Choosing a vacation home...

[KayR]

If it is OK, I would like to ask those of you that have rented a vacation home, what are the features that you most wanted. I was not thinking number of bedrooms, but what was on your "must have" list and your "would like to have" list (for example spa, internet, wi-fi internet, free calls etc).

How important was a themed room for the kids (Disney or other theme)?

Was there anything at the home that you were not originally expecting or too concerned about, but found that it was a very useful thing to have. Anything that you thought was not good.

I am interested to find out what is most important to guests who rent a vacation home.

Thanks

--Kay

 

[disneygirlatheart]

The most important to us was a Disney themed bedroom, three bedroom, pool, grill, spa, and playroom. We found it and fell in love with the house. It was a perfect vacation. I hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[dougsmom98]

For us, the most important things were a king sized bed, TVs in the bedrooms, and pack and play available for free. I really wanted a pool and spa but was willing to give that up for a great price and great community pool complex. Full sized washer and dryers are nice. Additional games (play station, game cube or something like that) are nice but not a deal breaker for us. Alarm clocks are nice to have in the bedrooms.
Hope this helps.

 

[allyn]

for us the musts were internet access and a safety fence around the pool (we have a 3yo). also based on my research i decided we would like to stay at emerald island so we restricted our looking to houses there. for us, a disney themed room wasn't important at all.

we were absolutely thrilled that the house we chose had a tivo.

the one downside was the pool heat which didn't run 24 hours/day. so there were times that the pool was too cool to use. i expected that the pool would be ready to use any time. pool heat was included in the price and not optional at this home.

my wife would say the washer/dryer was awesome to have. she also liked the fully stocked kitchen (lots of plates, pans, cups, etc.).

there was a pc in the home, which i didn't expect to care about since i think we had 4 or 5 laptops, but a couple of my family members used the pc instead of a laptop.

 

[mbb]

It sure is okay to ask...

And just as a quick reminder for all "our" DisBoard vacation home owners (I think we have the most helpful/kind/friendly/go-the-extra-mile bunch around ), we can't permit advertising that your home is for rent.

OK, that out of the way, here's our list:

Must haves:
King beds in the master
Great owner
High speed internet
Great owner
Cable TVs in bedroom/DVD player
Great owner
One level (if my parents are with us - Ground floor master at least)
Great owner
High speed internet
Great owner
Spa
Great owner
Excellent pool heating
Enough living room furniture for comfortable seating for occupants of the house

And a "Great Big Book of Everything"...maps, take-out menus, home info, contact info, etc, etc

...and did I mention that a great owner is essential??

HTH!!

 

[Kellydelly]

TV in the master bedroom, bigger is better!

cable tv

Pool heat

Pool safety fence

pack in play

Disney themed bedrooms for kids really catch my eye!

Privacy fence around pool, or home that doesn't back up to another property

Great rates that reflect the fact that there are thousands of rental properties available

Recent/acurate photos that show the home in it's true state

Coffee filters that work with the home's coffee maker (they're so cheap, but it's nice to have them there already if you are a coffee drinker!)

A basket of toys (legos, busy stuff like that)

toilet paper Our last home didn't provide enough for the week

dishwasher soap, would be nice if the management/cleaning people could just leave maybe 3-4 of those individually packed cleaning tablets, or even a cheap box of cleaner. I know I don't feel the need to pilfer it on my way out! The last house left one sample size envelope, which did last me three washes because I know it only takes a teaspoon to wash a load.

Have a cleaning service that does the laundry, our last house we had to actually wash and dry the towels before we left, which I didn't appreaciate as I don't like waking at dawn the day we leave just to do the house's linens , having to gather the dirty linens and towels and leave them in a basket on the washer for the cleaning crew is nicer.

We actually like parking in the garage, although it seems the new trend is to put pool tables in them and call them game rooms.

If I think of more I'll come back and add!

 

[KayR]

Thanks everyone. Keep 'em coming.

It's really cool and interesting to hear things from "the other side of the fence".

I appreciate all the replies (as I am sure other owners do too!).

-Kay

p.s. I promise I will be good homeowner and not advertise but I do find it interesting to see why people choose a home! That's the marketeer in me...

 

[ToriLammy]

It sure is okay to ask...



OK, that out of the way, here's our list:

Must haves:
King beds in the master
Great owner
High speed internet
Great owner
Cable TVs in bedroom/DVD player
Great owner
One level (if my parents are with us - Ground floor master at least)
Great owner
High speed internet
Great owner
Spa
Great owner
Excellent pool heating
Enough living room furniture for comfortable seating for occupants of the house

And a "Great Big Book of Everything"...maps, take-out menus, home info, contact info, etc, etc

...and did I mention that a great owner is essential??

HTH!!

Yep. I could have written this list myself. Good communication with the person renting your house, don't ignore their requests just because you have a timetable of when you tell them things. (And if that's the case TELL them up front about the timetable so they don't get paranoid ....).

 

[Mainebound]

We agree with a lot of what has been posted.

Necessities (or near necessities) for us:
Within 3 miles of WDW -- we make two trips a day usually
Clean!!!!
Great management company (great owner can't help that much if s/he's in the U.K.)
Internet -- how else to keep up with the DIS?
2 living areas
Cable TVs in all the bedrooms -- large enough to actually see from bed!
Enough seating for everyone in the living areas
Plentiful lounges and table and chairs on pool deck
Lanai for shade
Games console, preferably with games
Selection of books and DVDs
Kids themed room (doesn't have to be Disney per se. We love to go to the website and let the kids pick their rooms before our stay)
Acquire home access WITHOUT a stop at Management CO.

Things I used to want but now don't care:
Games room (nice but we never have time for it!)
South facing pool (you get sun no matter what -- it's Florida!)
Not overlooked (No one is ever home next door!)
Gated/manned (Just seems like a "show" of security rather than the real thing, plus seems safe enough in the areas we stay in)

Also -- it is a little thing, but... We don't need a welcome basket or a stocked fridge, obviously, but try to have toilet paper in all the bathrooms and some essentials like a roll of paper towels in the kitchen and a few bars of soap in the home at all times; maybe a little coffee and filters. We don't like walking into a home at night after traveling all day to find the place has been stripped COMPLETELY bare -- reminds me of the Grinch!

Hope this helps!

 

[Kellydelly]

Cable TVs in all the bedrooms -- large enough to actually see from bed!
Acquire home access WITHOUT a stop at Management CO.

Amen! Our last trip was the first booking directly through an owner and it was nice having the key waiting at the house. It can be a bit of a pain to go to the management office to fetch the key; the one we had to drive to wasn't very close to any of the properties we rented.

 

[5mins2disney]

When we were rentors we wanted (and still do! we do VRBO vacations in other parts of the country / world all the time still...just went to Colorado skiing over Xmas/New Years!)

pool

high speed internet

decorating - no cheap furniture packages please (this is VERY important to my wife and her sisters...all of whom do lots of VRBO rentals all over the world)

painted walls - see above comment about decorating - plain white walled places look so barren to us!

high end beds, mattresses, linens - nothing worse than a cheap mattress and linens that feel like sandpaper - we stayed in a place over Xmas that had this...very disappointing compared to what we're used to

DVDs / DVD player is nice..it's nice if there are some movies to watch in the home too...since it's a big hassle to go find a place to rent them when you're on vacation.

plasma / widescreen HD type TVs... we raved (and still do) about the first townhome we rented for 2 years since it had this...what a great vacation!

video games for the kids... keeps them quiet and amused for hours when not in the parks...and have a nice supply of games please...doesn't help if there's only 1 game there!

organized owner...things like emails...receipts..booking agreements should all be well communicated and painless

lots of current and good pictures of their place on their website, no big surprises when we show up and it's not as pictured or described!

good MC is essential...it's not the problems that come up..everyone has them..it's what you DO about them that matters!

In the disney area we didn't care so much about themed rooms

We do care about a gated community if possible...especially in the WDW area there are known packs of solicitors and other vagrants that occasionally "roam" in the non-gated communities

A resort feel..clubhouse...pool...nice to have

Close to the parks is important to us...don't want to drive far to get there.

We want a home that is never smoked in or allows pets...as we're allergic to both.

Plenty of nice linens and towels..and pool towels too.

TP/paper towels / garbage bags / dish soap / cleaning supplies / laundry detergent ...all are nice things to have...for us..skip the welcome basket...if anything..provide these. We had to ask the MC when we arrived why the home we rented didn't have these items. If you don't provide them, no problem, just let the guests know this up front so they know to go and buy these things themselves and aren't caught without them.

Park information in the home is nice to have too.

Clean is a must have thing too...nothing worse than a dirty home!

Nothing goofy..by this I mean...don't lock up the master bedroom or kitchen pantry closets and think your guests won't mind (we met an owner who does this for their own things...we wondered where on earth guests put their stuff!) This would really bother me.... I once chartered a sailboat (big one) and many of the cabinets and lockers all over the boat were locked up...drove me nuts we couldn't get to the tools when we needed them to fix broken items!! (More important when you're out to sea..believe me!)

 

[A&CsMom]

Our must haves:

King sized bed in master and ensuite bathroom (large tub and separate shower is nice too)
At least one bedroom with two twin beds
Themed rooms are nice when you have young ones, but not essential
Not overdecorated, more simple and classically decorated to suit many tastes (when I look at photos of a home, I get an immediate sense of whether I like it or not - but that's a personal thing)
Good quality furniture
Gas bbq
Pool that can be heated (not just solar)
Spa or hot tub that can be heated above 100 degrees
Backyard that isn't closely surrounded by other homes/screened in pools
Fairly new home in a gated community
Great homeowner who answers promptly and professionally
Reasonable rates for what we are getting
TVs in every room
Covered area to sit in the lanai, with quality pool furniture

That's all I can think of right now!

 

[englishteacha]

As a renter, I look for:
washer and dryer-I'd rather do laundry than pack everything I own!
good location
nice owner/manager
A timetable of when I'll get info so I don't get paranoid
A truthful website!! I'm looking for a condo for June for 11 nights and am having a heck of a time. Several say "$400 weekly!" but then want to charge me $60-70 a night for 11 nights instead of the $52 a night it would come to based on the weekly rate. Also, don't post a low cost on your site saying it's good for all seasons, then quote me something different. I won't trust you and you'll lose business.

 

[Mainebound]

Also, don't post a low cost on your site saying it's good for all seasons, then quote me something different. I won't trust you and you'll lose business.

Having rented the two previous years, I think this is a new phenomenon, which I experienced to my GREAT frustration this year using VRBO. You see the list of homes in a particular community, then a price like, "From $900 week". You click and find that the $900 is only for January 5-12. The rest of the year it's $1800!!!

 

[idyll2]

Having a clean house is paramount- I cannot say enough how important that is- nor how hard it can be to find-

 

[Freyja]

MUST HAVE: Private south facing pool.
VERY IMPORTANT: Games room
NICE FEATURE: Themed kids room
BONUS: Key available at villa.

 

[Kellydelly]

Having a clean house is paramount- I cannot say enough how important that is- nor how hard it can be to find-

Really? We've rented four different properties and all were impeccably clean! Who have you been renting from/through that has dirty homes?

 

[idyll2]

I build and design and operate vacation rental homes in various parts of the US- I travel CONSTANTLY for work so stay in a lot of homes- I guess I have rented about 30 houses all over the US in the past 18 months- In general, the vast majority are not up to my standard of cleanliness- In the Orlando area, I have rented from maybe seven companies over the course of four years- all but one I would not consider up to my specs- (And I am sorry not to specify which ones, but I am new to these forums- new to ANY forum for that matter, and don't know what is allowed to be said or not, so I don't want to give out any specific names and get in trouble I was also partially raised "in" the hospality business (and with a very hands-on philosophy, so we all did every job, inlcluding cleaning ), so I have really really heavy expectation (my husband might interject here," ridiculously high expectations" - I think it is great you have good luck- That is a very good thing, and perhpas I have just had bad luck in my choices...

 

[Kellydelly]

I'm pretty sure it's allowed to mention management companies on here. We rented through Alexander & Associates three of the four times and all the homes were very clean. Our last trip we rented directly from an owner and the home was also very clean. I think you are definately barking up the wrong tree with your rental choices if 6/7 weren't clean.

 

[5mins2disney]

She might be more picky than most...or...know what to look for! We know of another owner that had to fire their cleaning company for doing a well below substandard job...it happens. If someone isn't checking up on the cleaners (like a supervisor)...then if the MC doesn't check on the job they do... well... it's easy for a cleaner to get lazy...knock it out quickly and be done.

In this particular case the owner noticed things like rings in the bathtub... (ewww)....so they knew for a fact the tub hadn't been properly cleaned....and that was just for starters. They called the MC and insisted on getting a new cleaning company in their home.

(No it wasn't mine! LOL)