Townhome or condo-Which to choose?

[dfarner]

Okay, we have finally firmed up our dates and narrowed down our search in Windsor Hills. We're looking at a 3 bedroom condo in bldg. 8 over the pool, or a 3 bedroom townhouse w/ splash pool. It will be me, DH, DD 6 and DD 2 (maybe my mom, but she hasn't confirmed). I love, love, love the idea of the splash pool. DH likes being so close to the main pool and clubhouse. He also likes everyone sleeping on one floor, hence he is leaning towards the condo. Is there something else we should consider that we haven't thought of? Being able to park right in front of the townhouse is not a big deal for him (I tried to sell him on that point). Prices are very comparable and both of the owners seem very good to deal with. For all of you seasoned renters-help!

 

[dougsmom98]

I personally would go for the town house. I haven't stayed at the condos at WH, but if they are like other condos there could be people above and below you. I hate being above people with kids because my kids make noise and I am so paranoid that the noise will carry below. It always seems that there are people with kids above me too and again the noise factor is annoying. Perhaps someone who has stayed in a condo here can confirm if there is noise with the condos. With kids, I love having my own pool so that we don't have to wait to go swimming if someone is taking a nap or sleeping for the night. This is particularly important with kids of different ages. My boys can go swimming while my 2 year old DD can sleep and I don't have to listen to them whining. Having your own little pool would be nice if you went to the parks late and wanted to cool down when you got back but didn't want to head over to the community pool.
Good luck.

 

[hjd0411]

I haven't stayed in a town home there, but did stay in a condo in Building 8 in November. We overlooked the pool and were on the top floor. The condo was good - cons would probably be waiting for the elevator (they are a bit slow!).
We were a party of adults only, so not sure how it would be with kids - I do know we heard no noise from below or beside us - the only people noise we heard was giggling from the pool when people were swimming!!
Having said that, if I go back, I would like to try the town home - I like the idea of the pool and the car space right outside!!
Please feel free to PM me if you would like any more info re the condo, and have a great time whichever you choose!!


Heather

 

[sympatico]

I personally would go for the town house. I haven't stayed at the condos at WH, but if they are like other condos there could be people above and below you. I hate being above people with kids because my kids make noise and I am so paranoid that the noise will carry below. It always seems that there are people with kids above me too and again the noise factor is annoying. Perhaps someone who has stayed in a condo here can confirm if there is noise with the condos. With kids, I love having my own pool so that we don't have to wait to go swimming if someone is taking a nap or sleeping for the night. This is particularly important with kids of different ages. My boys can go swimming while my 2 year old DD can sleep and I don't have to listen to them whining. Having your own little pool would be nice if you went to the parks late and wanted to cool down when you got back but didn't want to head over to the community pool.
Good luck.

Agree with all these reasons. Also the townhouses are not far from the pool. We were in the furtherest one from the pool and it only took us 5 min to walk over.

 

[marli]

we stayed in a condo last year (building 7 ground floor) and we honesly heard no noise at all from inside the condo and only when we would get outside the condo did we gear the noise from other units. That said we are going back this summer and have decided to try a townhouse- for the record my husband decided on the condo last year to all be on 1 floor- he said it felt more like vacation, but this year he has agreed to try the TH so we can see have our own splash pool. When our kids get up in the morning they are ready to jump into the pool first thing, however , we like to enjoy a second cup of coffee- we are hoping that the TH will allow us to all get what we enjoy the most! Hope this helps! No matter what you decide you really can't go wrong, just know that you will have a fantastic time whatever choice you make.

 

[dfarner]

Thank you everyone for your input. I talked w/ DH a little bit more about it last night and he expressed concern for the baby w/ the splash pool. I <think> it is a FL law that the splash pools have an alarmed security gate. Someone please correct me if you know otherwise. I am going to contact the owner regarding this as well.

 

[gqchicago]

Thank you everyone for your input. I talked w/ DH a little bit more about it last night and he expressed concern for the baby w/ the splash pool. I <think> it is a FL law that the splash pools have an alarmed security gate. Someone please correct me if you know otherwise. I am going to contact the owner regarding this as well.

All of the townhomes have a pool safety fence. You can also lock the sliding doors that lead out to them. Many also have alarms, and locking pins (additional safety measures, but optionally installed by the owners). The law says you have to have a safety fence, it's quite safe for kids as long as you leave the fence in place when the pool is not in use. I'm a HUGE advocate of child pool safety, please be sure to watch your kids while near ANY pool 110% of the time, and use the safety stuff when they're not in the pool, it only takes a blink of an eye for a little kid to drown. (This happened to close personal friends of ours here at home in Chicagoland last summer, very sad). That being said, I do think the pool homes are very safe, it's up to the parents to be safe though. When we've been there the alarms are on, the fence in place, etc, whenever the kids aren't in the pool, even for a second. The alarm is out of kids reach too, so they can't turn it off. One morning we heard it shrieking (it's VERY loud), our 8 year old had decided he was going to go swimming while we were still upstairs (/cringe)... CAUGHT! He had no idea it was there! hehe

I don't think a younger kid could even get the fence open though, it would be hard for little kids to "work" it, even our kids (5 & 8) I don't think could get it open, although we don't underestimate them, they have had many good talks about the "pool rules" at our "Disney" home.

 

[englishteacha]

I'd choose the townhome. We do a lot of late park nights and by the time we get back, the community pools are often closed. A splash pool would be perfect! I don't have kids, though, so you probably don't have as many late nights as we do!

 

[dfarner]

All of the townhomes have a pool safety fence. You can also lock the sliding doors that lead out to them. Many also have alarms, and locking pins (additional safety measures, but optionally installed by the owners). The law says you have to have a safety fence, it's quite safe for kids as long as you leave the fence in place when the pool is not in use. I'm a HUGE advocate of child pool safety, please be sure to watch your kids while near ANY pool 110% of the time, and use the safety stuff when they're not in the pool, it only takes a blink of an eye for a little kid to drown. (This happened to close personal friends of ours here at home in Chicagoland last summer, very sad). That being said, I do think the pool homes are very safe, it's up to the parents to be safe though. When we've been there the alarms are on, the fence in place, etc, whenever the kids aren't in the pool, even for a second. The alarm is out of kids reach too, so they can't turn it off. One morning we heard it shrieking (it's VERY loud), our 8 year old had decided he was going to go swimming while we were still upstairs (/cringe)... CAUGHT! He had no idea it was there! hehe

I don't think a younger kid could even get the fence open though, it would be hard for little kids to "work" it, even our kids (5 & 8) I don't think could get it open, although we don't underestimate them, they have had many good talks about the "pool rules" at our "Disney" home.

Thank you for this information. The girls are small enough that they are never unsupervised, but we just want to cover ALL of the bases regarding renting either type of home. With the details you have given me I can talk to the homeowner about it and have a better idea of what they're talking about.

 

[QT Pooh]

A townhouse comes in very handy for when you go grocery shopping. Much easier to lug groceries in.

I think you'd be happy with either decision...Windsor Hills is a great place.

 

[dfarner]

I'd choose the townhome. We do a lot of late park nights and by the time we get back, the community pools are often closed. A splash pool would be perfect! I don't have kids, though, so you probably don't have as many late nights as we do![/QUOTE]


You'd be surprised! On our trip last June my (then) 5 year old was running Daddy ragged at midnight. We were at MK EMH and they did almost all of Fantasyland in an hour.

 

[ado121]

i had a hard time deciding too. but the pool thng scared me off totally. i have a wil be 5 year old and a will be 3 year old and i know, since we don't have a pool at home, they would be curious. my will be 5 year old is very inventive and although they say its childproofed...i could still enviosion my smarty pants getting into the pool and taking a late night swim.

also, the stairs thing irritate me. i also will have a baby with me and then i have to worry about gating the stairs.

i also heard the splash pools arent the biggest and for your kids ages, the gradual entry pool at the main part sounds ideal. at least for us it does.

something to consider.

amy

 

[dfarner]

i had a hard time deciding too. but the pool thng scared me off totally. i have a wil be 5 year old and a will be 3 year old and i know, since we don't have a pool at home, they would be curious. my will be 5 year old is very inventive and although they say its childproofed...i could still enviosion my smarty pants getting into the pool and taking a late night swim.

also, the stairs thing irritate me. i also will have a baby with me and then i have to worry about gating the stairs.

i also heard the splash pools arent the biggest and for your kids ages, the gradual entry pool at the main part sounds ideal. at least for us it does.

something to consider.

amy

We went with the condo. I put the deposit down this weekend. The stairs were definitely a consideration for us, too. And although I think we really would have enjoyed the splash pool, being close to the main pool w/ the slide and zero entry will be nice.

 

[klj27]

Congrats! Who did you end up renting from?

 

[momofdbsdc]

Congrats! We have always gone with a condo because of my fear of the splash pool, even though we always supervise our kids, my "overprotective side" wins out! Baby will be 5 next year, so we may end up at a TH instead!

You will have a blast either way!

 

[dfarner]

Congrats! Who did you end up renting from?

It is "Ariel's Oasis", building 8, second floor. The owner has been very nice to deal with, and has answered all of my questions promptly. We are very excited about it.