Spending a couple of weeks with friends in a crumbling Dordogne château was the inspiration for Oliver Bell and Ravi Sabharwal to set up Oliver’s Travels back in 2003. This year’s overall winner, up from second place in 2023, it received house-proud scores for its customer service, website and portfolio – which, as well as French châteaux, now includes villas in Sri Lanka, Slovenia and Mexico. Onefinestay , whose Paris properties were understandably busy this summer, received high scores for variety, and The Thinking Traveller – a perennial favourite of yours since it was founded in 2002, inspired by a voyage around the Mediterranean – picked up plaudits in its guestbook for customer service, taking it to second place.
These are the best villa rental companies in the world, according to the 2024 Readers' Choice Awards. The scores below are percentages representing overall average levels of satisfaction. 20.
Plum Guide . Score 91.43 19.
Luxury Cottages . Score 91.62 18.
Exceptional Villas . Score 92.02 17.
Home In Italy . Score 92.07 16.
SJ Villas . Score 92.14 15.
Abercrombie & Kent Villas . Score 92.44 14.
ThirdHome . Score 92.75 13.
Welcome Beyond . Score 92.90 12.
Five Star Greece . Score 92.94 11.
Tuscany Now & More . Score 93.17 10.
Vintage Travel . Score 93.42 9.
To Tuscany . Score 93.44 8.
Scott Williams . Score 94.04 7.
Simpson Travel . Score 94.10 6.
CV Villas . Score 94.48 5.
Essential Italy . Score 95.30 4.
Le Collectionist . Score 95.41 3.
Onefinesta.