Cheats, liars and other shysters!

[MrsJobba1]

Many thanks for the heads up, Whilst I've visited WDW many times I've never stopped in a villa and would of taken what I read as face value.

 

[Shropshire Saint]

Very Interesting indeed. I admit to owning 3 villas in Florida & a plot of land yet to be built on. One is Midway down H27 which we quote 15-20 mins to AK gate which is realistic, but not always possible Its 12 miles. The others are midway down Poinciana Blvd. We quote 20-25 mins to the Disney gate just off Osceola Pway. What is interesting is that it always took longer to get to Disney from International Drive than any of the villas I have stayed in or own.
The problem as someone has already posted is that other owners quote 10 -15 minutes. Simon you recommend some vip villas in your book on page 95 at Sandy Ridge that are 10 -15 minutes drive away. To me Sandy Ridge is at the very best 15 & more likely 20 -25 to the AK gate. In fact the website you suggest people look at quotes approx 10 minutes to Disney which suggests to me that the owners their are not being completely honest?
We as owners have to take responsibility to retain our integrity & to be honest with owners. Maybe you could suggest to the better business bureau a code of conduct that we can independently sign up for. All Communities could be audited for average time & actual mileage & we would pay $100/£50 a house to be included.
For me what is worse than travel distances is creative photo's that dont show that at least 5 houses will overlook you when you are in the pool. Or your neighbours will be 3 feet away. Or never quote crime problems, there are so many potential problems. The big companies are worse than most for that. Also ratings of facilities. Some villas say they are VIP or luxurious, but we dont have a definition of exactly what that means. Villas could be rated 1 through 5 stars etc. You could probably even make it a business in itself.
If I lived in Florida I would champion it myself.
I may be biased, but I would always book from an owner rather than Virgin or TCD. If you do your research, pick up the phone look for previous guests comments etc then there are many many fabulous villas out there.
I know Johnysharp always takes the time to respond to people who ask for help & provides them with his honest view as a seasoned Orlando visitor. Others also help. I have given up as it may appear I am biased toward certain criteria, for example my wife hates to be overlooked. We have never stayed at a villa that has pools behind it so you are overlooked from 5 sides etc, but to some thats fine as travel time is more important. We also had a shocking experience at Indian Ridge with the new road being built. It may be one of the closer communities to Disney, but we would rather have an extra 5-10 minutes travel (Car has a DVD in for the kids) & peace & quiet when we get to the villa. But as I said somebody once said I was biased as a home onwer so my opinion is not valid!
Maybe between all of us we could come up with some questions all potential rentors could ask before renting a villa ie,
Travel time to MK, Universal, Super Markets, Shops, Golf, airports etc
Facing of the pool
Game Room
TV's in bedrooms etc
They could then decide whats important to them.
Simon, thanks for bringing this up. All visitors, home owners & travel companies should want the same thing, People having wonderful vacations wanting to return again!

 

[Cochise]

I will take the job of going to review the villa's.....on expenses of course

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I know Johnysharp always takes the time to respond to people who ask for help & provides them with his honest view as a seasoned Orlando visitor. Others also help. I have given up as it may appear I am biased toward certain criteria, for example my wife hates to be overlooked. We have never stayed at a villa that has pools behind it so you are overlooked from 5 sides etc, but to some thats fine as travel time is more important. Travel time to MK, Universal, Super Markets, Shops, Golf, airports etc
Facing of the pool
Game Room
TV's in bedrooms etc
They could then decide whats important to them.
Simon, thanks for bringing this up. All visitors, home owners & travel companies should want the same thing, People having wonderful vacations wanting to return again!

Thanks

There are several things I look for in a villa, location, age of property, secluded south facing pool, TVs in bedrooms, VCR/DVD player, ceiling fans.

Location is important as easy access to all the attractions, the I4, restaurants and most importantly (for us anyway) a Publix supermarket nearby.

Most homes in the Kissimmee area we find offer all of these.
Naturally though we all have our own different prefences and if potential renter's find what they see as their ideal home, it could well be an extra 10-15 minutes to the parks would not put them off.

Like everything when renting a villa, because there are so many out there the best bet is always to shop around to find one you really like.

Most owner's we have come across have been fine, however last year we stayed in a villa advertised as a 'south facing pool', it wasn't unfortunatley hence we had a pool in the shade until lunchtime.

We should also be careful that the owner's own websites contain up to date information, I have seen sites where homes are advertised as brand new , that clearly are in actual fact several years old - just the information has been neglected and not kept up to date.

 

[martina857]

Is it true that in your book (I have not read it) you state that Sandy Ridge is 10-15 minutes away ?

I would also like to point out that in the past I have berated owners on these boards for what I believe to be mis-representation with regards to proximity to Disney. However unless I am missing something here all the villas on the site you mention are put there by agencies not private owners so I think your post is unreasonable at best.

Martina

 

[Laurafoster]

Is it true that in your book (I have not read it) you state that Sandy Ridge is 10-15 minutes away ?

I would also like to point out that in the past I have berated owners on these boards for what I believe to be mis-representation with regards to proximity to Disney. However unless I am missing something here all the villas on the site you mention are put there by agencies not private owners so I think your post is unreasonable at best.

Martina

I think the point he is trying to get across is for people to make sure they do a bit of research into a villa and make sure you know exactly where you are going to be and to not just take the word of the people or agencies advertising it!

Regardless of whether this particular website is private owners or an agency the fact is many villa owners do lie about the proximity of their villa to Disney

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks for the heads up

It's only when enough people are aware of it that the practice might stop.

We just have to spread the word and hope enough people listen......

Appreciate you cannot name and shame those in your publications but the advice about getting specific details and confirming them in mapquest would help

 

[martina857]

OK, the topic title may be a touch dramatic ( ) but we have recently come across yet another example of how some villa owners completely mis-represent their properties and try to make out they are 'close' to Disney when the opposite is usually the case.


But what has really got our blood boiling about these people who misrepresent the truth in this way (it is called lying in most cases), is this amazing claim to be in 'Lake Buena Vista.' The website is venere.com and we would urge people to steer clear of this like the plague, if this example is anything to go by. The villa they indicate as "just 10 minutes from International Drive and 15 from Disney World" (yeah, by Concorde!) is actually in the Sandy Ridge community, which we know well from friends who have two villas in the vicinity. It IS a pleasant place to be, and the villas ARE very nice, but it is approximately 10km from the Disney World boundary - not most people's definition of the word 'close.

I don't see any private owners on that site at all ! Just agencies, it seems strange to target the owner when they would have no control over what was written there, actually it looks like a nice site.

I agree though about the bull that is written about proximity and have moaned about it lots of times, I just think this particular post is Wrong.

Martina

 

[SimonV]

One company who might be able to work on this are the Guild of Florida Owners, who have been working in the area for almost 5 years now. They are a UK-run company who aim to visit, inspect and rate as many Central Florida villas as possible, and provide a 'seal of approval' for all the villas they inspect. It is a tall order for any one company to deal with, but GFO are tackling it head on and seem to be making some progress. We have spoken with them several times in the last year or so and are impressed by their intention to 'make a difference' in this area and provide a rating measure that has some meaning. I'm not so sure they currently look at the specifics of accurate villa location (and the various claims of Disney 'proximity') but they do seem to working well at ensuring the villas they inspect conform to a specific standard, which is another important consideration. You can look up more about them at www.floridaowners.co.uk.

On a separate note, for the best map of the area, we can recommend the Orlando-specific product of www.orlandomaps.co.uk. We have discovered this only recently, but it is well established and well worth trying. They will have a new version out in May that will include the Highway 27 area, which will be extremely valuable, as no-one else really covers this in any great detail.

 

[SimonV]

Venere.com is a booking agency in its own right, but all the individual property info is supplied by the various villa owners. There just is no excuse for this kind of mis-information, and anyone who thinks the likes of Sandy Ridge and Highlands reserve qualify as 'Lake Buena Vista' deserves to be exposed as a cheat and a liar, pure and simple.

 

[terrynewpack]

Guild of Florida Owners? Where on earth did you find them?
Having been involved in the STR business for many years and having taken a keen interest in it for even longer I think I can safely say that the above organisation has little or no impact on the Florida villa rental industry and is just one of a number of similar organisations set up to make money for those involved. Most home owners will never have heard of them and a quick look at their web site would not attract too many people to consider using them.
There are dodgy owners who give wrong distances but there are also vast numbers of owners who go to great lengths to give a great experience to their guests and I think the original post is way over the top.
Sometimes I think some people who post on here are rather quick to recommend various commercial organisations for reasons best known to themselves.

 

[SimonV]

The Guild of Florida owners have been around for the last 5 years and have the backing of a number of different local associations, including various home-builders and vacation home organisations, notably the big Regal Palms group.

They are busily involved in trying to provide a recognised and uniform standard to this business, which still includes some of the biggest cheats under the Florida sun. It is a huge task but it is a worthwhile and laudable aim.

To suggest I would recommend something or someone on this site that doesn't have some real use to visitors, or that I am in some way looking to benefit from it, is a ridiculous and brainless slur.

There IS a problem with this facet of the vacation home business and, until someone does something about it or makes a fuss about it, it won't go away.

What's your solution, terry, just sit back and sneer?

Your comments are as offensive as they are ignorant.