I can't help you with Cyprus but I advertise my own villa (in Spain) on http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk so I would recommend that website and when I had a quick look there was 44 properties for Protaras.

It's a well established website and at the bottom o each advert it tells you how long the advertiser has been on the site so if they've been on a while I'd assume there hasn't been any problems or they would have been removed.

My general advice for booking a villa would be to get details of several you like the look of so you can compare what they offer.

Speak to the owners to get a feel of how much they use the property themselves as I've always found that owners who use the property themselves are more likely to keep on top of maintenance and furnish/equip it well.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. The owner will know the place quite literally inside out and if they're anything like me it will be their favourite subject! I always encourage guests to ask as many questions as they like, no matter how trivial they seem and some enquirers take full advantage of that which is fine by me!

Ask to see more photo's, many owners have websites. I don't but of course I do have hundreds of photo's that I am happy to share. Photo's are good because they are the owners best advertising tool and the renters best information.

If you know the area, you should be able to make a well informed choice but I always think that the key to a good DIY holiday is research and that's especially true with a villa.

I know from experience that booking privately is a bit daunting at first but once you've done it I'm sure you'll find it really straightforward.

!

Thanks for replying so quickly, sorry its taken so long to reply but i have only just got round to booking our holiday. The website you suggested was fab and we've decided to go to Turkey instead of Cyprus this year as there was so much more choice and the prices were so much cheaper than Cyprus. The villa in Hisaronu is booked and the transfers but i've not got the flights yet but oh well 6 months to go. Anyway thanks again and i've bookmarked the site for future villa holidays as other sites show pics of typical interiors not the actual villa you will get as this site does. : :

Hey Cypruschick, glad you've got sorted, I'm sure you'll have a great time.