“Postira reminded us of a fishing village in Cornwall where we had once lived but with the added advantage of superb weather and lower prices!”

1) Tell us a little about your property.

My wife and I bought Joran apartment in 2006. It is the penthouse of a traditional stone house right beside the clear Adriatic sea on the tranquil and charming Croatian Island of Brac. Postira, where the apartment is located, is a small typical Dalmatian fishing village, with pretty cobbled streets, and a lovely harbour. The apartment Joran can be rented from us from April through to the end of September, and although it is spacious enough to accommodate 4 persons we limit occupancy to couples only.

2) What made you buy Joran? Was it financial, emotional, a connection with the area, or something else?

The apartment was bought following a cycling holiday around the Croatian islands. We chose Island Brac as it was about the right distance from the mainland to give it an island feel, yet close enough so that trips could be made to Split and other Islands using frequent ferries.

Postira reminded us of a fishing village in Cornwall where we had once lived but with the added advantage of superb weather and lower prices. I can clearly recall spending several days looking at apartments and houses on Brac Island without finding quite what we were looking for, but when were shown this penthouse apartment it was hard to suppress our delight.

3) What’s the best thing about Brac, the island on which Joran is located? Is it the scenery, the pace of life, the locals, the activities, etc?

I think the best thing is the proximity from the mainland, far enough away to give a true laid back Adriatic Island feeling, yet close enough to make day trips to the city of Split and other nearby islands.

4) What are the 3 special touches you add to enhance the guest experience?

1. As we use the apartment ourselves out of the main season, it is furnished nicely and in keeping with the apartment style;

2. We use the services of a professional management company to ensure a high degree of cleanliness on arrival;

3. Our commitment to ensure that the holiday makers stay runs smoothly. We are always available to offer advice on travel, car hire and general enquiries about the apartment and location.

5) If a guest had just one day in your apartment Joran what would you recommend they do for the perfect experience?

Get up early, take a swim from the beach directly below Joran, then back to the apartment for a leisurely breakfast, relax on the balcony while watching the fish below.

After breakfast, stroll through the pine woods to the lovely sandy bay of Lovrecina, swim in the warm shallow water, have lunch at the café there, then head back to the apartment and lounge on the terrace furniture.

In the evening dine at one of the village restaurants (my favourite is Bracera with tables at the waters edge). Finish the day off nicely with a book and glass of local wine on the balcony.

To rent this penthouse apartment in Postira from Joe, please complete the contact form which can be found at the bottom of the page on the above link.

Here are just a few ideas to pique interest in your vacation rental:

1.) In print media and elsewhere, a QR code can be used. To the uninitiated, these appear to be undecipherable black and white squares, resembling a blotchy barcode at the supermarket. In fact, they are a valuable tool for smart phone users. By simply pointing their phone at the code, they will be instantly transported to your website – or to any page on the internet of your choosing. There is no need to tap in a long URL, as the QR code is a “click and go” tool.

An image like this can be an easy way to reach your homepage, or can lead to a dedicated special offer page, a menu du jour…or anything else. You might want to add one to your brochures and name cards, to a menu, to staff T shirts, or to the signpost of your holiday cottage. Alternatively, produce an intriguing poster advertisement that will incite viewers to click through either to your site or to a Youtube video of your property.

Best of all, this holiday home advertising need not cost a penny. Simply visit a site such as QR or Quikqr then type in the URL of the page for which you wish to generate a code, and click go. Save the code as an image, then use it!

2.) Visit your local tourism office and see what opportunities there are to add details of your property to their collateral, both online and offline.

3.) Create some appealing postcards and leave these in your holiday rental for guests to use free of charge. You could even offer to post them for free. Remember, word of mouth recommendations from friends are one of the most valuable forms of communication.

4.) Create a printed guide to the local area surrounding your holiday rental with details on places to visit, to shop, and to eat and drink. Personal recommendations for that local pub full of character, or that small bistro renowned by the locals for its superb cuisine, are always excellent tips. Remember that adding these points of interest near your vacation rental on your listing at Getaway Earth will also attract holidaymakers. Give opening times and rates for local attractions, important telephone numbers, and include a free take-way map. Your guide can be branded with your website and QR code, and if done well, other local businesses may well be happy to display it for their own guests.

5.) Create a local recipes booklet, brand it and give it away free of charge. Foodies will take copies to give to friends seeking a vacation rental with a difference.

Feel free to use the comments box below to share other ways in which you promote your holiday home offline. If you are a holidaymaker who often books a vacation rental, let us know how holiday rentals owners have successfully caught your eye in the past – or put yourself in their shoes and let us know how you would spread the word on any holiday home that you owned!

Research has consistently corroborated what the owners of most holiday homes – and Chico – know instinctively: That recommendations on places to stay on holiday are most likely to be followed if the holiday rental is recommended by friends.

Nielsen Research questioned over 28,000 internet users in almost 60 countries and found that over 92% of users place a much higher level of trust in recommendations made by word of mouth from friends. In addition, we can see how vacation rental review sites are frequently consulted to verify details on a holiday home owner’s website.

In addition, Flipto have calculated that, on average, each guest has 130 friends on facebook, 300 followers on twitter and 60 connections on linkedin… all potential ambassadors for your holiday rental.

In order to have your friends help promote your property, Getaway Earth Holiday Rentals gives holiday home owners the opportunity to feature their twitter feeds, facebook pages and reviews, as well as their own cottage or rental website on their accommodation listing. Steering your friends to like or tweet your listing page on Getaway Earth can help in spreading the word about the holidays you offer.

Of course, we are fully aware that, for the majority of holiday home owners listing on Getaway Earth, the overwhelming focus is on taking care of their guests, and we are aware how time consuming this is. Holiday home owners need to be a jack of all trades – arranging transportation, answering emails, cleaning, decorating and maintaining their holiday home, keeping up with local activities and opening times, preparing unique welcome packs or freshly cooked meals, tending to their gardens and grounds and private pools, and much, much more. This dedication to exceeding guest expectations will of course, in itself, generate positive word of mouth – but may well relegate updating social media sites to a secondary level. Owners, share your thoughts on Chico’s words in the comments box below. If you are a potential guest looking for a holiday home to rent, we’d love to hear from you about how you decide to pick one holiday home over another!

What is the Point of a Holiday Rental Score?
We want to increase bookings for our holiday home owners. Listings that are beautifully presented, with high quality, easy to absorb information, are more likely to grab a renter’s attention. Read Google’s 5 stages of travel and you’ll see that the average person visits 22 travel-related websites during 9.5 different sessions before making a booking! We all need to recognise this and grab the holidaymaker’s attention, hold it, and lead them to a booking!

How Does the Score Help This?
The score is designed to help us work through this process together, setting out very clearly what needs to be done to build a holiday rental website with the very best presented listings. But take note: We do not want renters to see anything sub-standard, so any listing with a score of less than 50 will not be returned in the search results on our home page, meaning no chance of bookings. Scores over 50 will display in search results, with the highest scores ranking at the top of those results.

So Tell Me Precisely How I Improve my Holiday Rental Listing Score
Here goes. We’re going to give you full visibility into how the score works. In return we need your help in making the necessary changes to your listing. How can we become successful and deliver you bookings if a renter visits our site and sees something sub-standard? Remember 22 sites in 9.5 sessions. Internet users (like all of us) have no patience and lots of power!

- Delete all existing small photos and upload at least 10 larger format, high quality photos, earning 15 points*

- We will award a further 20 points, according to the overall presentation*

* All 3 items marked with a star will not update instantly. We need to moderate them first. Simply uploading new photos itself won’t earn 15 points. But if those photos are of good quality, are attractive and appropriate, we will award 15 points.

So that’s it. Please remember, this score IS NOT visible to the public. Only you (and us of course) know your holiday rental listing’s score. And once again it IS NOT an uninformed rating of you or your holiday home; we would never dare to attempt this. It’s plain and simple about how well your listing is presented on our site, in turn making it attractive and sticky for a potential renter.

What Should I Consider a Good Score?
At present (22 April 2012) all holiday rental listings have a score of 50+ until we fully moderate them. This will be done over the next couple of weeks so please do not be surprised if your score changes (or even drops below 50 if nothing has been updated).

Here is a quick guide:

0-50: The listing will not be shown on the site
50-60: Average standard
60-70: Good standard
70-80: Very high standard
80+: Excellent

Just a word on this though. 60-70 may seem to many a low score. However bear in mind that a first class honours university degree, the top achievement (in the UK anyway), is awarded when you achieve 70%+. We like to think of it that way!

But I Don’t Have Facebook, Twitter or a Personal Holiday Rental Website
RELAX! You do not necessarily need them. Think about the scoring attributes for a minute. If your listing has good photos, a 170 character short description, a well written full description, a Q&A, and an up to date calendar, then our discretionary 20 points is very likely to be awarded. That will result in a score of 71. But take note: If you then choose to ignore your listing, the 20 points will eventually erode back to zero and a score of 51.

Thanks for reading. We hope everything is clear. Together let’s raise the standard of holiday rental presentation on Getaway Earth, giving ourselves the best possible chance of increased bookings!

“We have placed a special emphasis on finishing the villa to a high standard, using local antiques, indigenous silks and cottons, teak furniture, four poster beds with hotel quality linens and mattresses, the quietest air-conditioning units on the market, a kitchen equipped with everything you could need, and more. We want guests to return, so need to exceed their expectations!”

1) Tell us a little about your property.

Rice Paddy Villa is an unusual Thai villa, in an eclectic setting. It is a tranquil, two bedroom property with a private pool that enjoys panoramic views over our neighbouring rice paddies.

Designing and building the villa was an interesting project. I knew I wanted specific creature comforts such as air-conditioning, a swimming pool and a properly equipped, spacious kitchen, but also wanted the villa to have a sense of place and a suggestion of history. To achieve this, I spent time looking at traditional Isan houses in the immediate locality. It soon became apparent that, over the past decade or so, more and more villagers were replacing their traditional wooden houses with modern brick homes. There I was, admiring century old wooden pillars or ancient hardwood floorboards polished by the passing of innumerable feet, whilst the locals were dreaming of replacing these with concrete columns or ceramic tiles in the pursuit of modernity…

It was a happy coincidence. I ended up purchasing five old wooden houses, lock, stock and barrel, to reclaim those elements that had a timeless quality. And the villagers now had a cleared site – and the money on which to build their new homes. Ironically, the entire team that worked on the construction comprised local villagers like these, as they have an expertise in woodwork and craftsmanship developed over centuries of using these indigenous materials.

I also envisioned a property that brought the outside in, and the inside out, maximizing views, breezes and outdoor living in this tropical country. The villa fundamentally comprises an entrance hall, a spacious dining room, an oversized kitchen, a library, a media room, two king bedrooms, an outdoor covered “sala”, and the wooden deck and pool. Rather than have the standard flow within the house, with corridors or connecting rooms, the villa was designed to have an “outdoor” flow, via a cloister-like, wrap-around verandah by the hardwood deck and saltwater pool.

2) What made you buy Rice Paddy Villa? Was it financial, emotional, a connection with the area, or something else?

The villa was not purchased, but constructed from scratch. It was inspired by my wish to have a place to relax and chill in the tranquility of the Thai countryside, in a villa that married indigenous architectural traditions with practical considerations.

I enjoy cooking, and wanted grounds where I could grow some of my own produce. As such I preferred ample grounds in an agricultural area to a small plot by the sea – in addition to the fact that a site in an area such as this is much better protected from eventual new construction nearby. Thai food is surprisingly varied, with each of the main regions having its own special dishes, just as one finds in Italy or France, and I particularly like the robust and zingy flavours of Isan cuisine. Making a Khao Tom with new rice one has grown on site, or using organic limes picked from the bush and herbs straight from the garden in a fresh and spicy Yam salad makes all the difference!

Furthermore, I wanted a place that was removed from the tourist crowds – somewhere that has remained authentic and that is likely to stay so for decades to come.

3) What’s the best thing about Northeast Thailand, the region Rice Paddy Villa is located? Is it the scenery, the pace of life, the locals, the activities, etc?

It’s a blend of them all. I would reiterate that one of the highlights of the region for me is that it has not been consumed by either mass tourism or by large scale industrial development, factors that have played a role in other regions of the kingdom. It has remained true to its roots, a principally agricultural region dotted by traditional villages where small-scale land owners cultivate their crops, where traditions and heritage remain strong, and where that rural sense of community – so absent in major cities – prevails. The people of Isan are certainly some of the most friendly and fun-loving of the kingdom.

It is also a region of vast historical importance and is strewn with major sites such as the temple ruins of Phimai or Khao Phra Viharn, with national parks and with world class scenic drives. And the changing seasons always cast a different light on the area, seeing lush green rice paddy quilts turn to gold, and hot sun-drenched days give way to cool, clear nights.

4) What are the 3 special touches you add to enhance the guest experience?

1. A local Thai family looks after guests, in person, from the time their flight arrives to the time their plane departs. They bring them to the villa, show them the area, answer any questions they may have either about the villa or the region, are happy to show them around and get them involved in the local community, cook their meals, do their laundry…and generally ensure that they get the very most out of their holiday.

2. Whilst I enjoy cooking, the trouble with self-catering holiday rentals is…that they are self-catering! Most people want to relax on holiday, and even if they enjoy cooking and may want to prepare certain meals themselves or to learn about Thai food, they enjoy the fact that all their meals are included throughout their stay at the villa. This gives them more time to simply enjoy the property and pool, and to get out and about. They do not need to think about shopping lists, doing all the prep work, doing the cooking itself…or even about the washing up!

3. There’s nothing worse than turning up in a holiday rental that is to be your home for a week, and to discover that it is poorly equipped or decorated. We have placed a special emphasis on finishing the villa to a high standard, using local antiques, indigenous silks and cottons, teak furniture, four poster beds with hotel quality linens and mattresses, the quietest air-conditioning units on the market, a kitchen equipped with everything you could need, and more. We want guests to return, so need to exceed their expectations!

5) If a guest had just one day in Rice Paddy Villa what would you recommend they do for the perfect experience?

It would largely depend upon the season in which the guest visited. If in the cool season, between December and March, I’d definitely recommend an early morning trip on the spectacular Talay Bua Daeng or Pink Lotus Sea, which is a five minute drive from here by samlor. If in the green season, then getting out into the verdant rice paddies would be fun. Most visitors know little of the cultivation of rice in all its varieties, and enjoy joining in with the seedling planting or the harvest and discovering how things are done – at least for a while! In the hotter months, there are rocket festivals and other local ceremonies where traditions are still respected, and visiting these can be an eye-opener. Again, just getting out and about in our tuk-tuk, by boat, or on bicycle can be the best way to meet the locals and to get the best insights into local ways of life here.

Then of course there are numerous historical sites such as the UNESCO World Heritage site at Ban Chiang nearby, with its museum and local craft shops, silk-weaving villages, the border with Laos on the Mekong river, snake farms, bustling local markets to wander through, village schools to drop into, forest temples to visit and so much more. …but however keen guests may be to discover and explore, they should definitely also enjoy the villa itself. Perhaps a traditional Thai massage by the burbling pool with a long cold drink, before a walk around the grounds, followed by a dip in the pool and a good read before a superb evening meal, after which they can sit and chat in the sala under the bright, star-washed skies…

To rent Rice Paddy Villa from Charles, please complete the contact form which can be found at the bottom of the page on the above link.

It dawned on me that this is exactly what the next few phases of Getaway Earth are all about. We have the perspective of 15 years as holiday home renters and, as I wrote in a recent blog on holiday rentals versus hotels, we have experienced first hand how tough it can be to find your perfect holiday home.

So, how are we intending to make holiday rentals 10 times better? Thinking big (actually small) is how. Do holiday rental websites have to contain over 200,000 listings? What about if they just had a few thousand? Can a niche site survive? What about starting with the holiday maker’s needs, not the owner’s offerings? What about asking owners to commit and invest hours on their Getaway Earth listing? What about penalising owners who don’t invest that time? What about offering a virtual travel guide? It’s these questions we’ve been asking ourselves (and many others besides). And it’s some of these themes which we are currently coding into the next phase of Getaway Earth’s development.

What do you think? What would make holiday rentals 10 times better?

I’m staying in Key West with the family, our first trip to the Keys. It’s always been a lifetime ambition of mine to come here, drawn by the romantic cliches of palm trees and tropical island laid back living. And so far it hasn’t disappointed, it’s a beautiful place. But our search, like anyone planning a holiday, started months ago on a PC in our living room (also with a glass of red wine!).

Researching Holiday Rentals
Like all experienced travel planners, we had a shopping list of requirements. It began well, the usual excitement of relaxing somewhere warm. We had some banter about where to go, my wife opting for her usual Floridian habits, me wanting something different. She won of course but the concession to me was the Key West dream. So, destination set, we got to finding a holiday rental…

Only we didn’t! More than a few hours later, lethargy and frustration had won the day. Bored with scrolling through hundreds of options we gave up. Decision time. With just 6 nights away we wanted to make the most of our down time and decided self catering wasn’t critical. We also knew that, although tropical, February is still winter in the Northern Hemisphere, so a heated pool was top of the list. We’ve experienced way too many freezing pools and, as with anyone who has kids knows, that means trouble for the adult relaxation zone.

So we decided to try our luck with a hotel search. TripAdvisor sprang to mind immediately. We punched in Key West and then sorted by ranking. Within a few minutes we settled on Santa Maria Suites, #1 ranked on TA with hundreds of reviews. And, whilst expensive, it wasn’t way off the price of a 2 bedroom holiday rental matching our shopping list of requirements in this part of the world. Best of all it solved the age old hotel issue when travelling with a family: Lack of space. We bagged ourselves a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, full kitchen, high speed WiFi, heated pool, intimate, hotel holiday rental. Job done.

Reflections on the Vacation Rental Search Experience
Hours searching for a holiday rental. Minutes finding a hotel. If I think about it, that’s how it’s always been. Every holiday I can remember over the last 15 years has started with hours of searching. It starts with selecting the holiday rental site (and of course only ever page 1 of Google). As soon as I land on the homepage I decide instantly if I want to proceed. The bad ones are obvious. Almost always we end up firing off a dozen or so enquiries through a few different sites. But that’s just the start because most holiday rental sites then handover the booking process to the owners. What ensues are further hours (spread over days) waiting for owners to respond, finding out the place is already booked, swapping emails to ask questions not answered on the listing, probing to gauge whether the owner is legitimate, I could go on. Trust me this is a renter’s reality. I have rented for nearly 15 years and it’s the same drill every time. And I’m not alone, family and friends tell me the very same thing. Using TA for hotels, all of that disappears. You invest time in highly ranked hotels with a sufficiently large number of reviews. You then book instantly with confidence.

Reflections on the Concierge
Having Derek the concierge on standby for anything we might need is the standout feature of this hotel. Need a bike rental? Want to know the best place for breakfast? Where do the locals go for take out? What’s the best jogging route? Every single question is answered by Derek, who also tends the poolside bar and makes the kids complimentary smoothies. I wonder one day if a virtual Derek is possible, what do you think? Let’s face it, in an unknown place, having reliable, local recommendations is like gold dust. I read somewhere recently that having the best experiences on holiday is always about experiencing something local (I’m assuming common sense prevails when I say this!).

Reflections on the Holiday Accommodation
Daily maid service, chocolates and muffins left each day (the kids went crazy), dishwasher stacked and run, clothes and shoes tidied up, bathrooms cleaned, all the little touches. And, whilst they didn’t do our laundry, we still had the holiday rental style amenities: Washer and dryer. This place had the lot.

The $64,000 Question: Holiday Rental or Hotel?
Holiday Rental. No doubt. Everything I said above stands. But it’s still a hotel. Allow me to explain…

The Search Experience. I actually love the hours of searching for a holiday home. Yes it can be frustrating and time consuming. But this is part of the art of finding a holiday rental. Believe me, as you start trading emails with owners, it becomes obvious the ones you’d really like to rent from. They are quick to respond. Polite. Courteous. Often witty. Never tired of answering the endless and sometimes absurd questions. Happy to send more photos. They do what hotels don’t. They offer the personal touch and the inside track. The hours spent searching end up as a great investment.

The Concierge vs the Holiday Home Owner. Derek you were great, you helped make a perfect holiday for us. But you come with a salary and my room rate reflects it! And of course I’ll tip you because you went above and beyond! What’s interesting is that I usually get something very similar from holiday home owners (the good ones) who know the area very well and have tried and trusted experiences over time. Granted it’s not real time (there we go again, the virtual concierge…) but self catering holiday makers tend to be more resourceful and independent (unlike our lazy hotel frequenters!) so can live with that. And if all else fails, Yelp helps out. It’s a kind of virtual concierge come TripAdvisor. But it still falls short of the tried and trusted owner recommendation.

The Accommodation: Hotel Homogeneity vs Vacation Rental. It’s great but it’s still a hotel and you can feel it. There is no character, no life. And don’t get me started on the miniscule coffee maker or the weird fridge (basically 3 drawers). Chocolates and muffins are great, but somehow the owner who leaves a couple of bottles of good local wine on arrival is the one I remember. Perhaps that speaks to my love of wine over sugar. Besides, the kids get as many kicks out of shopping the local store for sugary cereal on arrival, something we ban at home! And as for character, every holiday rental I’ve ever stayed in has had all the personal touches and often quirky owner style decor (I remember one with dolphin murals on the wall, not quite my taste, but the ceiling to floor windows overlooking the ocean more than made up for it).

What Does it all Mean for Getaway Earth Holiday Rentals?
For starters, all of you currently listed with us need to imagine yourself as Derek the concierge! Seriously, you have the knowledge. Share it! Us holiday makers will lap it up. Go and check out the POI’s on Getaway Earth. Next, work on those descriptions and photos. Put yourselves in my shoes. I’m impatient. I have a wide array of options. TripAdvisor beckons…

Finally remember that the future of Getaway Earth is going to be less about mass vacation rentals and more about niche vacation rentals from owners that actually give a 4X about the holiday maker’s experience. Us renters are people with power and we’ll walk on by anything sub standard. Let’s build a site that respects that reality.

We’re working on our end of the bargain, together with a new partner and new funds: Coming soon is a quality algorithm which will weed out the good from the bad and the ugly. We’ll follow that later this year with a full site redesign. And all the while we’re building our search presence (some great progress made in the last month). I’d love to know if you’re with us…

“A land steeped in the history of the Crusades, of warrior knights, and Muslim architecture…of pigs, darum wheat, fava, anchovy, and olives, as far as the eye can see…”

1) Tell us a little about your property.

We bought Bellissimo because although neglected we thought she was beautiful. We loved the land with olive and fruit trees, the fact that Bellissimo is only 7 kilometers from Ostuni, and yet rural with no through traffic. Nestling in the Itria valley, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bellissimo was three separate buildings, the oldest part (main trullo) dating back to the 17th century, with some walls approaching 2 metres in depth. We bought Bellissimo in 2006, and spent 3 years remodeling/renovating the house. Considering the internal spaces I’ve had to think about the nature of the building and sympathetic use of its age and fabric. Local artisans have been employed from the outset to renovate and landscape the house and orchard to include a pool, terraces and outdoor kitchen. Bellissimo has been quoted in several publications for the quality of its interiors. At Bellissimo you will find a combination of Gujerati wall hangings, Iranian rough hewn marble, volcanic hand-baked tiles from Etna and French damask. A truly bijou property, I seek in my own artisan way to create beautiful spaces for our clients to relax, spaces which are functional as well as distinct.

My overriding desire has been to create a home that helps to transport our guests from the humdrum to the beautiful.

2) What made you buy Bellissimo – was it financial, emotional, a connection with the area, or something else?

I can’t say that it was ever a desire to buy a property in the south of Italy, but ever since reading the classic Carlo Levi novel ‘Christ Stopped at Eboli’, it had become an ambition to meet the people of the south, people who seem more of Byzantium or the Levant than Europe. Upon alighting from the Rome/Lecce express one late August afternoon, you could sense the difference. The Italy of Milan, Florence or Venice was distant chimera upon the horizon. I discovered here was an Italy of attitude and passion, rather than the bland homogeneity of its northern cousins.

Time also seems to pass differently here, of course it is reality as it is everywhere, but not quite as all-governing. It is a strange land of harsh sun, and simple food, of superstition and religion, of peasant families and long loyalties. Puglia feels like a land of old Europe, and whilst modernity encroaches, and tourists are more numerous, the quiet of the Puglian hinterland, populated by its cities of olive groves and phasmagoric mists is sublimely enchanting.

A land steeped in the history of the Crusades, of warrior knights, and Muslim architecture, of feudal custom, of bastioned grand houses and a peasant stock that built small conical dwellings with roofs could easily be dismantled in order to escape crippling taxes.

This is a land where men and women of no education or training have fashioned rock to create stunning architecture within even the most humble of abodes. A land that relies upon the seasons rather than commerce for its simple foodstock – of pigs, darum wheat, fava, anchovy, and olives, as far as the eye can see.

3) What’s the best thing about Puglia, the region Bellissimo is located in? Is it the scenery, the pace of life, the locals, the activities, etc?

I am so lucky to have wonderful neighbours. They show me how to care for the olive trees, lend me nets for the harvest, cure capers, dry figs and tomatoes. They are kind and joyful and generous – they are truly people of the south.

Activities, there are many, but Puglia encourages you to do very little. It is an escape from activity rather than a headlong pursuit of achievement. Easier here to find your inner calm than anywhere else I have visited.

4) What are the 3 special touches you add to enhance the guest experience?

We aim to do as much as we can for our guests prior to departure so that they don’t waste time organizing when they arrive. We advise on restaurants, activities, markets, public transport, hospitals, doctors. The house is very comfortably furnished – every piece is either antique and restored, or privately commissioned from local artisans. My own fabric designs and handmade soft furnishings pay homage to a richness of colour, which for the peoples of the Mediterranean is natural and instinctive. The most frequent client comment remark is about the quality of our fabrics, fixtures and fittings, both internally and around the pool/external kitchen. Our welcome pack is very generous, with Bellissimo olive oil and olives, marmalades, home baked bread, prosecco, salamis and cheeses.

5) If a guest had just one day in Bellissimo what would you recommend they do for the perfect experience?

Start with an early swim, followed by breakfast on the terrace. Head off to Brindisi whilst it is quiet, and take a stroll through the two columns that mark the end of the Via Appia which begins in Rome, and around the old harbour to find a quiet coffee shop on the harbour wall to watch the boats. Back to Ostuni for lunch outside in the orange grove at La Sommita, followed by a ramble through the Centro Storico whilst everybody else takes an afternoon nap. Back to Bellissimo for a refreshing dip, light the barbecue (gas or olive wood – take your pick). A quick scoot over to Casalini whilst the prosecco is chilling to buy chicken livers wrapped in prosciutto from the lovely fornello pronto. Supper for two with green salad, crusty bread and Bellissimo olive oil, followed by a big tub of delicious ice cream from Bar Eden in Ostuni – fruitti di bosco for him, nocciola and fior di latte for me. Heavenly!

To rent Bellissimo from Keith and Moira, please complete the contact form which can be found at the bottom of the page on the above link.

You can also follow them on Twitter @PeruFilmProject

“After a couple of days in New York I’ll be flying to Cusco before being driven north through the mountains and down through the cloud forest into the amazon rainforest where we’ll be dependent on a generator for electricity. I’ll be making some films about conservation work being done in the Manu region along with running some filmmaking workshops for volunteers and we have even discussed setting up a cinema in a local town and also broadcasting some of my finished films on local TV to help raise awareness amongst the population. Really looking forward to getting my camera rolling on this one…”

For those of you who’ve seen the Windermere film you’ll know that Dan has an amazing skill, so we’re hoping for some cool stuff, no pressure! Dan is also going to be making a video diary of the trip and the first instalment is on it’s way, more on that later this week… SPREAD THE WORD!