Anyone have experience with Storytime Orlando Rentals @ Windsor Hills?

[PrincessasMommy]

Storytime Orlando Rentals @ Windsor Hills........

I want to book with them but not so trusting to send money to strangers. I know that I orignally found the link through someone on here. Reputable?

Please give me your experiences.

Thank you.

 

[5mins2disney]

As a fellow (and independent) Windsor Hills Resort owner, I would say go for it, they have a very good reputation and own and operate 4 townhomes, many here on the DIS have stayed there and given them great reviews!

You could pay more though and book the same house through a management company if you prefer to pay more for the same thing...it might make you "feel" better. Another tip for first time vrbo renters, if you're scared / nervous...book the trip then go buy trip insurance on the internet... www.insuremytrip.com can be purchased independently of the owner and would protect you from sickness, travel issues, weather, who knows!

www.windsorhillsrent.com is where you can find them and many others in Windsor Hills Resort, at direct from the owners savings rates!

 

[loubelou]

We are booked to stay at Story Time 3 for our May/June vacation. I've seen a couple of other people here on the boards that have stayed in one of their rentals and had a good experience. I really don't think there is any reason to worry with these particular homes.

 

[PrincessasMommy]

Thank you for your responses.

5mins2disney - Thanks for the links and advice.

loubelou - please let me know how great it was when you return!

 

[5mins2disney]

Thank you for your kind feedback! I think they have some very nice homes actually, my wife has been looking at their websites lately in fact (and many other homes) for decorating ideas (she did our place). Our TH#2 was just acquired in it's current condition, and is about to undergo a major upgrade by professional decorators in Feb, so it's nice (one of the nicer ones actually), but still not up to the high standard of our first home, so that's about to change!

We particularly like the Storytime #4 townhome with the granite kitchen countertops and bathrooms, not sure if they bought it that way or did it afterwards, we're thinking about doing all granite now in both of our homes like they did (at least when DH spends $$ on decorating these places it's a tax deduction for me! LOL)


We really like the Disney themed rooms too, but we faced a tough challenge when doing a house up like ours....if we go with a truly "kid" oriented theme room then we limit our potential guests to just kids in that room for the most part. If we do it up more "neutral" and put lots of kids amenities like video games / toys / etc in the room, then an adult party / group could still rent from us. We decided to go with the more "neutral" choice...and get bookings from more adult oriented groups as a result we might otherwise lose, wish we could have both sometimes!

I don't know the owners personally, but we do hear good things from other DISboard members about them, and they seem to run a very good business with their homes, they certainly have a good catchy marketing name and the Disney themed kids rooms seem quite popular, so I'm sure you will have a great time there!

It's pretty hard to go wrong in the resort, the places are all new in 2005-2006, so it's not like you're even going to be able to find a place that's in disrepair or something.

To get to the point of running 4 townhomes, they must be doing something right!!

Best of luck, and let me know if you need any advice or other suggestions! Feeling apprehensive is a common question, just so you know, once you've done it a few times you will feel good about the experience though, we were longtime and frequent VRBO rentors ourselves before we bought our first place just this past summer. (And still are when we go to different places!)

 

[msjpatt]

Hi - Quinlan Family, we are renting TH#2 from you May 12-19 and are very excited to hear that you are upgrading that unit too. Will it be similar to TH#1 when it is finished? We are so excited about our trip in May and can not wait to get there.
Thanks - Maria

 

[5mins2disney]

Hi Maria, yes it will!! 50" plasma TV on order, more decorating, furniture, etc, etc, honestly, I let the decorating professionals take care of that (aka...DW!) LOL.. but I can tell you it's going to be getting quite a bit of upgrades and $$ poured into it the first week of Feb.... even I don't know all the specifics yet...stay tuned!!

We have an agreement, I let her do what she wants in that regard (ok..I DID pick out the awesome 50" plasma and the 32" Sharp Aquos HDTVs!)... and I do the website, etc! LOL

We'll be taking tons of pictures and posting them when it's all done of course though!

Now DW has the "itch" though, and wants to go upgrade our first place some more, LOL, she really wants granite kitchen countertops and bathroom vanities now! (Which we're looking into doing). It's actually hard since we're so booked to find a decent time we can get some contractors in there to take a look / do the work!

 

[msjpatt]

Wow - sounds amazing. I have not had an opportunity to sit down and watch TV on a plasma screen - that will be exciting. Let me know when you post the new pics. CAN'T WAIT, 114 more days (not that I am counting or anything)

 

[5mins2disney]

Wow - sounds amazing. I have not had an opportunity to sit down and watch TV on a plasma screen - that will be exciting. Let me know when you post the new pics. CAN'T WAIT, 114 more days (not that I am counting or anything)

HD plasma screen, meaning we've ordered the HD signal feed from the cable company for it too! (HDTVs don't do anything for you if you don't feed it the HD channels if you didn't know...there's special HD only channels added to the regular channel lineup...in Florida (Brighthouse) they're channels 1000-1200 or so...)