Yes: Ibiza Luxury Villas is a legitimate, UK registered business that has arranged villa holidays on the island since 2001. You should not take any agency’s word for that, ours included. Run through the ten checks below before you pay a deposit on any Ibiza villa, and you will know within twenty minutes whether the company on the other end is real.
Villa scams follow a pattern: a listing copied from a real agency, a price that seems generous for August, and a request to send money to a personal account before you have seen a contract. None of the ten checks below take long, and a genuine company should be glad you asked.
Ten checks before you pay a deposit
- Ask for the tourist licence number. Every legal Ibiza villa rental carries a tourist licence in the format ETV-1234-E or ET-1234-E, though a few older properties still carry an older ten-digit number. Ask for it, then check that the same number appears on the listing itself, not just in an email. Every villa page on our site shows its licence number, so you can check it before you enquire.
- Find the company behind the site. A legitimate agency will give you a company name, a registration and a real office address, not just a contact form. Try the landline or WhatsApp number and see whether a person answers. Ibiza Luxury Villas is the trading name of AD & Co. Holdings Limited, a UK registered company run by Adam Honey and his team from an office at Carrer des Cap Martinet 14 in Jesus, Ibiza. Read more on our company page, or call or WhatsApp us on +34 649 04 81 18.
- Check who you are actually paying. A deposit should go to a bank account in the company’s name, or by card through a recognised payment processor. Be wary of a personal account or a request to pay in cryptocurrency: neither gives you any real protection if something goes wrong. We take payment by bank transfer, with no fee, or by card through Stripe, which carries a 3% processing fee. Either way, the villa is held for 24 hours while a transfer clears.
- Ask for written booking terms before you pay. A genuine company will send you booking terms and conditions ahead of any payment, not after. If an agency asks for money before you have seen anything in writing, stop. We send written booking terms and a booking confirmation by email, and you can read our booking terms in full before you enquire.
- Look at the deposit itself. A fair deposit is a percentage of the total, not the full amount, and not demanded many months before you travel. Full payment upfront, or a deposit that grows the longer you wait to book, is a warning sign. Our deposit is 40% of the accommodation price at booking, with the balance due under the same booking terms.
- Reverse image search the photos. Save one or two villa photos and search them online. Stolen photos tend to turn up on several unrelated sites, under different villa names and different prices. Photos on our villa pages belong to that specific listing, with its own licence number and description, so a search should lead you back to that same villa, not to five other websites.
- Check the villa appears on the agency’s own site, consistently. A listing that only exists on a classifieds page or a social media post is harder to verify than one that sits on the company’s own website, with the same photos, price range and licence number wherever you look. Every villa we offer has its own page, with consistent details throughout, and the same licence number you were given when you asked.
- Expect a confirmation email that matches what you agreed. After booking, you should receive an email confirming your dates, the price and what is included, such as cleaning and any security deposit. If the confirmation is vague, or never arrives, query it before you rely on the booking. We send a written confirmation by email for every booking, setting out dates, price, the cleaning fee and the security deposit for that villa.
- Ask for a video call or a walk-through. A company that genuinely manages or represents the villa should be willing to arrange one, or tell you plainly why not for that particular property, rather than going quiet on the question. Ask us through our contact page and expect a direct answer either way.
- Notice any pressure to decide now. A claim that this is the last villa left, a deadline that keeps moving, or a discount that expires within the hour are sales tactics, not honest scarcity. We would rather you took twenty minutes to run these checks than rushed into a booking you were unsure of. For more on renting well, see our guide to renting a luxury villa in Ibiza.
None of this takes long, and none of it is unusual to ask. If a company answers every one of these ten points without hesitation, you are almost certainly in safe hands. If it will not give you a licence number, a landline that gets answered, or written terms before payment, walk away and look elsewhere. When you are ready, search the villas with your dates to see real availability, or get in touch with any of these questions before you book.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ibiza Luxury Villas a legitimate business?
Yes. Ibiza Luxury Villas is the trading name of AD & Co. Holdings Limited, a UK registered company that has arranged Ibiza villa holidays since 2001. We work from a real office in Jesus, Ibiza, publish a tourist licence number on every villa page, and send written booking terms before you pay. You can run all ten checks in this article against us directly.
What is a normal deposit for an Ibiza villa?
A normal deposit is a percentage of the accommodation price, commonly around a third to a half, with the balance due closer to your stay under the agency’s booking terms. Be cautious of any request for the full amount many months in advance, or for payment into a personal bank account. Our deposit is 40% at booking, by bank transfer or by card.
How do I check a villa’s tourist licence number?
Ask the agency directly, and check that the same number appears on the listing itself, since a licence quoted only in an email is harder to verify. In Ibiza the format is usually ETV-1234-E or ET-1234-E, with a few older properties still using a ten-digit number. Every villa on our site carries its licence number on the villa page itself.