A COUPLE have saved tens of thousands on holidays by listing their village home on a home-swapping website — including a stay in the Costa Rican jungle and a Spanish cave home.

Lesley and Robin Chard, 66 and 70, from Merriott near Crewkerne, ran a successful real estate business before retiring in their 50s to travel and spend time with their grandchildren.

Looking to have more regular getaways by "supplementing" luxury hotels and complex stays with house swaps, the couple signed up their converted brewery on Home Exchange eleven years ago, and have had 56 exchanges since.

Lesley said: "We've been to Australia, Canada, Bali, Barbados, lots of Europe, and we've had people come to stay in our home from all over the world.

"The priceless experiences we have had you would never get in a hotel. We have weened ourselves off 'normal holidays' as with home exchanges we can stay longer, invite family, and live within communities."

The couple said they had a "phenomenal" experience at a cave house in Spain, somewhere Lesley had "always wanted" to stay.

Another memorable stay for the couple was in the Costa Rican jungle.

Lesley said: "We were visited by the monkeys, toucans, and different birds. At 5am the monkeys would come through and I'd lie in a hammock outside."

The couple also spent six weeks touring Canada using home swaps, and ended the trip with a two-week stay in a large home in Canmore with their family where they had a "mother and baby bear visiting the house".

There are three types of exchanges available; reciprocal exchanges where you swap homes for the same dates, non-reciprocal exchanges where you swap homes on different dates, and guest points a "currency" of the Home Exchange website which can be spent on staying in other people's homes.

For those nervous about swapping their home, Lesley said: "Just try it, we were sceptical and didn't know it would work for us. But there's nothing to lose and so much to gain. You meet some lovely people.

"The money you save on accommodation you can spend on experiences like seaplanes and abseiling down waterfalls. We have saved thousands of pounds."

Lesley added: "We went to Australia on our first exchange, we must have been mad!

"But we've been doing it 11 years and we've never had any trouble, I think it is likeminded people and people are rated and vetted."

Despite being a "big advocate" for house exchange, Lesley said that homeowners have to be comfortable having people in their homes for it to work.

She said: "If you don't want people in your home, or you're not comfortable with it, it's not for you. We open up our whole house to guests, and everything in it."

The couple's three-bedroom home offers guests an idyllic taste of the Somerset countryside, plus the luxury of a large swim jacuzzi and gym.