Meet the owners

We are Caroline and Andy the proud owners of Orlando Villa Mags Den. In 2015 we inherited some money from the passing of Caroline’s parents.  We wanted to invest the money into something that would create memories and be a loving reminder of the amazing people “Margaret & Denny” were and how they influence our lives. Always taking in lodgers and being in catering and hospitality a holiday home seemed the perfect idea. You can see now why Orlando Villa Mags Den!

Why Orlando Florida, well we had both been many times before in our younger years. Andy’s parents had won a car when he was younger and they sold it and used some of the money for a trip there. I had been taken by a relative and fallen in love and when a work opportunity came to go I grabbed with both hands. Then we went together whilst I was pregnant with our beautiful twin girls Sophie and Rebecca, then again for our Honeymoon again with the girls.

We love Florida, the theme parks, the nature, the beaches and Andy particularly loves his golf. The memories of each trip are amazing. There is so much to do and see every year we try something different.

And as for Orlando Villa Mags Den, we love the space the freedom of eating in or going out. We are not climbing over each other like we do in a hotel. I can sit by the pool with my cuppa when the others are sleeping. It really is home from home and we welcome you to share this experience with us.

So in the summer of 2015 Andy dared me to apply to Chanel 4’s A Place in the Sun. In the September we went to their show at the Birmingham NEC where we had the opportunity to ask loads of questions and do a screen test. Within a week or so we were ask to fill out some paperwork and then a camera man came to film and interview us at our home in the seaside town of Eastbourne. They interviewed us both at home and at our Fish & Chip Shop “Carters, family fish and chips” where we work.  Following on from this we were packing a suitcase and mid-November we were flown out to Florida to start filming and search for our villa.

What an experience it was a fun thing to do. The crew were so helpful putting us in touch with people who could answer all our questions. The lovely Ben Hillman was the presenter and Paul Leyson was in charge of production. Eventually we found the house we really liked; it ticked nearly all of the boxes on our property search.

Sadly right at the end of filming our offer was not accepted. Not being deterred off we went with the agent to look at more of the same style on the community we liked, Calabay Parc and there it was. By tea time we had made our offer had it accepted and was heading back to the airport to fly home to our beautiful daughters. Three weeks later we had the keys and were the proud owners of Orlando Villa Mags Den