Florida...the magical home of Disney and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

After an ice-cool week of screaming down mountain slopes, this week is all about warming up and discovering a whole new world, Florida.

On the southeasterly coast of the U.S.A, Florida is a perfect getaway for all ages. The broad range of activities and sights to see span the interests of every generation. Imagine the childhood excitement of meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time at Disney World and adolescent exhilaration of the Incredible Hulk roller coaster in Universal Studios. Then visualise the world-class golf courses before spotting alligators, turtles and more during a trip to the Everglades National Park.

I am lucky enough to have visited Florida twice as a child, and the memories I hold of the Sunshine State are particularly precious. On the first occasion I witnessed the captivating culture of the Everglades, hiding behind my parents as an alligator loomed in the distance during a tour of the Everglades National Park. After the Everglades, we moved on to Orlando where I witnessed the magical sights of Disney World Florida. At the age of 7 I was purely interested in meeting as many characters from my favourite films as possible, I genuinely remember boasting to my school-friends about obtaining 32 autographs of various Disney characters in my little Disney Autograph book.

The second time I went, it was all about the rides, Universal Studios certainly rivals Disney World as far as exhilarating roller coasters go, not to mention the jaw-dropping ‘Journey To Atlantis’ ride alongside the gigantic Killer Whales in SeaWorld.

The main attraction this summer however has to be the brand spanking new Harry Potter theme park opening on June 18^th. There will of course be spine-tingling rides, yet out of all of the attractions, what I want to see most are 'Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans', could these really be as varied in real life as they are in the books? Now that’s what I call living on the edge, opening a bag of what could potentially contain the most delicious or the most contemptible tastes in the world…

Bringing back the thoughts of my childhood memories really makes me feel how lucky I was to experience Disney World at a young age. The magical feeling it brought has stayed with me until this day. However, there still is much more of Florida for me to discover, for instance the perfect golf courses and the African atmosphere of Busch Gardens. Have any of you been to Busch Gardens, or played a round of golf with the Florida Sun beating down upon you?

Thank you for reading, I hope reading this has brought back some memories of your childhood, or if not I hope it inspires you to go make some memories for you and your family.

Thanks,

OJ from Global Premier Villas

Skiing Memories

With a week's worth of browsing the website looking for villas for our skiing customers, it got us all reminiscing about our own experiences on the slopes... the clear white snow disappearing past your feet, the cool breeze on your face, and the beautiful view all around - time on the slopes is a contradiction of both exhilarating and calming experience for anyone who graces them.

Skiing is a truly enlightening experience and one that some of us have been lucky enough to have experienced. Recently, Tom and Ant from the Global Premier Villas team were lucky enough to re-visit the slopes of France with a group of friends - a trip that caused me great envy as I have not had the fortune since I was fourteen years of age. Saying that, my weeks on the Vermont snow scene were eventful if nothing else - quickly changing me from a graceful snow angel the one moment to a tumbling ball of snow the next!

On one occasion, I can remember starting an elegant decent down the slopes of Killington mountain, quickly zigzagging down on my way. Unfortunately, my friend (who had not yet mastered any manoeuvre apart from the classic "snow plough") went out of control and into my path - being a beginner myself as well, I was not skilled enough to avoid impact. And so it was to be that (rather ungracefully) I smacked right into my friend, knocking us both off of our skis and tumbling down the mountain... over soft snow, harder wood, and even harder rocks! I cannot remember much after this, as least to say I had my senses knocked out of me - but the next thing I knew I was flying down the slopes on a ski ambulance/ toboggan, which was causing me more concussion than the crash itself! I was fine - nothing broken but my price (and a thumping headache from the ambulance ride!!!) ... the only regrettable result of the whole fiasco was the unfortunate election of me as "Dope of the day" on the school trip... leading to me having to wear a rather ridiculous hat (that stood what must have been a mile high in the air) for the duration of the trip!

Whilst to all of you out there who are reading this it might seem trivial, embarrassing, or just a really long blog post... this is one of those memories that will live on with me always. Skiing is a remarkable experience; from the community and surroundings to the tumbles you take on the way. That is why I hold this week's campaign important - hopefully someone else out there might see our villas and venture out to experience a winter paradise of their own - with their own memories in the making to take through life with them.

So, if nothing else, I hope that those of you who read my blog this week, will finish it, look into your own past holidays with a smile... and remember those memorable moments of your own.

Thank you for reading, Vicki from the Global Premier Villas team.

Launch Week

6.30pm, Monday: an end to an exhausting week organizing the launch. Google Analytics couldn't be more annoying! But we finally made it! Our website's devoid of errors (the hours did pay up in the end) and our much needed presence in Facebook is well under way.

There's growing interest in the site. A result that can mainly be attributed to the innovation of our devoted team. Proof? Vicky's been roaming the campus in her bikini (symbolic marketing...everyone wins), OJ's composed a track worthy of a Grammy and Ant's videos are already creating cyber waves. Ok, apart from the hyperbole, we couldn't be more proud of our efforts!

Easter's right round the corner and guess what? We're devoting a whole week highlighting the most affordable places aimed especially at students. £60 a week? Swimming Pool? Greece? Enough said.

That's all from me. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and look out for the new campaign video with the amazing student deals. Goodbye holiday makers!

A leap into the world of social networking

'Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.' - Barack Obama

After 5 years and 328 days, we at Global Premier Villas decided to embrace change and make the leap into social networking. We're a small team renting over 9,000 properties worldwide (that is just over 1,500 villas per team member!) and are looking to optimise our customer base to match our choices offered. We operate in Southampton, UK, and have been Florida home owners whilst also operating a villa rental service since 2004. The number of countries in which we rent villas is far too long to list, but our top resort destinations include: Costa Blanca, Florida, The Turkish Aegean, The Algarve, Tenerife, The Canary Islands, Tuscany and many more...

Our website has undergone a drastic makeover, making this a perfect time to launch ourselves on the 'Social Networking Scene', we have a Twitter profile where you can track our views on nearly anything to do with villas or holidays and see our holiday ideas, which will rotate on a weekly basis for the first 2 months, so keep checking back! We also have a Facebook Fan page (where we will be asking your thoughts relating to our 'holiday of the week' or holidays in general, we want to know truly what you holidaymakers are looking for. We're on YouTube where we will be producing a weekly video on our 'holiday of the week' as well as more information on what we do and what we offer to you. Finally, as you're well aware we're giving blogging a go, so please add us to your RSS or keep checking weekly because we'll have something new waiting for you.

All of the above media platforms on which we now operate can be accessed through our website, just click on the relevant link. We hope we've managed to make to easier for you to get the holiday you desire.

The Global Premier Villas Team