The difference between a good villa week and a great one is almost always staffing. The villa provides the setting; the staff decide how much of your time you spend enjoying it.

The baseline

Daily housekeeping is included in most of our rates. Beyond that, the first hire we recommend is a house manager for groups of eight or more — one point of contact who runs everything else.

Chefs and provisioning

A private chef books out two to four weeks ahead in season. If you only want two or three staffed dinners, say so early — partial weeks are easier to arrange than they used to be, but not on short notice.