For absolute relaxation, luxury villas are hard to beat. The combination of independence and provisions is something that you’ll struggle to find elsewhere.

There is that old cliché of having a home away from home, but essentially that is what you are aiming for when booking a villa for a holiday. Hotels can be restricting; perhaps only having one room, and being on the 15th floor with hundreds of other holidaymakers on top of one another. A luxury villa provides all the amenities of a home, with a TV and DVD player, as well as having an entire house to use.

Family members will all want their own rooms, as well as a kitchen to prepare food and perhaps some space to invite people over. Villas provide something hotels, hostels and B&Bs simply can’t compete with.

For those who want a holiday that’s reasonably easy to get to, but still a totally different lifestyle from dreary British days, Cyprus has guaranteed warmth and sunshine for a large portion of the year, and is only three hours by plane.

Cyprus villas appeal to different types of holidaymakers. There is of course the party town of Ayia Napa in the east of the island, but there are also unspoilt, beautiful parts of the island that can offer idyllic retreats. For either of these holidays, peak season will be during the summer, when the temperatures begin to soar and people arrive for the warmth and the beaches.

Once you’re settled you can use your villa as a base camp to then head off and explore parts of the island. This may be heading into Ayia Napa and having as much fun during the night as possible, but it could also be driving to the Troodos Mountains or the beaches of the Akamas Peninsula, or doing it all. The fact that you have your own villa means that if you just want to stay at home and laze by the pool, cooking your own food that you bought in the market, then you can. Staying in hotel rooms can be a little depressing, so knowing that you have somewhere attractive and comforting to be during the day and night helps make the holiday what it is.

In Cyprus it’s probably recommended to rent a car so you can do these day trips. The little historic towns or the mountains for walkers and trekkers are perfect ways to spend a day, all the while knowing you have a home on the island to go back to.

If you’ve got the money or time to go further afield, then Florida is an attractive option for plenty of holidaymakers. The peak of summer can be incredibly hot and humid, so if that’s your thing then make sure you’re there for August. Otherwise, you can go a little earlier or later and still enjoy the warmth but at a slightly cooler temperature.

Florida can be a totally different experience depending on where in the state you visit. There are Florida villas all over the state, but there tends to be more in the central and southern regions. The north of Florida is much more like the southern states of America, the likes of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.

If you’re going to Florida for the theme parks then you want to be pretty central. Around the outskirts of Orlando and Tampa Bay is where most of the major theme parks are situated. Nowhere else in the world has quite the same concentration of theme parks and once you arrive you can take your pick from SeaWorld, Disney World, Universal Studios and Busch Gardens.

Head further south, closer to the tip of the peninsula, and the Latin feel takes over with all the beaches around Miami. The food, music and style all incorporate the heavy Spanish, Cuban and Mexican influences that make up large parts of southern Florida, particularly Miami.

The Everglades and Florida Keys also provide some of the state’s most beautiful areas, with plenty of wildlife and vegetation. The islands of the Florida Keys are incredibly tropical and float just off the mainland in the Caribbean Sea.

These types of holidays are made possible by the freedom that villas give you. Once you’ve got the keys to the villa, it’s up to you how much time you spend in and what you do there. Essentially, they are launch pads to go off and explore, and then retreats for when you return.