Advice needed on renting a villa

[Cinderella]

Hi, We're planning to rent an offsite villa in June. It will be the first time renting an offsite villa in Orlando. I've researched some of the areas but the choices are overwhelming.

There's only four of us, so we'll be looking at a 3 or 4 bedroom with a full-size pool. And we've ruled out Windsor Hills because only their four bedrooms have a full-size pool. They look very nice but they're way more expensive than anywhere else.

Ideally, we'd like somewhere with a pool, spa and games room. Lindfields seems to have some nice reasonable houses - but would the drive be too far? What about Emerald Island?

I notice that most folk charge for pool heating and spa heating. Does anyone have any idea if it's possible to heat the spa only? Orlando water temperatures get way too warm for me in June without heating.

Thanks.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I love VRBO for vacation rentals....

I did a little searching in the Central Florida area and came up with a few possible matches for you:

http://www.vrbo.com/77440

http://www.vrbo.com/115896

http://www.vrbo.com/9392

http://www.vrbo.com/20770

http://www.vrbo.com/200328

I could continue adding villas, but I'll let you check those out first.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

ahhh... found another and couldn't resist...

http://www.vrbo.com/4798

 

[sjanus]

What about Wyndham Palms or Indian Creek? I've seen advertisements of some nice homes in both of those communities and they are close by Disney. I also like www.vrbo.com, as well as www.homeaway.com, and www.vacationrentals.com for finding properties through owners.

Sandy

 

[sympatico]

Hi, We're planning to rent an offsite villa in June. It will be the first time renting an offsite villa in Orlando. I've researched some of the areas but the choices are overwhelming.

There's only four of us, so we'll be looking at a 3 or 4 bedroom with a full-size pool. And we've ruled out Windsor Hills because only their four bedrooms have a full-size pool. They look very nice but they're way more expensive than anywhere else.

Ideally, we'd like somewhere with a pool, spa and games room. Lindfields seems to have some nice reasonable houses - but would the drive be too far? What about Emerald Island?

I notice that most folk charge for pool heating and spa heating. Does anyone have any idea if it's possible to heat the spa only? Orlando water temperatures get way too warm for me in June without heating.

Thanks.

We stayed in this one in Emerald Island in Nov. It had been refurbished with new carpets, paint, bedding etc.
http://www.vrbo.com/185251 It is exactly as it looks in the pictures.
There are a few that have separate hot tubs like this one in Sunset Lakes:
http://www.fabvillas.com/florida-vacation-rentals-villa-1420.html#summary
I've stayed at WH a few times but this was a first for Emerald Island and I really liked it there too. Very well looked after in the public areas.
Another in Sunset Lakes: http://www.vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/16234.html

 

[Cinderella]

Thanks everyone. There's some really nice villas among these. Wanda - the one you stayed at in Emerald Island seems really nice. I'll definitely be taking a closer look. It's nice to get recommendations on villas folk have already stayed in. I read somewhere that you have to be careful as the pictures may not have been taken recently.

 

[summermac]

We're staying at Windor Hills. I finally just had to quit looking at resorts and BOOK. Too much stuff to look at!

Here's ours:
http://www.vrbo.com/32460

 

[7165red]

We have rented at Lindfields and really like it very much, in fact going back in 09. It is very close to shopping and restaurants on 192. The villas are a little older so they have more property. We stayed at Dolphin Song beautiful an d it has a hot tub, nice owners. Xmas we stayed at Maria's Sunny retreat and we loved it. The pool area was very private on a beautiful piece of property. We are going back this xmas. The owners were just great. They called us to make sure everything was alright and gave us their cell to call them any time. They left us a gift basket and a bottle of wine. I also liked the fack that they had 3 recliners in the villa. It is a 4br. & Dolphin Song is also a 4br villa. It was a short ride to the parks.

 

[Pozzie]

There are a lot of new resorts which offer top end accomodation and facilities. We now stay in villas for our annual Florida break. We have found them to offer more freedom, plenty of space and a retreat from the hectic parks.

We stayed last year in Bellavida at a villa called Mickeys-Mansion. Do a google search if you want to have it a look at it.

It was great for our large group and the kids used the games room and PS3.

It really depends on how much time you want to spend at the parks and how much time doing other stuff. We tend to do 5 days at the parks, a day at a Wet 'N Wild a few days relaxing by the pool and a bit of shopping.

We are now villa fans and wouldn't ever go back to pokey hotel rooms. We looked over Emerald Island, Windsor Hills, Bellavida and Watersong. These appear to be the top end resorts and have good proximity to the parks at Disney and Universal.

Bellavida seemed to be about 20 minutes drive max from eveywhere and only 10-15 mins from Disney. If you've never tried a villa it worth giving it a go.

Pozz

 

[carden]

We have rented numerous times offsite and I can say with confidance that AAA Dream homes has far and away been the best to deal with. They have homes in several different communities.
We have stayed several times in Winsor Palms resort, and have always been very pleased. Windsor Palms is a gated community that is about 5 minutes from Disney property.They have awesome homes, and their clubhouse facilities and pool are great!
I can't post the website because I don't have enough posts yet, but if you google the name, it will come up. When you call, ask to speak to Lance. He is the owner and is very helpful.
These folks are very easy to deal with. Check in only takes a few minutes. I will be happy to answer any questions for you as best as I can.

 

[troobabiee7]

Hi! We've rented homes every year for the past 4-years and are doing so again this coming summer. We drive down from NY with our dog and like to stay for a few weeks so condos/homes always work out the best. In 2005 we rented a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom condo at Emerald Island for a month for only $2000! It was gorgeous and you can't beat that price! We loved Emerald Island - the grounds were beautiful, there was a lot to do, and it was right across the street from Disney.

The only advice I have is to be careful who you rent from. We have a horror story from 2007 when the home we rented in the middle of the summer had a faulty air-conditioner. The owners lived in the UK so we were directed to their management agency, Loyalty Homes. We spoke to the owner, Yvonne, and she was arrogant, rude and a plain old' PITA. She didn't believe that the air-conditioner didn't work and refused to come down to see. She just kept yelling at us on the phone and refused to give us our money back. She actually said that we were "Stupid New Yorkers" Have you ever?!!! The house was also a mess - we got there early and the housekeeping service told us to leave, so after an 18-hour drive from NY we went and walked around a flea market before coming back to find dirt in the washing machine, crumbs on all the couch cushions, and plastic bugs left in the fridge. What had the maid even been doing in there?! We were stuck, but luckily some family members back at home were able to look up a few numbers for us and we called another agency who was able to find us a home that very night. We eventually got half of our money back from Loyalty Homes after threatening legal action. It was a mess, and not what we wanted to be dealing with on our vacation.

Other than that, we've never had a problem. Everyone's always been friendly and helpful, and the houses have been great. We especially loved the homes we rented with private pools. We always use VRBO and they let you speak to the owners directly rather than booking through an agency, which can save you a lot of money. Just be sure to ask what management company they use, and make sure it's NOT LOYALTY HOMES!!!

 

[Cinderella]

Thanks everyone. You've given me some amazing suggestions. But every time I find a home I like, it's booked up for around the time I want to go. My favourite one, in Bellavida only has one week available and has taken many bookings for next year.

I had no idea there were so many amazing rentals so close to WDW. Pozzie, I looked up Mickey's Mansion and it looks awesome. But it isn't available for our dates. I wanted to wait until my October but my DH doesn't want to wait that long for his summer holidays.

@troobabiee7 - What happened in the end - did you get the aircon working, or did you get your money back? I would hate to wind up somewhere that wasn't as it was described in the pictures, so I'll make sure I avoid that particular company.

 

[troobabiee7]

@troobabiee7 - What happened in the end - did you get the aircon working, or did you get your money back? I would hate to wind up somewhere that wasn't as it was described in the pictures, so I'll make sure I avoid that particular company.

We wound up leaving. The company refused giving us any help or even answers. We spoke to the Loyalty Homes owner over the phone several times, and she refused to believe us. Why in the world would we lie about the air-conditioner being broken? And wouldn't it have made sense for her to come down to see for herself?! It was a crazy situation, needless to say. We called my aunt back in NY and asked her to look up some companies for us (since the promised high-speed internet in the house didn't work either) and we found a company that could get us a house that night to stay in for the next three weeks. We had to pay a lot more than we'd wanted to, but it was our only option.

Then, despite the fact that we weren't staying in the Loyalty Homes house due to their own negligence, they refused to give us our money back. It ruined our whole first two days in Orlando, since we were arguing with them over the phone as we stood in line for the Tower of Terror! They refused to give us our money back time and time again, so we eventually said that it was fine and we'd stay in the house. After all the arguing that must have made them nervous, and they refused to give us the new key code to get into the house, since they had changed it as soon as we moved to the new house (through a different company). Now they had our money and weren't giving us the services we paid for and we threatened getting our lawyers involved, and they finally decided to give us half our money back. We should have fought for all of it, but we were halfway across the country from home and we didn't want to waste our vacation fighting with some inadequate, unprofessional company. After all the times they refused to give us any money back we felt like half of it was a victory!

Really, don't let this discourage you. We've stayed at Emerald Island and the Lake Davenport Estates, and both were great. The houses were gorgeous, the pool maintenance was up-to-date and everyone was friendly and helpful. We're renting a condo again this coming summer for two weeks at the Venetian Bay Villages, which looks gorgeous. Plus we're spending only $1050 for a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo. The deals are great! I just shared my story to warn you against Loyalty Homes. Just be sure to ask the owners of the homes you like which management company they use, and look up some reviews in advance. I know if you google "Loyalty Homes" reviews you can find some doozy's

 

[hegsag]

I stayed at Orange Lake Resort a few weeks ago (We had a 3 bedroom villa) and loved it. VERY close to Disney and LOTS of stuff at the resort.

 

[Frothy]

Always stayed with Florida Leisure and we get treated like royalty! Their web site and blog are great and we get a monthly newsletter telling us what is going on in Orlando. We also love the web site because it shows every house in video and picture format and we get to pick exactly what we want. The last three times we have stayed in the same house on Cumbrian Lakes and it's wonderful. Lovely evening sunsets overlooking a fountain on a small lake. I love it and I'd buy the house if it ever became available!

If you want a great vacation then visiting Orlando and staying in a house is the only way to go. We've done hotels but none of them come close to what we get in a house. We love doing our own thing and what makes it even better is that we can invite friends to visit us and it doesn't cost anymore.

Have a great time...

 

[Cinderella]

Thanks everyone. I'm leaning towards Dolphin Song as suggested by 7165Red. It looks really nice and the website has a lot of helpful info. Now I just need to hope they have availability.