Call of the wild: holiday homes

Enjoy summer all year round – whether it is staying in a seaside boutique resort or owning your own mountainside home.

We look at the spice island of Grenada, where a three-week holiday for the price of two is on offer; the French Alps, where you can buy a chalet for year-round enjoyment for £165,000; and Uruguay, for those who don’t mind long flights and love the Latino spirit, where two-bedroom homes are for sale at only £89,000.

Grenada

The spice island of Grenada is only 21 miles by 12 miles but manages to pack in waterfalls, rainforests, protected national parks and access to some of the best sailing in the Caribbean.

Homes & Property readers can experience the glory of Grenada in July and August, staying three weeks for the price of two at Mount Cinnamon Hotel.

The hotel has 21 brightly coloured suites and two- and three-bedroom villas overlooking the two miles of white sands at Grand Anse Beach. On-site facilities include tennis, watersports, a spa and gym.

As an extra bonus for Homes & Property readers, Mount Cinnamon will organise a fully guided day out to Grand Etang National Park with a trek through the Seven Sisters Waterfall and a picnic lunch before spending the afternoon “river tubing” down the Balthazar River.

Prices for the offer start from £4,225 (inclusive of all taxes) for two people sharing a one-bedroom suite with up to two children under 12 accommodated for free, saving between £2,112 and £4,012. Terms and conditions apply.

* Call Mount Cinnamon Hotel on 020 7352 2780, or email reservations@mountcinnamongrenada.com. For more information, visit www.mountcinnamongrenada.com.

Uruguay

Uruguay, South America’s smallest country, has not caught the eye of many British property buyers due partly to its distance from London, but the beautiful in-crowd from neighbouring Brazil and Argentina love it. They head to the capital Montevideo for its atmospheric tango bars and designer shopping before partying in the chic beach resort of Punta Del Este.

London-based EM Concepts hopes that affordable prices and plenty of Latino spirit will entice more of us to make the 16-hour plane journey there. It is selling 96 detached two-, three- and four-bedroom villas at Sugar Loaf Ocean Club in Piriapolis, 30 minutes from Punta Del Este and 45 minutes from Montevideo airport, at prices from £89,000.

Resort facilities include a spa, tennis courts, helipad and on-site rental management. There’s a National Park on the doorstep and a picturesque marina in Piriapolis from where you can take a three-hour ferry ride to Buenos Aires.

* For more information on Sugar Loaf Ocean Club, call EM Concepts on 020 8144 6460, or visit www.emconcepts.co.uk.

Seychelles

For out-and-out desert island bliss, the 115 granite and coral islands that make up the Seychelles are hard to beat. The climate hovers between 25 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius with picture-perfect beaches, turquoise seas and a thriving tourism market — visitor numbers rose by 15 per cent in 2007. Twice-weekly direct flights from London land on the main island of Mahé.

Raffles Resorts Praslin is a planned five-star hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean at the northern tip of Praslin Island where developer Kingdom Hotel Investments is selling 23 three- to five-bedroom detached villas complete with infinity pools and easy access to the hotel’s extensive facilities.

Prices at Raffles Estate are £1.5 million to £3.17 million for freehold property.

Praslin is the second largest island in the archipelago, 15 minutes by plane from Mahé and home to the huge and increasingly rare coco de mer palm, the Unesco World Heritage Vallée de Mai and spectacular beaches such as Anse Lazio.

* For more information on Raffles Praslin, visit www.rafflesrealestate.com.

France

Four-seasons is the new buzzword in the Alps where threats of global warming and erratic snowfalls mean developers have to highlight activities away from the pistes. So French developer MGM is billing a leaseback apartment complex in Chantemerle 1350 in the Southern French Alps as the perfect place to try out summer activities that include hiking, climbing, golf and cycling.

L’Orée des Neiges, due for completion by Christmas 2008, will have 30 apartments in two timber-clad chalets priced from £166,798 excluding VAT.

Under France’s résidence de tourisme scheme buyers who put their property into the rental pool for at least 48 weeks a year are exempt from VAT at 19.6 per cent. This is MGM’s second résidence de tourisme in Chantemerle. The first, Le Hameau du Rocher Blanc, opened last year having sold well off-plan.

Chantemerle links directly into the Serre Chevalier ski domain, the fourth largest in France with 140 miles of pistes, 74 lifts, eight peaks and a top altitude of 8,973 feet. Turin airport is 90 minutes away and the Mediterranean coast is three hours’ drive.

* For more information, call MGM on 020 7494 0706, or visit www.mgm-constructeur.com.