Thousands of villas throughout the Mediterranean, Florida and beyond are now available to book online through a new, simple and secure website which was launched by villarenters.com.

From villas in Spain and farmhouses in Tuscany to self-catering apartments in the South of France and condos in Florida, the site features more than 13,000 holiday homes of all shapes and sizes and more properties will be added over the next 12 months as the business looks to accelerate growth of its online collection.

Prices start from £200 per week (£50per person per week) for a villa in Spain with private pool, near the beach http://www.villarenters.com/rent-villas/spain/buenavista/rapa-nui-8987

Florida prices start from £680 per week (£57 per person per week) for a villa sleeping 12 people with private pool, air con, near Disneyland http://www.villarenters.com/rent-villas/usa/liberty-village/liberty-village-8454

Villarenters.com, which launched seven years ago and is part of Teletext Holidays and Associated Northcliffe Digital has invested in a major upgrade of the business as the market for overseas villa holidays grows.  *Self-catering holidays abroad grew by 22 per cent between 2001 and 2008 to 27.5m, a faster rate than the overseas market in general.

The new site features unlimited pictures for each property advert, even more customer reviews (now over 42,000) and easier searches so that customers can look for, shortlist and compare villas. Searchable criteria include private swimming pools, air conditioning, child friendly facilities, proximity to golf courses and being close to a beach. Site visitors can also email details of selected properties straight from the site to friends & family making it easy to share information and plan their holidays. There is also a new ‘Inspiration’ section with some ideas for those wanting to try something new, such as kitesurfing in Essaouria, Morocco.

New search features also include the ability to view the whole site in either GBP, USD or Euros to make comparing properties easy and the site now has a ‘People who viewed this property also viewed these….’ function to show them more accommodation that might be of interest. It is all about making the search process straightforward and returning the right properties to site visitors.

James Marchant general manager, villarenters.com, said: “This is a growing market and we want villarenters to be a one-stop-shop for all types of self-catering holiday homes and for the brand to be front of customers’ minds.  We’ve given the brand a fresh new look, made the site really easy to use and are investing heavily in both marketing and internal resources to allow the business to fulfil its potential. ”

“People want reassurance when they’re booking a villa holiday that they are booking with a reliable and secure company and one of our key selling points is that we will continue to guarantee that customers will get a 100 per cent refund if their villa is not as it should be – a unique guarantee in the market. We have a secure online booking and payment system so customers can book and pay by credit or debit card with complete peace of mind.”