Elegance, timeless Italian taste, and craftmanship blend in this recently renovated, three-story, 7,480-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bath villa, which is all surrounded by a six-acre, private, garden.
“The winter garden is a very special feature of the house that allows you to keep contact with nature throughout the year,” says listing agent Giuseppe Porcelli of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices MAGGI Properties, who is listing the home for 4.5 million Euros.
High-end finishes include genuine venetian-style marble flooring in the living area, Chantilly parquet pattern flooring in the master bedroom and walk-in closet, precious Bisazza mosaic in the baths and exposed wooden beams in the winter garden. And, energy efficiency is guaranteed by solar panels and a hydro-power plant.
“The vibe of this home is elegance, mixed with functionality, for a homeowner who wants to live in a property where you don’t want to sacrifice comfort for design’s sake,” says Porcelli. “Still, every corner of the house has been fully renovated, with prestigious materials, such as the the typical Venetian floors.”
Additional features include an indoor and outdoor heated swimming pool and sauna.
“Visitors enjoy the outdoor and indoor pool, and the latter can be accessed directly from the bedrooms on the upper floor through a design staircase,” says Porcelli.
Also enjoy a unique view of the Venetian countryside from multiple terraces. Venice, Verona and Lake Garda are less than a 50-minute drive away.
“This home would be perfect for a family who enjoys having guests over, be it for a dinner party, a family reunion or, why not, a pool party,” says Porcelli.
With panoramic Pacific Ocean views, this exclusive and private compound is nestled in the Hermosa Hillsides in Northwest Pacific Costa Rica. The property spans two lots, each with over one-plus acres. It includes a main villa plus two guesthouses.
“Villa Vista Azul offers privacy, ocean views and flexibility as a family compound or executive or yoga retreat with rental income benefits,” says Linda Ann Gray of Coldwell Banker Coast to Coast Properties, who is listing the property for $1.675 million.
The compound is just 30 minutes to the International Airport in Liberia and a short drive to the full-service beach community of Playas Del Coco.
For more information, visit www.coldwellbankercr.com
This property originally appeared in Homes & Estates Summer Supplement.
This fantastic Mediterranean villa showcases stunning views of the Catalan coastal sea in exclusive of Punta Brava, in Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain in one of the most beautiful places of the Costa Brava. The property offers total privacy and a very impressive panoramic views of the coast.
Enter the home by the garage, which has an elevator to the solarium terrace with a bar and spectacular views. Going down, the third floor features a suite, a suite with a dressing room plus distributor room, a master suite with office, full bathroom and large dressing room with access to the garden. All suites showcase terrace and sea views.
Descending to the second floor, there are two suites, one with access to garden, living room with fireplace, and kitchen — all with access to the outside and spectacular views. Traveling to the first floor, it includes a cellar, electrical equipment room, gym, sauna, Turkish bath, and a cinema room with access to the private pool with a wooden platform. Additionally, there is an apartment for service with kitchen, living room, one double bedroom and one bathroom with shower. The garage can hold up to four cars.
The house, listed for 7.5 million euros by Coldwell Banker Prestige Begur, was built in 2012 with a modern design and high quality materials. It has a constructed area of 1,110 square meters on a 1,933-square-meter plot.
Whether you’re planning your first vacation on Saint Barths or returning a second or third time to this idyllic Caribbean island, the eclectic, boutique family-owned Les Ilets de la Plage is the perfect hideaway for families, couples, friends and solo travelers.
The new “Le Studio” opened to guests in early December and is the most recent addition to the resort’s villa collection.
Le Studio is a 592 square-foot open-plan, bright and airy studio with its own balcony and gorgeous sea views. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom beautifully designed studio features a fully equipped kitchen, chic teak armchairs with footrests in the living area, teak table and chairs in the dining area, large flat screen smart TV, spectacular ocean view terrace with comfortable seating perfect for sunrise viewings, king size bed (or twins on request), fully air conditioned throughout and more. Based in Saint Barths, Xavier David handled the project with the following team members: Beatrice David (Interior Designer), Antoine Morisetti (Architect) and Julius Gaume (Project Manager).
Les Ilets de la Plage offers 12 private villas with direct access to the white sand beach and azure sea. Secluded yet central, Les Ilets has been a well-kept secret for years, combining the privacy and serenity of a villa with a hotel concierge service at an affordable price.
Guests staying in Le Studio have access to all of the facilities and services including private beach, pool, concierge services, maid service, bakery delivery, grocery shopping service and more. Rates start from €215- €550 per night, depending on the season.
Guests can fill their days with daily yoga, aqua Pilates and /or island spa treatments. Hike the beautiful surrounding hills, power walk along the beach at dawn, swim in the ocean or do laps in the resort pool. Enjoy healthy, delicious lunches or dinners using the freshest Caribbean ingredients supplied by Mayas-to-Go.
The remote Caribbean island of Saint Barths has all the glamour of St. Tropez without all the pretentiousness that accompanies typical celebrity hotspots. Saint Barths is an utterly laid-back, hidden gem of an island, perfect for escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It has fabulous beaches, nearly perfect weather and a steady parade of yachts and sailboats to entertain travelers.
There are plenty of posh hotels on the island, but for travelers seeking to escape to a bit of privacy and seclusion, a private villa offers the ultimate haven. Les Ilets has beach side and garden villas that offer the utmost in privacy with luxe accommodations and all the amenities found at a hotel.
Photos courtesy of Gerald Tessier.
Situated in the heart of central Florida, this private estate will enchant you with its local flavor and tropical, vibrant ambience.
Isolé Villas is a brand new luxury private estate with the feel of a deluxe, boutique five-star hotel, yet with the confidentiality of a villa. Its meticulous design encompasses lavish features and posh accommodations providing its exclusive guests an unforgettable, customized stay.
The expansive 25,000-square-foot home boasts 15 stunning suites, including two Presidential Suites and two Ambassador Suites, as well as 11 one-bedroom suites. All are appointed with Frette fine linens, one-of-a-kind artwork and private marble bathrooms.
Ideally located, Isolé Villas is situated within a secure private golf course community in Orlando where the local flavor of central Florida melds with the vibrant, tropical vibe of the Caribbean.
This home comes with a long list of amenities and and activities, including a multi-level salt-water pool that is complete with a 60-foot swim lane and Jacuzzi, a fashionable spa and wellness center featuring full service treatments by ESPA-trained professionals, a Turkish steam room, fitness room and Zen lounge.
This estate also includes a private 19-seat movie theater featuring surround sound and a well-stocked snack bar serving classic movie favorites, an indoor fitness court for basketball, yoga, Pilates or other indoor sports, a cigar lounge featuring the villa’s signature collection of fine cigars and rare labels of Scotch and vintage wines, a piano salon, grand dining room that seats up to 40, sports lounge and game room.
Surrounded by championship golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer, the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are approximately an hour’s drive away. Numerous nearby inland lakes serve as recreational hubs for boating, swimming and fishing.
This private estate is ideal for couples, families, weddings, groups and corporate retreats looking for a first-class experience close to Walt Disney World and Orlando attractions. The property is staffed full time with an onsite villa manager, as well as a villa concierge who can organize any number of activities — from arranging lavish private dinner parties to scheduling golf outings, theme park visits, shopping excursions and more.
Photos courtesy of Isolé Villas
Owners of high-end apartments and villas around the world are differentiating themselves by offering customized concierge services and immersive experiences.
By Kelly Potts
Imagine creating perfect macaroons in the kitchen of an award-winning pastry chef in Paris; enjoying a fireworks display from the comfort of an Irish castle; taking extravagant boat rides around ancient coves in Greece. These are just a few of the bespoke experiences that are now being offered by vacation rental services around the globe.
As travelers search for more tailored itineraries and concierge amenities during their luxury getaway, brands like Paris Perfect, Adams & Butler and White Key Villas provide an authentic, culturally immersed experience for clients who want the total destination package.
PARIS PERFECT
Madelyn Byrne and husband Philippe Willems created Paris Perfect about 20 years ago when they found themselves traveling back and forth between their apartments in London and Paris. They decided to rent out Willems’ Paris apartment to family and friends while he joined Byrne in London, and were then inspired to offer unique rental options for vacationers looking for a true Parisian experience.
Dedicated to providing travelers “la vie Parisienne,” Paris Perfect offers concierge services in addition to bespoke excursions including skip-the-line tours of local attractions, day or night cruises along the Seine river in a private yacht and specialized shopping tours in the city’s best boutique shops.
“Our goal is to find that experience that a client wouldn’t normally do at home, that they can really enjoy doing in Paris,” says Byrne. One new service the company offers is called Paris Perfect Gourmet. “We explore the neighborhood shops together and offer exclusive cooking classes with gourmet chefs,” says Byrne. The hands-on experience includes an award-winning chef showing travelers where to buy ingredients, how to cook meals and even how to make the most of leftovers.
Byrne jokes that being married to a Frenchman requires a love of food — and Paris certainly makes that love come naturally. In fact, Byrne thinks that every family who visits Paris should have a “scavenger hunt” that requires each family member to look for a different type of food in shops around the city to create the perfect Parisian meal together. “I want families to do that more than anything else,” she says, “It’s an experience that everyone should have in their life.”
The company has also transitioned into real estate in addition to vacation rentals, helping over 90 owners find apartments in Paris. Byrne, who mentions that Paris fascinated her from her first visit, still enjoys the village-like atmosphere that the city provides. “We want our owners and guests to share in the magic of living in a small village in Paris,” says Byrne, “Paris is to be lived and savored and enjoyed.”
Top photo by Martin Morrell, courtesy Paris Perfect
Bottom photo courtesy Paris Perfect
Top photo courtesy Wikicommons/TheLizardQueen
Bottom photo courtesy Adams & Butler
ADAMS & BUTLER
Founder and CEO Siobhan Byrne Learat developed the business plan for Adams & Butler as her thesis for her MBA at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in Ireland. By 2003, her thesis was a reality. “I set up Adams & Butler to satisfy the need for add-on services at the high-end level, but I soon realized that there was a huge gap in the market for a ‘one-stop shop’ luxury vacation experience in Ireland,” she says.
Now, Adams & Butler is exactly that one-stop shop, combining high-end experiences and services with private vacation rentals. With themed itineraries ranging from ‘Glitz & Glamour,’ offering luxurious spa treatments, shopping and a horse-drawn carriage tour, to ‘TV & Movie Tours,’ bringing you to locations where scenes from Game of Thrones, Outlander and Downton Abbey were shot, Adams & Butler offers excursions to appeal to anyone. “At the moment, our most popular requests are for food, whiskey and genealogy tours,” says Learat.
The company is often asked to assist clients in researching their roots in Ireland. “We can put together a specialized ‘Trace Your Ancestor’ itinerary using our expert genealogists,” Learat says. “The final result when you meet those long-lost cousins over a cup of tea are tears streaming down the face of joy and laughter!”
Learat mentions that her favorite offering is living the real Downton Abbey experience. “We can arrange for you to stay with an Earl as his guest in his private castle — like having a real Downton Abbey experience,” she says. The itinerary can include tea with the Earl and his cousins, private tours and a few rounds of golf at the five-star Lough Erne Golf Resort.
“We have people on the ground in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales as well as Africa who are constantly on the lookout for new experiences and properties for us to include in our itineraries,” Learat says. “We have access to so many people just to provide that perfect experience that’ll stay with you for a lifetime.”
Left photo by Costas Mitropoulos, courtesy White Key Villas; Middle and right photos by Louisa Nikolaidov, courtesy White Key Villas
WHITE KEY VILLAS
White Key Villas was founded in 2008 in Greece, when founders Dimitris Giannakopoulos and Anna Deimezi realized that families were not fully satisfied with vacationing at luxury hotels. Marketing Director Elena Fotiadi mentions, “the reason for this was not that the level of services was inferior, but the fact that in a hotel compared to the villa experience, they could not enjoy the sense of privacy, which is essential for spending quality time with their families.”
Because of that, Fotiadi says that most of White Key Villas’ typical clients tend to be families or a group of good friends who want to spend some quality time in a relaxed, private environment. The company prides itself on not only its large selection of villas, but also finding the right option for a client. “We know our villas and our destinations very well,” says Fotiadi, “We believe that half of the success is to make the right villa selection for our clients.”
White Key Villas offers travel and lifestyle amenities that can include services tailored to each client: an off-the route private helicopter transfer to a boat ride around ancient coves, or a toy package/baby equipment waiting upon your arrival are just a few of the lifestyle and travel experiences that White Key Villas includes. “Our list of services is endless: car rental, airport transfer, chauffeur, private jet, personal chef, yacht rentals, personal trainer, yoga classes, childcare and everything else you can imagine,” says Fotiadi.
White Key Villas has properties in 26 different locations throughout Greece including popular locations such as Mykonos, Corfu or Santorini, but Fotiadi notes that they also manage some stunning properties in more off-the-beaten-track beachfront locations with stunning sea views.
“Knowing that 95 percent of our clients are families with children and being parents ourselves, we know how to point you and your clients in the right direction with respect to children having the best time,” says Fotiadi. “Our main assets are our people and our years of know-how that ensure a sophisticated experience from booking to departure.”