Wndsor Hills

[KEVD]

Hi- we just booked our flight to MCO for end of June. We're getting ready to book our accomodations. We went to WDW back in 2009 and stayed at the Sheraton Vistana (rented a friend's timeshare at a dirt cheap rate). No such luck this time.

We prefer an offsite condo type of accomodation. Heard great things about Windor Hills, went to their website and sent out an inquiry. I got responses from several owners... all the condos that we were quoted look nice and very reasonably priced. Is there anything I should know before proceeding? I reacall in the past some warnings about renting from a private party.

[Pembo]

We rented once from a company and once from a private owner. Both experiences were great. I preferred the private owner as it was cheaper.

[KEVD]

I heard back from the owner of a condo that we are interested in. It's $740 for 7 nights. They say that we have to pay $300 deposit (via paypal) to secure the rental and then pay the remaining balance 4 weeks prior to check in. Is this common practice? Just being cautious here. Thanks!!

[dgr1973]

That sounds pretty standard to me as we have been told the same thing on alot of rentals I have been looking at(we have never rented a property before) The only thing I am leary of are the ones that want full payment up front, even if the say you get a full refund if you need to cancel it still makes me nervous that they have all the money upfront.

[Cruz91]

That's how most owners do it, whether renting through a rental company or doing it themselves. If you're staying a week, make sure they are waiving the cleaning fee too (also typical for most owners).

I generally also try to check tax records if I'm renting from a private owner directly to make sure they're current on taxes. Typically if an owner is at risk of foreclosure, their taxes are also delinquent. If you rent from a rental company, even if the owner gets foreclosed, the rental company will make it good somehow.

In all my trips I have only had 1 issue. One time we were double booked with another family. The rental company admitted fault and in the end paid for us to go to Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which was awesome.

Good luck!

[dgr1973]

Originally Posted by Cruz91

I generally also try to check tax records if I'm renting from a private owner directly to make sure they're current on taxes. Typically if an owner is at risk of foreclosure, their taxes are also delinquent. If you rent from a rental company, even if the owner gets foreclosed, the rental company will make it good somehow.

In all my trips I have only had 1 issue. One time we were double booked with another family. The rental company admitted fault and in the end paid for us to go to Wyndham Bonnet Creek, which was awesome.

Good luck!

Oh good lord now I have some new things to worry about, I never even thought of either of those!

[Cruz91]

If you check my signature, we've stayed at WH or WP on 9 of our trips. Of those, we only had the 1 issue, and that was taken care of quickly. I wouldn't worry a bit. You'll be fine! In addition to all of our rentals, I have sent friends and family to WH properties I've found for them on VRBO.com and none of them have ever had a problem.

[dgr1973]

Originally Posted by Cruz91

If you check my signature, we've stayed at WH or WP on 9 of our trips. Of those, we only had the 1 issue, and that was taken care of quickly. I wouldn't worry a bit. You'll be fine! In addition to all of our rentals, I have sent friends and family to WH properties I've found for them on VRBO.com and none of them have ever had a problem.

Thanks that is good to know! I found a few really nice properties in WH and WP but we are leaning toward one in Encantada since it's a 4 bedroom and has a bigger pool. It is a bit further from the parks but I hope the extra space makes up for it and the owner lives pretty close to me so that makes me feel a little better, although I don't really know why!

[Ivette1980]

Browsing through reviews of WH, I came across yours. Did you rent from the same owner multiple times? How do you go about the renting process. I have seen WH on bookit.com, I have also seen storytimeorlandorentals, which I think is directly with owner. Lastly, how do I know where the house would be in proximity to the WH clubhouse, main area? Thanx in advance.

[rrobin3051]

Hi I am renting at WH for the first time this trip and cant wait..we usually always rent 4-5 bedroom homes in Indian Creek. I like it there but not a resort type. Houses are very close to the parks and you have your own private pool. I can usually find homes on vactionrental.com for about $1100 and that is for 10 nights and 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. I have never had any issues when renting homes. Like i said this is the first time at WH and it is a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo. I got it for &790 for 10 nights, I thought that was pretty good.
Good luck with your vacation and have fun.

[DCLbrideSept2009]

We are going to be staying at WH for the first time next month. One piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you ask about any additional costs or fees (cleaning fee, security deposit, tax, etc.)

[Ivette1980]

Hi Cruz91 ... Seeing that you are the WH/WP expert, my husband and I finally settled on going to Fl this year. I was going back in forth between on Disney site or off and since I am travelling with a larger group, I think its best of we stay off site. Looking thru all the vacation homes, I still go back to Windsor Hills.

However can you please help me out with just a few questions I have? This would help a great deal and speed up the planning process. So I have a specific home in mind website of owners, Elias & Tanya is storytimeorlandorental.com. Heard of them? I plan to visit Universal and IOA for the first time and one Disney Park (so hard to decide which), can you tell me the proximity of WH to these parks? Or do you know of any other vacation rentals homes closer to Universal?

Lastly, what is the difference between WH and WP? Thanks os much in advance. Ivette

[5chicks]

Has anyone ever booked from Frank Torell who owns Nemo's Hangout in Windsor HIlls. I found it through a website windsorhillsbest

I have never booked privated before and just nervous about doing so?

Any questions I should ask him or things I should be looking out for.

Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks