Villa Solana Reviews

We booked this villa after having had a holiday in Calpe last year at a villa complex which we enjoyed.
This year we thought we'd hire a villa. We booked this one which was a privately owned villa in Pedreguar. Technically, this is listed as Denia but in reality, it's a good 10km from Denia. We booked it for the privacy, the quietness, the private pool and the lovely view of the mountains opposite. A car is essential. Pedreguar is a little village with a convenient supermarket within a few kilometres.

We were not disappointed. We had a few hiccups with the keys and a padlocked gate which were sorted fairly quickly. The villa was beautiful and very clean. Directions to the villa were clear and easy to follow. the pool was pristine and the garage had sun loungers, chairs and tables for use. The cot we had booked was also prone to collapsing which wasn't good.

The weather was boiling. Too hot really as it precluded too much travelling to the beach with the baby and Spanish beaches are a little sparsely served with facilities.

The best beach seemed to be north of Denia heading out along the coast road. There are plenty of side roads leading to vast tracts of golden beach if you can put up with toilet cubicles and limited facilities. Denia itself is more a fishing port but the beach is accessible but more crowded at this end.

We visited Mundomar in Benidorm which is ";SeaWorld"; in Spanish and it features a dolphin show which is very good although the limited space can mean it gets crowded. It's not cheap though - 20 Euros for adults and 14 for children.

We also visited the safari park in the Sierra Aitana which is a couple of hours drive out of Pedreguar through the spectacular mountain scenery. We stopped off at Guadalest which is very pretty and touristy. The safari park is quite hard to find and when you arrive, it seems a bit run down. It doesn't have the swimming pool the guide books say it has. However, what a great experience. It's much better than the one at Vergel. It cost 34 Euros for the 2 adults, one child and a baby. You are invited to follow a feeding lorry which attracts all the animals to you and once inside, you can get out and interact with the animals. It has llamas and deer as you'd expect, horses, bison, zebras and so forth. Highlights are a rhinoceros and a pair of hippos which you can't interact with for obvious reasons but get a great close-up view of and 3 frican elephants which you are encouraged to get out and interact with and stroke. Can't get better than that. the cafe is a bit run down too but they supply food and the petting zoo is a bit lame. There is a monkey and a pot-bellied pig that wander round free wto amuse people. It was sad that not more people visited this safari park as it was a quality collection of animals (lions and tigers were in separate smaller enclosures you could drive round) but being high in the mountains, it's off the beaten track and it has suffered commercially for it's location which is a real shame.

We stopped off at a waterfall on the way back but you have to park and walk uphill a few miles so we abandoned that one.

As with last year, we found the best resort by a country mile was Moraira which is small and picturesque, has lots of parking and lots of restaurants and shops plus a small fair for the children. They also have a marina full of rabid fish. take aloaf of bread to the marina's edge and throw some bread in to see a spectacular free for all amongst the trout as they thrash and fight for the bread in vast quantities. That's free too. Calpe is also a nice place to visit but a lot bigger. Denia was pretty underwhelming. the only problem with Moraira is it has a small and very crowded beach.

We visited Calpe and had a ride on the ";submarine"; boat which has seats below the water line to allow you to see the fish plus you get a ride round the Penon Ifach rock. I also recommend that as you travel south out of Calpe, you turn left into Maryvilla and follow the directions to the top where you will get an absolutely breathtaking aerial view of Calpe and the Costa Blanca. It's not well known or signposted on the main road and we only found it by accident but it's stunning and it's free.

We also took the opportunity to visit the cave local to Pedreguar at Ben-something or other. Very impressive and unlike UK attractions, quite cheap. Well worth it.

We flew with ThompsonFly again who I would not recommend at all. The plane wasn't very good and we were delayed an unacceptable 8 hours on the return journey with the usual minimal information from two harassed reps who weren't being told what was happening. Having booked the more expensive Saturday flights to ensure we'd get back at 9pm because of the children, we ended up leaving at 3am and arriving in the UK at 5am. In mitigation, they gave us two snack-type meals while at the airport without quibbling. However, it spoilt the holiday and meant we had no sleep on Sunday. No problems with any of the other airlines.

I would have no hesitation in booking another villa. The property was a high standard (although personally I wouldn't pay over 350,000 Euros for one) and the deposits were refunded within 2 days of our return without any deductions. Villa Solana is a new villa on an uncompleted villa development. The pool was clean and warm. My only gripe was that it was very hot and the ceiling fans (no air con) weren't strong enough and had to be kept on all night. There is some building work occasionally on the other properties but nothing even remotely intrusive and it's not overlooked on the pool side. As a result of this being on the newer side, there are few occupied villas so it's very tranquil at night. Worth a drive up the other side of the developoment too where you will get another spectacular view across the valley below.