BIG problem - "No pool " villa - Need options

[ADisneyNutInCanada]

We arrived at our beautiful villa last night and discovered that the pool and spa are not in operation. No water in it! Apparently a previous guest fiddled with it and management has been trying to get it repaired for the past 2 weeks with no success. We are here for purely relaxation by the pool and in the pool and this has put a huge damper on our annual holiday away from the ice and snow. There are no other pool facilities in this area as the clubhouse pool will not be ready til April which we knew would be a possibility.

We immediately considered looking for alternate accommodations for our party of 8 and after a couple hours of searching on the internet, very little available in villas due to the busy period here. We have 2 families here each with 2 teens and a hotel room is just too tight anymore and we just checked out of a condo at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek. The management has been very helpful and sympathetic and offered for us to stay the night and then make our decision to stay or move on. They will come by today to see what we plan to do and discuss a discount.

Anyhow, wondering what would you do and are there any other pool facility options that we could use in the area. We do plan to visit a water park but 7 days of this in a row would be a very expensive option. Also, any thoughts on what kind of discount we should expect?

Thanks to you all for any ideas - I have lurked these boards for years and have an alternate user name but that is at home with my auto - log in!

 

[sympatico]

Try somewhere like allstarvacationhomes.com or floridasunvacationhomes.com or even floridaleisure. They have offices in the Formosa Gardens Village Plaza. I would call and ask if they have a home available.

 

[Brian Noble]

We do plan to visit a water park but 7 days of this in a row would be a very expensive option.

Actually, it doesn't have to be that much. A waterpark annual pass at Disney would cost about $100 per person (though I think only Typhoon is open this week). Wet-n-wild has buy one day, get a year for about $50. Sea World sells a 7-day ticket to Aquatica and Sea World for $100. (I'd do the Sea World/Aquatica combo myself).

I have no idea what sort of discount would be appropriate. For sure, you should not be paying for pool heat, but that's the absolute minimum, and I would expect something more after that.

If you haven't yet, go over to windsorhillsrent.com and send a query to the owners there. You might find someone with last-minute availability.

 

[ADisneyNutInCanada]

Well, we have decided that we will stay and hope that the pool will get repaired on Monday. In the mean time we have been offered a $200/nt credit to use towards a hotel for our party and they offered that we can keep our items here as well. So, we opted to book one hotel room at the closest hotel down the road - the Omni @ Championsgate and that way we will have access to the pool facilities for today and tomorrow and a room to use to change etc. This is a much cheaper option for us than waterparks. Anyhow, it is a sunny day here and we are making the best of our situation.
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[sympatico]

Hope you have a great vacation regardless. At least it's warm, we got back last Saturday and had chilly weather for the 10 nites we were there.

 

[dougsmom98]

If for some reason, you decide to leave, I stayed in this villa over president's week and we were happy with it. The owners were great and the pool had heat and a solar blanket. I have no idea if they have any availability but based on the www.vrbo.com site, they have select dates open during March and April. It's in the Champions Gate area so you wouldn't have to move far.
Good luck!

http://www.vrbo.com/46990

 

[isla bonita]

So sorry your holiday is not going as planned. I am sure the owners are working to make your holiday more enjoyable.

I have to say our children even as they get older are pool lovers and they still spend so much time clocked in the pool I do feel your pain.

 

[ADisneyNutInCanada]

Well, we had a glorious afternoon at the Omni resort. The sun was shining, the pool was warm and the bar drinks had lots of kick! We checked into one room at 1pm and took in the facilities. They have a lazy river, water slide, a couple pools to choose from, volleyball/basketball/tennis courts and the afternoon was well spent. We figure we have the best of both worlds now and hopefully they will get the pool/spa going on Monday.

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[TrustedTraveler]

I can understand that stuff happens, but they should have contacted you ahead of time and helped you out. We would really be upset if that happened to us.
I would demand at least 50% discount.
Hope things work out.

 

[ADisneyNutInCanada]

Well, the big discount offer is $180 off our 8 night stay in a 5 bed villa with no pool and no spa for the first 4 nights. The pool guys arrived late Monday afternoon with the parts and had things running by 6pm. We could finally use the spa this morning but the pool is still warming up and we leave Saturday am.

$180 is not acceptable and I am trying to put together a big email back to the owner making our demands. The way we feel is that they are fortunate that we agreed to stay and they knew since March 2nd {as per the pool guys} that the pool and spa were broken. They had oppourtunity to advise us and failed to do so and if we knew we probably would have looked elsewhere immediately if given the option.

Anyhow, when they throw us such an insulting offer for compensating our lack of pool/spa facilities on our holiday and the inconvenience and disappointment and basically wrecking our holiday, I really want to demand 50% off!

Any thoughts of what I should demand???
Thanks!

 

[sjanus]

Probably I would consider the $200 night credit they provided for each night without the pool also as reimbursement. So that plus the $180---what percentage of rental cost would that be? Sounds like they were trying to work with you, so I would work with them.

Sandy

 

[ADisneyNutInCanada]

A final update, now that we are back home after our holiday. We had a good holiday and made the best of the situation and cool weather. The discount was only $180, and not the $200 per night without the pool we were led to believe. After 4 nights of no pool/spa repair, it was fixed finally and we used the spa the next day and the pool didn't warm up enough until the last day of our 8 night stay. There were no other pool options in this community either and we did book a room down the road at the Omni so we could legitimately access the pool facilities (I'm sure housekeeping thought the room was a sure easy clean!). After discussing with the other family travelling with us, we decided to ask for a 50% discount and hope for a happy medium. We also outlined the many reasons and that we were basically very disappointed and upset for being put through the situation and not advised prior and that $180 would have been reasonable for the inconvenience if there were other pool options on site. The booking agent responded that she would contact the owner and he would respond. I received a prompt call from the owner himself offering whatever we wanted and apologizing for the situation and that he would have been very upset too if he was there to use him home and no pool. He also offered a discount for future bookings with him and provided his direct contact information. This was more than we were hoping for and with a little creativity we made the best of the situation. Anyhow, the house was beautiful and we all agreed that had the pool been operational it would have been perfect.
Hopefully no one else gets their holiday spoiled by a surprise like this, but when you leave the snow and cold and book a home with a pool, it should be working or a discount should be in order.

 

[dis-happy]

Glad you had a happy ending and a reasonable resolution!!!

 

[sjanus]

Glad you were able to make the best of it and that you were able to talk directly with the owner who was cooperative. Take care and start planning your next vacation!

Sandy