At Fleewinter we think that having your own villa or apartment on holiday is by far the best way to enjoy your time away. Compared to the traditional vacation solution of a room in hotel you get much more space, better privacy, but probably most important of all you get to live in and experience the community you are staying in. Even mundane activities like a trip to the shops to buy the groceries is an experience to savour in another culture and with an abundance of great value restaurants and cafes, renting you own place needn't be a chore.

The other big advantage over a hotel is the value for money particularly if there is a larger group of you going. Many of our properties offer standards of accommodation equivalent to the best boutique hotels and at a fraction of the price - and with full maid service and even your own chef, you can have un-paralleled levels of service when you want and where you want.

With this vision of the way to travel, Fleewinter was set up in 2003 by Alisdair Luxmoore with Cape Town as the first destination. Alisdair had been a regular visitor to South Africa for over 10 years and was fed up with the hassle and trauma of booking villas and apartments remotely and never really knowing what to expect when you arrive. Turning up at an apartment after a 12 hour flight with two young children and fist full of Rands and praying that a) the property exists and b) it was what we wanted, was no way to start a holiday. This gave birth to the Fleewinter concept of an impartial advice service to find the best property for you, arrange payment and contractually bind the owner of the property.

The second destination was Tobago in the Caribbean set up by Will and Rachel Hucker. They both lived and worked on the island for most of 2003 and so have an unparalleled knowledge, not just of the best places to stay, but the restaurants to eat in the best diving and water sports and everything you must see and do while you are there. This is another key aspect of our service and do make sure you use our local knowledge to your best advantage. Simon Gill now runs Fleewinter's Tobago operation.

2004 has seen the launch two new destinations, the Garden Route to the east of Cape Town and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Both hit our criteria of being highly accessible winter destination with amazing climates but also much more to do than just lie on the beach. Lyssa Elster runs the Garden Route operation and Sri Lanka is operated by Alisdair.

Anyone for Rio, Cuba, Perth, Morocco, Thailand? For the future there are many other destinations planned and if you have somewhere you are passionate about and would like to be part of the Fleewinter team, give us a call.