Twenty questions decide a villa week, from the 25-minute grocery run to the generator and the real deposit. Ask them before you wire anything.
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A villa week turns on 20 questions, and most renters ask three. The photos answer the easy ones. The hard ones, the 25-minute drive to the nearest grocery, the generator that does not exist, the eight “bedrooms” that are really five doubles and three bunk rooms, only surface if you ask. The questions below are grouped by what they protect: the property, the location, the staff, the money, and the logistics. The answers tell you whether the villa fits. The quality of the answers tells you whether the manager is real.
Ask all of them before any deposit moves. A manager who answers the grocery distance and the generator setup without hesitating is a manager who knows the house. One who deflects is telling you something too.
Exact bedrooms and bathrooms. Indoor and outdoor square meters. The bed type in each room. The true sleeping count, not the marketing number. Whether the photos are current or from the build. Our work on when six bedrooms actually sleeps eight explains why this group comes first.
Distance to the nearest grocery and restaurant. The real beach access, not the view. Any construction planned nearby. Road noise and privacy from the neighbors. A 25-minute drive to a shop changes how a week with children runs. The 25-minute grocery run test covers it.
Who is included, and their hours. Whether they live in. Whether a chef and a food budget are part of the rate or extra. The gratuity expectation. The full staffing picture sits in our villa staff tipping guide.
The all-in price, not the headline. The deposit and the refundable security hold. The taxes. What settles on departure. The cancellation tiers. Start with how much deposit a villa takes and the payment schedule.
Generator backup and water supply. Wifi speed, room by room. The peak-season minimum stay. The airport transfer and the second car. The villa that loses power in August is the one that did not get asked about the generator.
Who you are paying and how the money is protected. References from recent guests. How the deposit comes back. These overlap with vetting the broker, covered in how to vet a villa broker.
The same question, answered two ways. The gap tells you who you are dealing with.
| Question | A real answer | A warning answer |
|---|---|---|
| How far is the grocery? | “Four minutes by car, a small market, full supermarket 15 minutes” | “Everything is close by” |
| What is the all-in price? | An itemized quote with tax, service, and chef float | “Just the rate, extras on arrival” |
| Is there generator backup? | “Yes, auto-switchover, runs the whole house” | “Power is usually fine” |
| How many it really sleeps | A room-by-room schedule with bed types | “Sleeps 16” and nothing more |
The question skipped most is the all-in price, and it is the most expensive one to skip. A headline rate that excludes the chef food budget, the utilities, and the tourist tax is a number that grows 15 to 30% by departure. We get the itemized total before comparing villas. The second skipped question is the generator and water supply, which only matters once, in a heatwave, when it is too late. The third is the true sleeping count, which we settle with a room-by-room schedule, not a headline. A villa that answers these three without hedging is usually a villa worth booking. One that cannot is one we pass on. The full booking guide puts the questions in sequence.
The all-in price. The headline rate is rarely the total. Ask for the rate plus taxes, service, the chef food budget, utilities, and what settles on departure, so the number you compare is the number you pay.
Ask for a room-by-room schedule with the bed type in each. A villa advertised for 16 may have only eight true double bedrooms, with the rest being bunk or sofa space.
The distance to the nearest grocery and restaurant, the real beach access, and whether any construction is planned nearby. A 25-minute drive to a shop changes how a week runs.
Who is included, their hours, whether they live in, and whether a chef and food budget are part of the rate or extra. Gratuity expectations belong in this conversation too.
Generator backup, water supply, wifi speed, the peak-season minimum stay, and the airport transfer. These are the items that quietly decide whether the week works.
Before you pay any deposit. The answers tell you whether the villa fits, and the quality of the answers tells you whether the manager is real.
The 32-page buyer’s guide includes the printable 20-question set, the all-in price worksheet, and the answers that should worry you. Free. We trade it for an email.
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