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A letter from our Managing Director
About Us
Sustainability
Charitable Work
Awards

A letter from Chris Wright, Managing Director

WELCOME TO GIC’S VILLA COLLECTION

My team and I are delighted to welcome you to GIC The Villa Collection and our carefully curated portfolio of villas across Greece and Cyprus

What creates a true specialist? It certainly isn’t just the name. Names and companies are bought and sold on a regular basis and with new management come new members of staff that neither know the history or heritage of the operator. In the last 51 years the travel industry has seen enormous change. Many of the old and respected specialists have disappeared, others are still here but in name only as those that created those operators have long since gone.

It takes many years of service to begin to understand the ethos of a company, to get to know its partners abroad and how the company interacts with them. It isn’t just a matter of arriving in Greece or Cyprus and signing up properties that look the part - there are plenty of those.

The relationship of a specialist with its overseas suppliers goes much deeper than that. GIC The Villa Collection has worked with many of its owners for the last 25 years and more. Over that period, owners and local agents become our friends and our many repeat clients enjoy meeting them time and again. Our owners come to understand what our guests expect and strive to raise standards and to meet changing tastes.

I joined the Greek Islands Club (GIC) in 1994 as a local representative and I’ve been here ever since. I started from the bottom, which is the best way to understand a company and how it works. I am passionate about Greece and throughout the season I dash out to our various resorts for a few days every two or three weeks, to make sure that all is well and to keep abreast of new events and happenings. It’s attention to detail that counts.

We are all passionate about our company and its image. The fact that after 51 years we are still here and still independent shows that the pride in what we do has not dimmed. It’s still very exciting to discover a fabulous new villa or hidden beach or quaint resort, and to introduce our guests to these finds.

So, welcome to our world and to our passion for our destinations.

Chris Wright
Managing Director

chris.wright@sunvil.co.uk

About Us

GIC The Villa Collection formerly known as Greek Islands Club (GIC), offers comfortable, secluded properties, most with private pool, to the Greek islands of Corfu, Paxos, Antipaxos, Lefkas, Meganissi, Ithaca, Kefalonia, Alonissos, Skopelos, Skiathos, Crete and Sivota.

We have been established for 51 years, and our aim has always been to offer our customers maximum flexibility and to provide precisely the holiday they seek. We can rightly claim to have been ahead of our time now that the unpackaged holiday – always our speciality – is so much in fashion. For us, however, unpackaging does not mean penny-pinching by cutting corners. Our customers – 70% of whom give us their business repeatedly or who have been recommended to contact us by their friends – tell us that they like the way we organise their holidays, and we plan to continue to offer precisely what our regular customers enjoy: the best all-round service possible.

Should you have a problem with any part of our arrangements, our directors or (incase of emergency) 24-hour duty manager will do their utmost to assist. If our suppliers are at fault in anyway, you can look to us in our Middlesex offices for a solution – we will not pass the buck.

Personal Service

For 51 years we have tried to preserve a personal service for all those who holiday with us. There will be no attempt to organise you. Having met you at the airport, and settled you at your villa, we see it as our task to provide, unobtrusively, a range of services on which you can rely if the need arises.

Each and every GIC villa offers something unique that makes it that extra bit special – whether it be a cottage close to the sea with a boat mooring, a child-friendly villa with pool or a village home where you can truly immerse yourself in the local community. Properties are handpicked for their privacy, standards of comfort and proximity to the sea.

The Villa Collection & Sunvil

GIC – The Villa Collection (Greek Islands Club) became part of the Sunvil Family in 1998 making Sunvil the leading specialist operator to Greece and her islands.

Sunvil has pioneered many specialist destinations in its 50-year history. The original directors still play an active part in the day-to-day running of the company and we are all proud that repeat and recommended holidaymakers make up 70% of our customers – due testament to our expertise and dedication to quality.

Everyone in the team visits our specialist destinations many times: they know them and our properties, self-catering or hotel, extremely well. Unusually, in this web-based travel age, we take full responsibility for our holidays, too, putting us in the very top echelon of companies that you can really trust to look after your holiday plans. Sunvil is proud, over 50 years, to have gained many accolades and awards, both from the travel industry itself and from the national press and leading consumer publications such as Holiday Which? and Wanderlust magazine.

Please note that Greek Islands Club is a subsidiary of Sunvil Holidays. It is fully bonded for its total turnover and is a member of ABTA.

In 2010 we were voted one of the top five ‘Best Villa Rental Company’ by readers of Conde Nast Traveller.

In 2017 we were voted the ‘Best Villa Company’ by the Sunvil Times Travel Magazine.

Your holiday is fully protected

Our holidays conform to the full bonding requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL 808). We are also members of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and the Association of British Travel Agents (V6218).

GIC was the original villa specialist to Greece - and it remains the best

Sustainability

The Travel Foundation The Travel Foundation is the the UK travel industry's charity that cares for the places we love to visit.

Your holiday can make a real difference to your favourite destinations. It can help protect the natural environment, traditions and culture – the things that make your visit special. And it can improve the well-being of local families – so that more people benefit from your visit. All of which can make your holiday experience even better!

Most importantly, it can help ensure that there are great places for us all to visit – for generations to come.

GIC - The Villa Collection, along with many other travel companies, is supporting the work of The Travel Foundation by donating £1.00 from every holiday booked direct to the charity.

The UK is taking a lead in changing the way the world travels.

Charitable Work

Charities Supported by Sunvil and the Greek Islands Club:

  • The Travel Foundation - Caring for the places we love to visit.
  • Kefalonia Animal Trust - A Greek charity working for animal welfare
  • UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • The Greek Animal Welfare Fund - Helping to improve animal welfare
  • The Animal Protection Society of Chania - An animal shelter rescuing & housing stray animals including dogs & cats.
  • MEDASSET - The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles
  • The Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative
  • Estrela Community Project
  • Galapagos Conservation Trust
  • Tiskita Foundation
  • Casa Alianza Organisation
  • Corcovado Foundation
  • Casa dos Curumins

Awards

  • August 2010. For the second year running, voted one of the top five ‘Best Villa Rental Company’ by readers of Conde Nast Traveller for the second year running.

    May 2017. GIC The Villa Collection was named the ‘Best Villa Company' by The Sunday Times Travel Magazine.

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