Villa rental for dummies

[nyshamrk]

Hello All. I have been following this site for quite a while and just wanted to first say THANK YOU to everyone for posting such useful information.
We are going again in Jul 10 DH DD14 and DD11(second driving trip) and looking offsite this trip and wish to rent a 2/3 BR villa with a private pool. What sights/companies do you use that can be trusted for offsite rentals, as I am not sure how to go about this process, so I am a little nervous. TIA

 

[traveljunkie2]

I have rented through homeaway.com and vrbo.com. Both sites allow you to register your stay with them and they will notify you if the owner turns out to be fraudulent. If you get there and find your property to be illegitimate, they will refund you the cost of the rental up to $5000. Check the site for specific info, but this gave me some peace of mind.

When I was doing our research for our trip, I contacted over 30 owners and found the prices vary greatly. Get an idea of the area you want to stay in. If price is most important, you can stay a few monutes farther out and save a ton. Also, let the owners know that you are shopping around for the best deal. I always received offers for at least 10% less than they posted on their website. I had several owners follow up with me and offer to match my best deal.

Good luck with your search!

 

[nyshamrk]

Thank You so much for the info. Where we stay in Orlando doesn't really matter as we will be doing more than Disney as DD is a Harry Potter fanatic so WWoHP is a must this summer (among other Orlando attractions). I will check out the websites PP mentioned....Thanks again

 

[7165red]

I have always had good luck with www.orlandovillas.com. Four yrs. ago I was a dummie re:renting a villa and everything worked out. Good luck! Come back if you have any questions.

 

[SimonY]

On our 3rd villa holiday in 2 weeks time. As well as vrbo I like
http://www.villas2000.com/. Useful site for villa locations is http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa-map.php

Trouble with booking villas is that there's just too many to choose from. My advice is to decide what you want - location, pool, games room, internet access, barbeque etc. and take it from there. Read the description carefully, follow up with the pictures - do you want a south facing pool, is it overlooked by loads of other villas (and do you care). You can read a lot into what they don't show in the pictures as well. With boys of 11 and 14 a games room might be really useful - often with a pool table, table tennis and/or a games console of some sort.

I'm not sure about finding too many 2 bed villas with a private pool but there will be lots of 3 bed about. Enjoy the search but it might take some time to find exactly the one you want but it is out there somewhere.

 

[melliemelo]

http://www.floridasunvacationhomes.com/ is who we used to book our condo.

 

[7165red]

SimonY is right on, I would follow his/her advice. My first mistake was not seeing that we could see our neighbors pools. I care about a pvt. pool and have found a villa that is perfect for me. If you have children a game room will add to your enjoyment. www.orlandovillas.com has a discussion forum that might help you out.