I booked it back in January for my family - me, my wife and our two teenage daughters.I was a bit nervous at it had no reviews. John the owner is UK-based and was very happy to chat things through before we went. He even managed to arrange a hire car and taxi transfers (in very nice new Mercedes mini buses) from Larnaca to the villa and back cheaper than I could book it from the UK. He told me it was the first season that it had been rented out to paying guests,rather than family and friends, hence the lack of reviews. The villa is in a wonderful location with beautiful views over the sea and the mountains from every window and the upstairs terrace is fantastic for star gazing. There were a few teething problems, but these were all sorted out very promptly and John and Mehmet (his local contact who is originally from London) were very obliging. The pool is even better than the photos suggest – it is the best we have had and we all very much enjoyed using it as much as possible to cool down. The villa is in Esentepe, a small village but with 3 restaurants, a small supermarket and a bank, where we changed Sterling to Turkish Lire at very good rates. Of the three restaurants, our favourite was the Esentepe restaurant which is literally at the top of the access road to the villa.The villa is too far from the sea to walk, so you will need a car. Our favourite was the beach at Alagadi and the views from the water are beautiful.
Kyrenia is about 25 minutes drive along the cost, and the harbour is beautiful and lined with lots of restaurants – they vary in quality. The Azure, which is not far from the harbour, is best with a set lunch for 35 Turkish Lire (£5.25) per person. We booked to see the turtles laying eggs on Alagadi beach (10 minutes from the villa) and were given a tiny turtle hatchling to hold and then release into the sea. We recommend the Jeep Safari and (Cyprusactive) & the Aphrodite boat trip (Kyrenia Boat Trips), both £40/person. We visited North Nicosia which was very hot, but interesting.The Buyuk Han (a very old inn and later British prison) was beautiful with great little shops in the old rooms/prison cells, and a very good restaurant in the courtyard. We visited Famagusta and saw the abandoned Varosha district from the road, which looked very sad and overgrown.This was a beautiful villa, in a fantastic location, with plenty to do and all much cheaper than anywhere else in Europe, by about 40% Thank you John.
