Beachfront Villa Rental Spain - Costa Blanca North For a Fantastic Summer Holiday a Must Read

The Costa Blanca north is a great place to book a beachfront villa rental Spain or Spanish apartments for rent for a fantastic summer holiday. The Costa Blanca north is a slightly less developed area of Spain due to the fact that large scale tourism tends to be centred around the Costa Blanca south and the Costa del Sol. This area offers a diverse mix of long, sandy beaches, stunning mountains and lush valleys, picturesque 'white villages', modern resorts, great golf and water sports facilities, fiestas, ancient churches, not to mention wonderful food and wine. All of this just a couple of hours travel from the UK. Let's look at some of the places to book villa or apartment holiday rentals Spain on the Costa Blanca north from the owners direct Spain.

Alicante

Alicante is one of the most well-known towns along the Costa Blanca and is the starting point for thousands of tourists who visit this coast every year. Many visitors arrive at Alicante Airport and then go straight to their beachfront villa rental Spain or Spanish apartments for rent at one of the beachfront holiday resorts and never see anything of the city. If you get a chance to linger there are plenty of things to see and do. There are many historical buildings around the city, cathedrals and churches to visit and of course you can enjoy a relaxing stroll around the wonderful harbour area. Alicante also has some good beaches including Mucho Vista and Playa San Juan.

Benidorm

Until the 1960's Benidorm was a quiet fishing village, but today it is very well known in Europe and thousands of visitors flock here every year and book a beachfront villa rental Spain or apartment holiday rentals Spain. One of the reasons is that Benidorm has attractions to suit all age groups from teenagers to families with young children and Pensioners. In the summer the majority of visitors are in the 18-30 age group looking for some fun in the sun whilst the low season is appealing to older couples who want to escape the gloomy north European winter weather. The resort has three Blue Flag beaches, a good range of night-time entertainment, many bars, restaurants and discos and a theme park on the edge of town.

Denia

Denia is located about 100km from Alicante and is a cosmopolitan town with all year round sunny weather and is a lovely spot to book your beachfront villa rental Spain or Spanish apartments for rent. The town is overlooked by Mount Montgo and surrounded by the beautiful Mount Montgo Natural Park. The castle in the centre of Denia dates from the 11th Century and was originally built by the Moors during the Arab Conquest. The town has an important harbour where you can catch a ferry to the Balearic Islands such as Ibiza.

Moraira

Moraira is a small, picturesque town and due to strict planning laws is still very pretty and not over-developed. If you booked a self-catering beachfront villa rental Spain or apartment holiday rentals Spain here you will find a good selection of restaurants and bars beside the pretty yacht marina where you can sit outside and watch the world go by. The town also has its own wide, gently-shelving sandy beach with shallow waters which has been awarded the EEC Blue Flag for cleanliness and is safe for family bathing.

Booking From The Owners Direct

So if any of these fantastic resorts on the Costa Blanca north appeal to you, and you decide to book a beachfront villa rental Spain from the owners direct don't forget to arrange some travel insurance before you go. You would be amazed at how many people just take out the bare minimum insurance or even no insurance at all. If you are not sure what you need, consult a reputable insurance broker who can advise you of the policies available and recommend the right one for your particular circumstances.

The Dream, Reality and Problems of the Expat Living in Spain's Costa Blanca

This article is the first in a series about the dream, reality and unfortunately nightmare of the expat living in Spain's Costa Blanca. This first part deals with whom, why and how people end up falling for the dream of living in the sun and how it can be the best decision ever made by some people.

There is a time in most people's life when they sit back and think that there must be something better in life. Some people have an affair, some people opt for plastic surgery or a fancy sports car and some people pack it all in, in search of a better life abroad.

Statistics from the office of national statistics show that of the 300,000 citizens that leave the UK each year half head for Australia and New Zealand, 42,000 head for France and the USA/Canada and a massive 58,000 still head for the sunny shores of Spain, all in search of a life changing opportunity for the better. The prospect of a new home, new culture, new job, new language and new house prove all too irresistible for thousand of people, couples and families each and every year.

With the proliferation of tv programmes catering for every whim of the expat lifestyle and dedicated channels on satellite television, of course the prospect of buying a dream villa set in fragrant almond groves with mountain view to the back, a pristine white washed village on one side and friendly locals to the other whiling to spend long lazy days drinking sangria and the azure Mediterranean glistening in the distance. A cooling swimming pool (designed to your own specification of course) sits by your side as you fondly remember the drudgery of life back in the fast lane.

For some people this dream has turned into reality. One of my clients made the move some 4 years ago and have not had a single regret. Ignoring for the moment the change in the interest rates which have seriously affected the ability of many abroad to continue living la Vida loca.

They one sunny afternoon in 2004 whilst in London visiting friends decided to go along to the ideal home exhibition or the day. Whilst perusing the many stands they came across trade stand with a mock villa with a very reasonable price tag.... the seed had been planted. Over the next few months they proceeded to send off for brochures, purchased magazines, viewed websites and did the research anyone considering making a move abroad would do. One evening whilst watching TV an advert caught their attention.

"Thinking of moving to Spain????? Our experts are flying into the UK this weekend for a special exhibition at Jubilee suites at Chester racecourse!" With nothing to lose they jumped in the car and trundled off down the road for some no obligation perusing.

Several hours later, they had booked themselves on a "Free Inspection Tour" or should I say the Spanish property experts had. They would be enjoying a 5 day 4 night luxury break in Spain's Costa Blanca, staying in a 4 star hotel, all meals and accommodation would be paid for, their flight were subsidised so cost no more than £50 each, all they would have to pay for was drinks.

They would be given an extensive area tour on their first day to find the areas that they liked as it was more important to get the location right than the property. The subsequent days would be spent looking for the property in the areas that they previously deemed suitable, what happened after that was anyone's guess. So back in late 2004 off they left a cold wet and windy Britain and jetted into a balmy Alicante. With the temperature still in the mid 20's the scene had already been set.

They were met at the airport by their uniformed guide called Peter who with a friendly greeting took them out to their liveried car and drove them on the coast road down to their hotel. There was no mention of purchasing property and Pete chatted to them about how he came to be living out in Spain. They were later to learn that everything Pete said was virtually pre-determined by the powers that be, and the soft sell that they were experiencing was all part of a cleverly executed series of steps know as the seven steps.

Introduction - tell client about yourself (sell yourself).
Company - Build confidence in the company (sell the company).
Area - Complete a 300 km area tour (sell the area & lifestyle).
Product - find the property in their budget within area (sell the house).
Finance - arrange finance (sell the mortgage/loan).
Contract - complete sales contract.
Consolidation - be nice to them, don't give them any reason to cancel.

Now there is nothing wrong with sales, after all everything is sold to some degree or other, but this was a non stop 5 day 4 night sales pitch that was clever due to its subtlety. I will cover the ins and outs, good and bad of the sales process in a future very interesting and revealing article.

Peter the rep was very articulate and knowledgeable and had lived in Spain for a few years. It was obvious that he was trying to steer them into certain areas and styles of houses but they stuck to their guns and in the end found a beautiful site on the outskirts of a picturesque village nestled in the mountains some 30 km from the coast. It was an off plan development and they had a choice of house styles, plots and house orientations within the plot.

The formalities of applying for NIE numbers, appointing legal representation, signing contracts and paying the obligatory EUR3000 property reservation fee were all completed with little or no fuss whilst still out in Spain.

Some five days after embarking on their information obtaining, non obligation, FREE inspection visit they have committed to spending some EUR350,000 on a property, selling their property in the UK (not even for sale yet), selling their car, retiring.

You would be amazed at the amount of people who actually purchase on these trips. During the peak in the early to mid 2000's the inspection trip companies expected their reps to sell to at least 40-50% of their clients. Many of these clients like my parents were on information gathering exercises with absolutely no intention of purchasing and some had never even been abroad before.

In my clients case it proved to be the best move that they could have possibly made with very few snags along the line. They sold their property in the UK at the correct time. They purchased from a reputable builder on a good site in a great area and importantly they are surrounded by great neighbours. They have integrated into the local community and are learning the language.

The above is an example of moving to Spain or anywhere else abroad for the right reason. Many do not. In my line of work snagging properties for clients I come across a wide variety of people and their reasons for making the move. The key I feel to making the move a long, happy and successful one is to come because you want to and not because you have to.

In my next article I will uncover some of the practices of the free inspection tour companies and show you what to look out for and where you can save yourself a few pennies.

The traditional routes with Spain on the Costa Blanca Villa Holidays

The Costa Blanca is best known as a vacation home with the package, but there are also many opportunities in Spain to explore, if you are a traditional coast a break on this beautiful path.

Benidorm is one of the most popular destinations in Spain, with its block-view apartments packed beaches and busy bars and clubs.

If you leave after a typical beach holiday, there are few better destinations bookas Benidorm, but perhaps not the place for you if you want to experience real Spain. But the search for holiday homes elsewhere on the Costa Blanca and surroundings you can enjoy the glorious sunshine and high temperatures in very different ways.

If the connection between seeing a beautiful city in Spain with more time to enjoy some beautiful beaches to try, holiday homes in the area of Alicante.

L 'imposing castle of Santa Barbara overlooking the city, home to two cathedrals, streets full of traditional Spanish houses and a variety of museums with collections of art and archaeological finds.

And if you want to take a break from sightseeing, you can become one of the beaches of the city of Alicante to relax the head.

If rental near a big city not in your appeal, try to look at Villa offers some of the smaller towns in the Costa Blanca. There is aNumber of sites that are all the facilities managers of vacation, but they also managed to maintain their traditional Spanish charm.

Destinations such as Denia, Javea and Altea apartments have many good quality to choose from, and picturesque beaches and some splendid views of the mountains inland.

They also have white rows of houses on narrow winding road that are so typical of Spain.

The streets surrounded by attractions such asChurches, castles and walls of hundreds of years, is many things to see, if you want a break from relaxing on the beach.

You will also find all the traditional Spanish restaurants, bars and shops have beautiful city to enjoy the perfect holiday villa self catering in it.