useful info



	Page last updated 25/04/2012 This section is definitely not intended to put off anybody booking with me. Although I have a cleaner for the place I expect that you will leave the place reasonably tidy with the washing up done and the kitchen left clean and tidy. I particularly welcome slightly older, self reliant couples who will treat the place well and might become regular renters if they visit Cyprus regularly. I don’t expect to make a profit out of the villa but enough to repaint the place every two or three years and to pay for all those minor repairs and bills that keep popping up. If you want to rent the place for a longer period of 3+ weeks to 6+ months I am sure we can negotiate a very reasonable price. Don’t forget to make sure you have a printout of my “how to find the villa map” which I should have sent you and details of how to collect the key before you leave! Disabled Access Several people have asked me about disabled access. Unfortunately the stairs make access to the bedrooms upstairs problematic for less abled persons. I took a disabled friend there myself once and carried one of single beds downstairs for him to use in the sitting room area. This worked out OK for him as he was able enough to be able to use the downstairs toilet. Although not ideal it might be acceptable depending on your circumstances. I would have no objection to that but you take the bed down and upstairs at your own risk. Feel free to discuss if that might be a useful option for you. Villa Arrival and Departure Times To make life easy for my cleaner and myself I usually leave the day after your booking free so that you can stay as long as you like without worrying about arrival/departure times. Arriving late in the evening is no problem but please keep the noise down as a courtesy to the neighbours. The Pool and Communal Area The pool is not fenced off. It’s over 8 feet deep at the deep end and there is a considerable bottom slope. There is no lifeguard. Parents will be entirely responsible for their children’s safety at all times. Children must not be left unsupervised in the pool/communal area. There is a shower beside the pool. Please wash down before using the pool, especially if you have been using sun cream. Sun tan lotion causes big problems with the pool filtration system. Using the shower before entering the pool greatly reduces the amount of work needed to keep the pool water clean and free of sun cream scum. As the pool is communal and fairly close to some of the other villas, please keep the noise down especially as the evening draws on. Its dark by 9 pm even in midsummer. There are lights around the pool on a timer which cut off around 11 pm. Please do not use the pool after the lights have gone out or before 8.30 am. Don’t take food or drink into the pool. Don’t take any glasses to the pool area, broken glass is very hard to see at the bottom of the pool and can cause nasty injuries. Please use plastic cups if you want to take a drink to the pool side. The pool is not heated. In summer it’s lovely and cool but in early Spring it’s only for the brave. I find it acceptable from the end of May to September. There are a couple of inflatable rings for your use in the villa, please clear them away from the communal area when you’ve finished with them and don’t leave them out at night as the local cats have a nasty habit of puncturing them! Cats Please, please. DON’T FEED THEM. EVER! After you leave, for the next 2 weeks they will wail through the night begging to be fed and making life hell for everybody else. It also encourages to leave their mess in the communal garden and stops them from keeping vermin out of the garden. Cleaning There is a vacuum cleaner, broom, dust pan and brush etc. if you need them during your stay. Rubbish Bin There are plenty of black plastic bags in the sink cupboard that will fit the kitchen bin. There is a large green skip on the main road at the junction with the small road that runs around the side of the complex. Place bags in the skip. They are collected several times a week. Cyprus isn’t into recycling yet so there is just one bag for everything. They usually but not always pick up early in the morning. Toilets As is common practice in Cyprus, please do not drop toilet paper into the bowl but drop it in the blue bin beside the toilet (I know it feels really strange!). This is because the pipes to the septic tank are not able to cope with all the paper. There are plenty of small red plastic bags for the bin under the sink. There is a supply of toilet paper in one of the kitchen cupboards. Drop the tied red bags into the main bin. Towels and Laundry Hand and bathroom towels and a hand towel in each toilet are provided. Please bring your own beach towels. There are additional sheets and towels in the villa for you to change them but I do not provide a maid service for this. There is a washing machine, iron and clothes drying rack in the villa Guest Bed There is a very comfy single guest bed under one of the single beds in the second room. It’s not a “Carry On Camping” fold up camp bed. Useful if you want to put a third person in the room. I intended it for use by a third child if necessary. The only problem with it is that it’s very low to the floor so might not be suitable for an older person. Here is a picture of the bed. Electricity Supply The electricity supply in Cyprus is not as reliable as in the UK. There are some candles, matches and a torch in one of the kitchen drawers just in case. Cyprus uses the same 240V and 3 pin plugs as used in the UK so no need for continental adapters. There are a couple of continental to UK adapters just in case they are needed by non UK visitors. The Cooker The cooker has 4 rings. Three are gas and one is electric. The oven runs on electricity. The gas comes from a bottle outside the back door. If the gas does run out then the bottle will need to be exchanged. You can get an exchange bottle from most of the local supermarkets for 20 Euros. Don’t forget to take the old one with you! If it does happen I will refund the cost. Water It’s possible for the water supplies in Cyprus to get cut off at any time. If the direct feed water tap in the kitchen (the single tap above the rinse sink) does run dry the water has been cut off (usually without warning) so take extra care with your tank supply. The water tanks on the roof should last until the supply comes back on. The hot water from the roof take takes 10 seconds to reach the shower so be careful you don’t get caught out as it can be very hot indeed after a hot sunny day. Immersion Heater The immersion heater switch is the illuminated switch on the wall just outside the bathroom door. It takes about an hour to heat the tank from cold in winter. You are unlikely to need it in summer. Please switch it off after it’s done its job, it saves electricity and stops the element from burning out. The solar heater panel will automatically heat the water enough for hot showers after 2-3 hours of strong sun during the summer months. Even in winter the water is warm enough for a shower after a sunny day. Air Conditioning It’s dead easy to leave the air conditioning on all day even when you are not there. Don’t forget to switch it off when not needed because it can cost a fortune to run! Many hotels slap an extra 15-25 Euros a week for just one unit during the summer if you request A/C and I have four! It can also be used to heat the house in cold weather should you need it (heaven forbid!). Also remember to keep the windows and doors closed when the A/C is on or else it just wont work properly as well as sucking up electricity. Fans There are combined light and fans in the sitting room and bedrooms. The wall switch acts as a master switch but there are also 2 switch pull strings hanging from the fans. One of them switches on the lights the other switches on the fan. There are three speed settings on the fans so you need to pull the switch several times to get the maximum speed or to turn the fan off again! The Fridge There are several cold drink cups in the freezer, ideal if you like your cold drinks really cold. Please clear the fridge of any perishable food before you leave. If you know that there will be other guests in the villa very soon after you leave then please feel free to leave them anything you think they might use. The Library There is a small but growing collection of books, local maps and guides and a pair of binoculars on the bookshelf. They are there for your use but please don’t take them home, if on the other hand you finish with any good book whilst on holiday please feel free to donate it to the collection. The Toy Collection There is a collection of toys such as buckets and spades, Lego, balls, colouring pens, childrens’ books, puzzles etc. in the bottom of the cupboard in the dining room to help keep the younger visitors quiet when the older ones need some P&Q. Child Seats There is a child car seat in the villa that will fit most cars. I bought new for my daughters use in 2011. Feel free to use it. Its good for 7 to 30kg children. It lives under the stairs. From June 2012 there will also be a Guether “Family” baby/child seat in the villa. Smoking Please don’t smoke inside. If want to smoke then please sit out on one of the balconies and NOT inside. There are a couple of glazed pots on the rear balconies to drop the butts in. Please don’t drop them in the garden as it takes years for them to decompose. The Front Door One of the mysteries of engineering is that a Cypriot craftsman can make anything fit. To open the front door turn the key anti-clockwise to open it. This is the opposite of what you would normally do. Mostly everything else works as normal! TV and Media Player Since February 2012 BBC and most ITV channels have become unviewable in Cyprus even with a big dish on the roof. If you have a power failure it can take some time for the satellite receiver to sort itself out and start working again even on the remaining channels where there is a signal. There is a Sumvision Cyclone media box which has a considerable range of programs and films. You need to select the video input on the television (use the front panel input select button) then make sure the satellite box is powered but switched off to access the media box. Just in case the batteries die in any of the controllers there should be some spares on the bookshelf. Internet Connection I finally put in a broadband connection in Feb 2012. Its via a wireless link box on the roof, not cable. Its fast enough to browse the web, watch BBC iplayer or make Skype calls. There is a desktop computer in the sitting room, the guest account has no password and will get you onto the net. You may need to activate the program “Expat Shield” in order to watch the BBC iplayer, you wont need it otherwise. Avoid P2P as if the network provider detects it they will break your connection for several hours. Ask me for the wifi password if you think you might want it for your own laptop. Headphones to Watch the Movie on the Plane Unless you want to buy another set to watch the film on the plane don’t forget to bring last years’. Most airlines also require an adapter from stereo 3.5mm to dual mono 3.5mm. If you’ve got one of those take it else they usually sell them on the plane for a couple of pounds. House Mobile Phone There is no fixed line as it’s impossible to limit its use. However there are two local SIM pay as you go Nokia mobile phones and chargers in the villa. Re-charge cards cost from 5 Euros and can be bought from any kiosk. It’s cheaper ringing back to the UK than using your own mobile. Also there are no nasty incoming call charges if someone calls you. The system will tell you how much time you have left at the beginning of each call. If you want to ring home then you must use “+44” and not “0044” at the beginning of the number or it may not work. You can get the + symbol by pressing the “star” key twice. Example: If you want to ring 0207 555 1234 in the UK then you will need to dial “+442075551234” then press the “Send” key. I know it’s a bit naughty but I found a 5 Euros card a very cheap way of keeping two young teenagers occupied for days as they spent so much time texting back to their friends in the UK! The number of the house mobile is 00357 99178095. (Just 99178095 from within Cyprus). Local Wildlife Lizards, ants, wasps, spiders, field mice, snakes etc. are not uncommon in Cyprus (after all, they were there first!) although no more numerous than anywhere else in the Mediterranean. As the villa is in quite a rural area at the edge of a small village you must expect to see these things around occasionally. Please don’t squash them, I wont like you, if you do! Nearest Shops Food shopping in Cyprus is getting very expensive. Its worth taking a drive at the beginning of your stay to one of the bigger supermarkets for a big fill up then using the nearer ones for anything you’ve forgotten. The nearest shop 100 yards away is a specialist organic food shop, they could be very useful for supplying decent baby food. The nearest grocers is on the main road though Trimithousa about 400 yards from the villa. You will have driven past it on the way to the villa. It’s open until about 9 pm. There is a larger one called Elias on the Polis Road (the large road down to Paphos) just before you turn off it into Trimithousa, about 800 yards from the villa. It’s open 7 days a week. There are several much bigger, brighter and slightly cheaper supermarkets between 1.5 and 2.5 miles further along the Polis Road towards Paphos. The biggest is “Carrefour” the size of a large Tesco and open 6 days a week until 9 pm, 5 pm on Sundays so you’ve got no reason to starve! Its about 1.5 miles down the Polis road on the left hand side. Papantoniou is about a mile further towards Paphos on the right hand side. You can find seasonal fruit and vegetables much cheaper although less scrubbed and polished from small roadside kiosks out of the town centre. Recently Lidl opened up on the Tomb of the Kings Road towards Coral Bay. (Its a 15 minute drive from me). It wasn’t as cheap as in the UK but better than the other supermarkets when I last checked in November 2011. Car Hire People often ask me where I rent my cars from. In the past I’ve often used Holiday Autos as they seem to be a little cheaper than the other big names at Pafos airport. These days I usually book through www.economycarhire.com. So far they have been pretty good for me. Its still worth shopping around though. Motorway Speeding The motorway limit is 100 km/h. Don’t go mad along the motorway (stay below 110 for a safe life), there are speed traps all the time between Limassol and Paphos even at 2 am, especially just near the 800m tunnel between Limassol and Paphos, unless that is, you like giving policemen money. They seem to have a soft spot for tourists in hire cars which are easily spotted because they have red number plates. Rather cunningly, occasionally they set a second trap very soon after the first one to catch all the clever people who think its now safe! Paphos airport is less than half an hour away. It usually takes me 20 minutes. If you avoid driving through Paphos to the airport you should not have any trouble with traffic. Allow 2 hours for the journey to Larnaca airport. There is a petrol station 1 mile from Larnaca airport open 24 hours (automated cash or credit card payment, not real people), if you have to leave a full petrol tank when you return your car. The best way to leave a full tank when departing from Paphos is to fill up at one of several stations along the main road down to Paphos. They have all automated cash and visa machines so you can fill up anytime. Passports Check your passport expiry dates. No visa is required for EU citizens. Don’t forget to bring your driving licence and a credit card if you are renting a car. European Health Insurance Forms (Formerly E111 forms) These are now called EHIC forms. Make sure your one is current, it takes 2 minutes on the phone. Don’t forget to take your own private insurance too. http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx Paphos General Hospital. Anavargos Street, Anavargos, Paphos is about a 6 minute drive away from the villa. You will have almost driven past it on the route from the airport to my villa. You can call 112 for emergency services in Paphos. The Olive Trees in my Back Garden Area Somewhere between October and February the 2 olive trees usually produce several kilos of olives. Feel free to take a kilo or two home with you. Don’t take them all as I want some too! They are very easy to process using nothing more than freshwater and salt. Ask Google or me for details! And finally, when you leave Minor accidents such as broken cups, plates etc. happen all the time. Please let me know about any problems as soon as you come home so I can do something about it. Drop me an e-mail and let me know what you liked and even more importantly what you didn’t like! If there is any extra info that should be on this page I’d be very grateful for that too. There’s some tinned and dried food, salt and pepper etc. in the kitchen, feel free to use it and to leave anything that will last for the next visitors. Check that all the lights, taps, immersion heater and air conditioning are switched off and that all the windows, patio doors, back door and front door are locked then drop off the keys to my neighbour. If he isn’t around just leave the keys on the kitchen table and leave the kitchen door unlocked.