INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL : Next Time, Try Rent-a-Villa Vacation

Ever thought of making a date with luxury by renting a vacation villa overseas? Possibly you dismissed the idea before you even finished dialing the number, like the shy schoolboy who can’t quite muster the courage to call the prettiest girl for a date. Nothing but dial tone, right?

Now David Kendall says there’s reason for hope.

Kendall’s company, Villas International, is dedicated to the concept that practically everyone can afford to rent homes abroad. Even the budget-conscious.

“We’re trying to get people past the idea that vacation rentals have to be for the rich and famous,” Kendall says. “We specialize in scope and variety, depth and breadth.”

Villas International will rent you a villa in almost every European country, plus the Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii. They have apartments in such major cities as London and Paris, cottages and farm houses in the English countryside, castles and chateaux in the Loire Valley, 300-year-old palazzos in Tuscany, even windmills overlooking a harbor on the Greek island of Mykonos.

Plenty of Options

Prices range from $400 or $500 a week to $4,000 or $5,000. The choice is yours.

For more information, write to Villas International, 71 West 23rd St., Suite 1402, New York 10010. The toll-free number is (800) 221-2260.

Other companies that rent various types of accommodations abroad include:

Creative Leisure Condominium Vacations, 951 Transport Way, Petaluma, Calif. 94952, (800) 426-6367, is now in its 20th year. This company helped introduce the concept of resort condo and villa vacation rentals. About 6,000 units available in Hawaii and Mexico. All the popular places. You can book condos on any of the Hawaiian Islands (except Lanai). On Kauai, a good-size, one-bedroom unit for two, three or four people in the Coconut Coast region of Wailua-Kapaa costs $97 a day, including a car. (All Creative Leisure’s Hawaii packages include rental cars from Hertz.)

At Home Abroad, 405 East 56th St., Suite 6H, New York 10022, (212) 421-9165, specializes in private villas, chateaux and houses in Europe, including Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, England, Ireland and Greece. Also in the Caribbean, and Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. In Europe, rentals generally are for two weeks. There is a registration fee of $50 to receive the listings.

Mexico, Florida, Islands

Condo World, 26645 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 97, Southfield, Mich. 48034, (800) 521-2980, specializes in rentals for Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean, primarily the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. Accommodations range from budget condos ($60 a day in Acapulco or Mazatlan) to ultra-deluxe villas ($2,000 a day in Barbados, complete with marble floors, cook, laundress, gardener, housemaid and chauffeur). “There’s nothing I can’t make happen in Mexico,” Carol Cohen, president of Condo World, said.

Hideaways International, P.O. Box 1270, Littleton, Mass. 01460, (800) 843-4433, is a travel club offering various discounts: 25% on selected villas, condos and castles in Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, 65% on Eastern and Mexicana Airlines, plus reductions on Avis and Hertz rental cars. Membership costs $65 a year and provides two magazine-style guides--updated twice yearly--for selecting vacation properties (complete with prices, descriptions and photos), plus foreign newsletters. “We try to deal with the unusual, for people who expect a little more,” a Hideaways spokeswoman said.

In The English Manner, P.O. Box 936, Alamo, Calif. 94507, (415) 935-7065 or (800) 422-0799 (outside California), emphasizes three areas: 1) Flat and home rentals in London, with one-week minimum stays. From 390 (about $675 U.S.) to 1,050 (about $2,700 U.S.) per unit; 2) private home stays all around the British Isles, plus a few in France’s Loire Valley. From 66 to 110, double occupancy, and 3) upscale country house rentals. You can rent that castle in Scotland you’ve always dreamed of for about $4,000 a week. Brochures available, but be sure to specify your area of interest.

All the Amenities

Le Cure Secret Escapes, 11661 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 1010, Los Angeles 90049, (800) 387-2726, offers villas and private homes for rent in Europe, Mexico, Florida, Hawaii and the Caribbean. A deluxe, all-inclusive package (Jamaica and Barbados only) comes complete with all the amenities, even a private masseuse. There are three sites on the French Riviera--St. Tropez, St. Jean Cap Ferrat and Cannes--plus Marbella, Spain, and the Algarve region of Portugal. Prices from $175 a day to $60,000 a month (ouch).

Villas & Apartments Abroad, 509 Madison Ave., New York 10022, (800) 433-3020, handles the Caribbean exclusively, including Jamaica, Barbados and the island of Mustique in the Grenadines, where Princess Margaret and Mick Jagger own property. Here’s the range: From a one-bedroom cottage on the Jamaican island of Negril for $525 a day (double occupancy; includes a person who cooks and cleans) to a 10-bedroom villa on the island of Necker (up to 20 people; includes full household, tennis courts, Jacuzzi, library, all meals.

Travel Resources, P.O. Box 1043, Coconut Grove, Fla. 33133, (800) 327-5039, has more than 5,000 villas and condos available in Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean. Write for brochures.

Resort Villas International, 30 Spring St., Stamford, Conn. 06901, (800) 243-2654, handles bookings direct for the Caribbean, and will provide you with information on how to reserve villas in the Tuscany and Algarve regions.