March 2011 was my first trip to see Villa Select's luxury villas in Kefalonia ahead of the 2011 season and I was eager to meet our partners in their own environment. Equally I was looking forward to meeting our resort representative Deborah Cross of whom I have heard so many excellent reports. On my visit I was also accompanied by Suzann Finnie our overseas resort manager.

Kefalonia sits above Zakynthos (Zante) on the eastern side of Greece in the Ionian sea. The flight out of season involved a stop over in Athens with an early morning departure to Kefalonia the following day. I understand that the direct flight is around 3.25 hrs from London airports. However as an interesting day trip Athens is only a 45 minute turbo-prop flight away from your luxury villa in Kefalonia.

First impressions were of a green, lush unspoilt, relatively sparsely populated island with winding roads, but having now seen all our villas across the island, if I was to give our programme a title it would be "Truly luxury villas with stunning views of the sea and surrounding islands!"

The first village I visited was Spartia, a small charming fishing village. Then on to Trapezaiki up the hill to villas with private pools that offer incredible picture book views that you thought were only possible in your dreams, or in the lives of the super rich!

We then visited Katelios a lovely village, home to Theo our romantic 1 bed villa with a lovely pool and great views.

Then off to see our truly stunning property in Old Skala. OMG - The views! The villas here are about 3km to the beach and the lively (a 5€ taxi ride away) Skala is apparently the biggest resort town on the island. It's a pretty little town with tavernas and restaurants but when I visited they were all closed!

We did find one unlikely coffee place open which surprisingly made an excellent Cappuccino! That is the case all over the island - excellently made coffee everywhere which I guess shows the Italian influence on the island.

We then travelled along the coast to Poros, the ferry port. Ferries take 1.5 hours to the mainland. It has a large marina (for those with yachts it offers no water or electricity which appears to be the case with every marina on the island!)

Poros is a lovely clean seaside town with lots of little restaurants and tavernas and places to promenade. We stopped in Poros for lunch at a family restaurant perched high up above the town. The food was superb. Freshly cooked and only surpassed by guess what? The picture postcard view from our table!

My hosts informed me that the best sailing in the world is in the Ionian islands. Many start in Croatia and sail down to Kefalonia which is becoming ever more popular (apparently one of our villa owners runs 'Alpha Victory', a big service provider). What could be better than bay hopping on a hot summer's day, stopping when you feel like to cool down by diving into the pristine azure waters.

The north east coast is not reachable by car, only by boat which I understand is a shame for most of us as the scenery is supposed to be superb.

As you tour round the island on its lovely roads with unbelievable vistas, you soon realise that it is a big island with few people on it. You really can get away from it all if you feel like it. It's the sort of place that even my wife is unlikely to meet someone she knows! There are approximately 35,000 inhabitants and about an extra 6,000 per week c30 flights a week. 60 by tourists per week in season. So it truly is a destination to get a way from it all.

With such a lovely climate from May onwards, villas with ample outside living space are essential. Our villas have covered verandas with comfy sofas to sit back on with a glass of wine and enjoy the view and will leave you with memories that will last a life time.

Most of our villas allow you to get back into the real world should you wish to though with wifi, games consoles and satellite TV. But why would you?!!

On the island there are very few luxury villas. Even less in the locations and with the views and facilities that our hand-picked programme offers. Our local partner manages 150 and assured me that we have a programme that suits all needs and budgets, and compares very favourably with other tour operators' offerings. They may not be the cheapest but offer the best value when the holiday is reviewed in the round. The majority of our programme are very recently built, luxurious villas.

What makes our villa holidays even better value is our recently introduced "Villa Select Club". This offers exclusive privileges such as price deals, free gifts, special service or tables at hard to book restaurants such as Tassias, the famous seafood restaurant in Fiskardo where Tom Hanks, Stephen Spielberg and Madonna eat (but not all together!)

More beautiful views from the Villa called Lourdes Beach View. This is the villa that you should stay in if you want to be very close to lots of restaurants and tavernas, to sample the local Mythos beer.

We then passed on to the Lourdas Square which again was very pretty. As was Lourdas Beach with lots of tavernas and home to our Thea villa, which although it has its own private pool, could not be closer to the beach. Perfect!

After a long day touring the south of the island which also involved inspecting 4 incredible luxury villas being built for the 2012 season, we then headed off to Argostoli in the evening.

Argostoli is a vibrant town of some 6,000 people that offers trendy bars, restaurants and coffee shops around the central square. It is apparently a very lovely place to stroll around of an evening in the summer with market stalls, artists and entertainers. We went to a magnificent restaurant with no plates! They served the food on the table cloth. It was delicious and for 5 of us we ate as much as we could with plenty of local wine for the cost of one meal in London!

Afterwards we sampled the lively bars and coffee shops. They are very chic.

Home to bed 5 yards form the Lourdas beach with views of Zakynthos in the distance.

We then took an early morning drive north to view the programme in Fiskardo. Again we stopped en route for a lovely coffee from another beautifully decorated coffee shop!

We drove north through the middle of the island along a fantastic road which I imagined was designed by a Kefalonian who must have owned a Ferrari.

We stopped for photos on the west coast at Myrtos beach made famous by Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It is so picturesque and photogenic!

A bit further along we saw the Assos peninsular with a beautiful Venetian castle to visit. Reminding everyone that in Kefalonia's colourful past that it used to be under the protection of the Venetians. It really does have a dramatic coastline (just like Italy) and there is a lot of Italian influence in the food and the wine.

During my history lesson my host also informed me that Britain gave back Kefalonia to Greece in 1876 after it was liberated from the Turks. They'd now like to be liberated from Greece although metaphysically I think they are!

Kefalonia is part of what is known as the "Seven Islands", and Fiskardo is Kefalonia's 'Brand' resort and playground to rich and famous. People stop their on their motor boats, yachts and even super yachts. The harbour is bustling and vibrant in the summer. Super yachts moor out in the channel. Its very clean and has classy, sympathetically restored architecture.

VS club has a great selection of benefits and privileges around Fiskardo and members receive special some very special service from our local partner in the area. His family seems to run the whole of Fiskardo. He also has a 26ft cabin cruiser to take you around the islands and dip in the bays!

Our villas enjoy spectacular views of sunset!

There are only 11 villas in walking distance of Fiskardo and we have 4 of them! However, the others are only a short drive away. We will be developing our luxury villas in Fiskardo even further for 2012 / 2013.

Fiskardo has beautiful views of Ithaca and Lefkos. Its architecture is Venetian influenced.

The Tassias restaurant is run by Anastasia, Kefalonia's very own Rick Stein. Tom Hanks et al have eaten there. Check out their website.

Fiskardo is the most cosmopolitan of resorts attracting Germans Scandinavians& Italians amongst others.

Windsurfing and sailing are very popular around Fiskardo and it offers two lovely sandy beaches.

Our luxury villa with private pool, 'Neptune' is very close to one of these beaches. It's superb and conveniently located with lots to do nearby. There is a very nice local hotel (with pool, spa and restaurant) available to use for Villa Select Club members and they will provide services and look after cases on change over days for guest keen to squeeze every last moment out of their break.

From Fiskardo there is a ferry service to all the local islands including one specifically for cycling tours. They drop you on different Islands each day, you cycle for the day and then they pick you up!

Restaurants are the most expensive in Fiskardo but even there they are exceptional value for money. With house wine they are around €15-20 per head with the Tassias, the seafood restaurant priced around €45-50 per head again including the excellent local wine.

Our Fiskardo villa with pool 'Emblisi', offer views of Lefkas and is only 300m from the calm safe beach of very fine shingle just to the west of the port in Fiskardo.

Our luxury villa Galini has a commanding position high on the hill with spectacular views from its large infinity pool and is a only a 1km walk in to the port (down the hill!).

Whilst we were in Fiskardo we went on site to see a luxury 1 bed apartment that was being built overlooking the port! We may have this on our programme 2012 / 13.

I think holidays in Fiskardo may cost a little more but there really is an upmarket, luxury feel about the resort.

Around the corner from the port, is the second sandy beach at Fiskardo; Foki Bay. It really is a beautiful spot.

In terms of views our luxury villa with pool, Island View, has to take the prize of most spectacular view from a villa in the Greek Islands! Perched centrally, high on the hill overlooking Fiskardo and the islands. It has truly spectacular views - the best on the Island! A day on the balcony leading from the master bedroom with a bottle of red wine would not be long enough to take in all the scenery and boats sailing through the channel. All this and you are only 8 minutes drive into Fiskardo is. (The luxury villa is 148 sq metres in size and has lovely Italian fittings. On a clear day you can see 60 miles to Paxos. Views of cruise liners and super yachts - live the life! It may be c €700k to buy but they view is worth millions!

Overall the island is totally unspoilt. You can truly go back to your basics - turn the phone off and relax!

(1st May article in the Times on Kefalonia)

After such luxury in Fiskardo we went for a superb home cooked lunch (lamb) at the Ionin restaurant with local red and white wine. You must try the herby cheese dip - Tierokafteri!

On our way back my hosts told me about the extreme sports provider high in the mountains. They offer white-water rafting, abseiling etc. And from the 5500ft you can do paragliding!

We went out in the evening for more delicious food for an absolute pittance and the back to bed with the sound of the sea and the images still in my mind's eye.

What a trip and what a stunning collection of villas. I can tell you that if you stayed in villas like these in the South of France ( and they wouldn't have anything to even compare in the slightest with the views on offer here) you could pay up to £15,000 per week. With Villa Select's Kefalonian luxury villas you can enjoy comparable luxury and better views from £449!

Carl Davies Managing Director Villa Select