Renting a Villa or Apartment in Northern Cyprus

In past times, a normal holiday consisted of visiting relatives or, if you were really lucky, a family visit to the sea-side or a big town. Then came the day of the package holiday and for the first time, people were able to visit comparatively distant places; see different countries and experience different cultures first-hand. Inevitably, package holidays were at first restricted to destinations that were reasonably close and not too 'foreign'.

From this start, grew a massive industry, carrying many thousands of visitors to places far and wide. The specialist tour market grew up in this environment, offering sometimes extremely unusual voyages. But now the tide has turned. People are abandoning the traditional package tour, in favor of making their own arrangements. This is dramatically evident in the rise in popularity of villa and apartment rentals overseas, and it is particularly noticeable in tourism to Northern Cyprus. This year, the number of visitors booking villa and apartment rentals in Northern Cyprus are likely to exceed for the first time the number who are booking conventional hotels.

It is quite easy to understand this trend. Renting a villa or an apartment in Cyprus offers many advantages over a traditional hotel booking. The few negative aspects are that there are usually no restaurant facilities on-site, so visitors will have to make their own breakfasts - though this is a plus point for many, as there are, of course, no set meal times. Also, cleaning is less frequent than you would expect in a hotel, though is usually available quite frequently. However, the positives easily outweigh these factors. For a start, guests have the luxury of substantially more space - and almost always accompanied by a significantly lower overall price. On average, renting a three-bedroom apartment in Cyprus for a week, costs about the same as a three-bedroom hotel suite for a single night!

The luxury of space is a major factor, and an especially significant benefit to families traveling abroad. Architects who design hotels have to make the best possible use of available floor area to maximize the potential number of guests who can stay at any one time. Inevitably, villas and apartments are designed from the start with residential use in mind. The difference in overall living area is massive - sometimes up to twenty times the size for a similar occupancy. Even for couples and single travelers, additional space is a wonderful luxury - for families, it's more a necessity than a bonus.

The market for villa and apartment rental in Cyprus is fairly unusual in terms of a business model. There are few, if any, major companies involved and the vast majority of property available for holiday rental is owned by private individuals or small concerns. Many villas and apartments are individually held, though a few people own two or more units. Many are second homes and are rented to the holiday market purely with a view to covering some of the costs of ownership, such as property taxes and routine maintenance. These are often some of the best available places to rent in Cyprus. They are fitted by the owners for their own use, so are equipped and furnished to very high standards and extremely comfortable. The downside is that they are frequently blocked off by the owners during peak holiday periods, so may not always be available.

In Cyprus in particular, one or two smaller companies have started to make inroads into the market for holiday property rentals. In most cases, these are current, or previous, holiday tour operators who have seen the change in the market and reacted to it accordingly. They have a great deal of local knowledge and this is a potentially important factor for potential visitors. As with private properties, the villas and apartments available are normally well furnished and equipped to high standards. They offer all the benefits of private rentals together with the additional backup of market knowledge. Most of these firms offer additional, useful, services such as car rental and assistance with flight booking. Best of all, as they are primarily commercially-based concerns, the properties are usually available year-round and not taken by the owners for their own holidays in peak periods.

Northern Cyprus villa rentals are mostly concentrated in the area between the mountain village of Bellapais and the sea-front town of Kyrenia. Apartments for rental in North Cyprus are mostly found in Kyrenia itself, many on the sea-front, though a few can be found in outlying villages. For the first-time visitor, or the experienced traveler, these are probably the best areas to stay in anyway. They are close to the main tourist hotspots and are within walking distance of attractions such as restaurants, shops, bars and tavernas.

A few years ago, renting a villa or an apartment in Northern Cyprus was something quite unusual, and something that only the experienced tourist would have considered. Nowadays, it is something that everyone should look at. Space, value and convenience and the major factors - and after all, what more could anyone ask from a holiday?