Hi Doe, I've always used owners direct .co.uk , you have the usual filters for your search with what you want like rooms , pool , Internet etc otherwise you look through page upon page .
I've had no problems , and either paid by cheque or bank transfer , the place I concentrate my search on does have mostly private owners and the villas are just like home from home with all the comforts and extra bits .
I'm happy to hire a car and drive , we only use the car to transfer from the airport and going to the supermarket , sometimes I use it to drive early evening to go to a restaurant and have a drink on the patio when we get back .
If it was more than the 2 of us we would be more likely to eat in , but we have a list in our mind of visiting our favourite restaurants .
I have booked a 2 bedroom 2 bathrooms detached villa with heated 8x4 m pool , full sky package with BBC1 ITV etc , free wifi , full kitchen , lounge , outside eating areas etc etc for £595 for what is a summer time week , for only £85 a day !!! What hotel room would you get for that ??? BA have ET flights for £ 217 pp with hold luggage , what's not to like !!
There is also a very helpful chap who runs another website of private owners , i will have to check the web address on that , but the villas on there I do know, have seen , and they are very good .
Edit to add. It's
http://www.lanzvillaowners.com We've always stayed in Faro Park , it suits us but you really do need a car , but there are loads of villas in Playa Blanca