I think would be to remove the filter / fade which appears over the three images - you have a lovely image of the pool with trees for example, but it's got a strange greyish-blue tint over the top. It would have much more impact to see sharp images in full colour.

Photographs - Whilst the property is obviously very well presented, and that certainly does come across, it feels that the photographs are maybe not doing it justice. Somehow the images (or at least the way they're presented on the site) feel a bit bland (sorry), there's no feeling of warmth, no big impact shot which makes me feel 'wow' I really want to go there.... In the Photographs gallery, the first 3 rows of shots are all very similar of the building - I know this is the 'outside' section, but really think these should be re-arranged so you intersperse some images of the pool close-up, sun loungers, garden etc in amongst all the building shots. Overall if you can mix up the images a bit more, add some more close-ups, more colour, and some that are staged with 'props' that will help people imagine themselves enjoying themselves in and around the villa (i.e. pool towels, bottle of wine, jug of sangria, BBQ, dining table laid up ready for a meal etc) that would help get more of a feel for what a holiday here could be like.

USPs I tried the 'Book Now' button, and for the first time noticed that there was a heated pool. Your heated pool is a real USP especially for out of season bookings - we rent our property on average 25 weeks a year, of which we can attribute 10 weeks per year to having the heated pool. I'm sure it's mentioned in the details, but you should make it prominent, for example in the headline captions on the home page.

Book now Do you have a minimum length of stay? I put in a 2 night stay for 2 people in June and didn't get any minimum stay message. I presume it would have stopped me from continuing through to actually book and pay, but suggest it's made clear somewhere on the booking page if there are restrictions on length of stay, changeover dates, what's included in rates etc.

Regarding pricing, as long as you've researched your market and competitor set and know your target guest (which I'm sure you do!), then stick with what you believe to be right. You can always adapt as you learn from year one. Our pricing is very similar and we also operate fixed Saturday changeovers - we only have 3 beds sleeping 6 so smaller than yours, but the quality and amenities are pitched to the top end of the market.

Bit long but hope that helps - and very best of luck!
Ele
VillaAntonioLanzarote
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:59 am
Location: Nazaret, Lanzarote
Contact:

Like it

Post by VillaAntonioLanzarote »

Hi
Nice site , really like it
Nt sure if it has been mentioned you might want to add an availability chart?
I use https://www.holidayrentalmanagement.com, it is free and it is run by a LMHF member

Larry
Villa Antonio Lanzarote
a place to relax & unwind
www.villaantonio.co.uk
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