Best and worst villa holiday providers

With so many companies available, which offer the nicest accommodation and the best value for money? Here, we reveal satisfaction ratings for villa holiday providers that are used most by Which? members. 

These reviews cover villa holidays – a package that included a villa, cottage or other self-catering property. To read our full reviews, click on the links in the table or scroll down. For holidays with a planned itinerary and accompanied by a dedicated guide, see our best-rated escorted tour providers. Alternatively, our table of package holiday providers covers traditional beach, resort or poolside packages. For more specialist holidays, find out how companies ranked for self-guided tours, city breaks and ski holidays.

To be named a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP), companies must be highly rated in our survey. This year, we have taken extra steps to assess their treatment of customers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We have also spoken to customers who were left out of pocket and scrutinised their refund policies for cancelled holidays.

How you rate villa holiday companies
WRP	Holiday company (sample size)	Average price: short/ long haul	Accommodation	Customer service	Description matching reality	Organisation of holiday	Value for money	Customer score
	Villa Plus (54)	£89 / -						80%
	James Villa Holidays (73)	£100 / -						79%
	Jet2Villas (68)	- / -						79%
	Tui (70)	£90 / £125						77%
	Virgin Holidays (45)	£75 / £150						74%
	British Airways Holidays (61)	£92 / £143						73%
	First Choice (40)	£83 / £117						67%

Using the table: Star ratings are based on one to five stars. The more stars the better. Sample sizes are in brackets next to each holiday company. A dash indicates we did not receive enough responses to report on a company in that category. WRP stands for Which? Recommended Provider. Average price: Based on the median price per day of holidays taken by survey respondents, within this category, with the company named. Short-haul destinations are defined as anywhere less than a five-hour flight from London. Customer score: Based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the company. Companies with the same customer score are presented in alphabetical order.

Other villa holiday providers

James Villa Holidays - 79%

James Villa Holidays is the UK’s second largest villa holiday specialist, offering more than 3,000 villas in a range of European destinations, as well as in the US, the Caribbean and Egypt.

It’s one of the more expensive villa companies around, with an average day’s holiday costing £100, but many customers felt their villa represented good value for money – the company scored three stars out of five in this category, as did all the others in our results table. Many satisfied customers also told us they use James Villa Holidays time and again, with one saying they would rate it ‘five stars every time’.

It’s no wonder then that James Villa Holidays is near the top of our table, achieving an impressive customer score of 79%. But Villa Plus just edges it out of number one spot, so it might be worth weighing up both companies before booking your next villa.

Which? verdict: James Villas Holidays is one of the best villa holiday providers around.

How we researched holiday companies

In March and April 2020, we asked Which? Connect panel members and the public to complete an online survey about their experiences of booking and going on holiday in the last two years. A villa holiday is defined as a package that includes a self-catering property as well as travel to that property. We only reported on companies and star rating categories when we received at least 30 responses.

You can have your say on what we research and help us achieve change by joining Which? Connect