? for those who have rented vacation homes

[PrincessTori]

Ok, I'm hoping that it is ok to ask this question. I've done searches but haven't found this exact answer.

I've read several posts about companys that people have rented their vacation homes "villas" through. However, after visiting the sites, the homes lists are HUGE!! How did you ever choose. They all start to look the same.

So what I'm asking is for references. Is there a particular home that you have rented before that you would recommend. To let you know about what we are looking for it will be either 2 or 3 familys, so a 5 bedroom at least. We are looking at booking during the Winter so the park hours will be short and we need a home that has plenty for the kids and adults. If we were going during Peak Season I would say that the accomadations wouldn't matter as long as the beds slept well, but going Off Season I know we will be spending a little more time at the home.

Again, I hope this is a legal post.

Thanks!

 

[Brian Noble]

If you send me your email address via private message (or, turn on your own private messages), I can give you a pointer.

 

[mbb]

We're renting a 5bedroom, 6!!yep, 6!! bathroom home...It's brand new, and the owners have been wonderful

2king master suites
1 queen suite
2 twins bathroom in between
(Can you tell bathrooms are important to us??)
Private pool and jacuzzi
Electric barbq
Electric wine cooler
Beach towels
Bathrobes in Mstr bedrooms
Cable tv in all bedrooms
DVD/stereo in family room
Formal living room and dining room

www.vrbo.com #35531

HTH!!

 

[PrincessTori]

thanks for the link, mbb. No photos. Did you book it site unseen, or did the owners email you photos?

 

[torismom]

Hi, if you go to :
www.floridadisneyhomes.com
You will be treated right and be able to choose a beautiful home!!

 

[PattiPB]

I agree it is a very intimidating task!

One of the things we decided was a priority for this December trip (11 people needing 3 master suites), was a game room. This way, there is more for everyone to do, and more places to spread out. Once we agreed this was a deal-breaker, a lot of homes fell off the list.

The home we are renting is 6 bedroom, formal LR, family room, upstairs nook (with Nintendo) and converted garage into a gameroom w/ another tv and pool table. It was VERY reasonable for 10 days in December. If you would like the website for the home we chose, I'll be happy to post it. We used VRBO for our search.

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by PrincessTori
thanks for the link, mbb. No photos. Did you book it site unseen, or did the owners email you photos?

There were photos of the "model home"...and the owners sent me pics of the furnishings they had picked out...
they were supposed to be in MCO at the same time as Jeanne, and they've rescheduled their holiday...
so they don't have pics of "the" house yet.
(And they had already removed the pics from the vrbo site.)

I contacted the management/resoert developer company, and everything checks out, and as I said, the owners have been wonderful to deal with. You can see photos of the development at www.vistaparkresort.com

HTH!!

 

[PrincessTori]

Thanks everyone.

PattiPB, thanks for letting me know how you chose. Since we have another family, possibly 2 that will be going with us. I think I'll pick homes with 2 or 3 master suites. I never thought about how important master suites could be.We usually travel with other members of our family and just flip coins on who gets what room. Having several master suites would mean it would be more fair since most of them have the same type of bedding in each of them. Then I'll go to the other familes to see what kind of amminties they think they would utilize. I'm sure a game room would be great for the little ones, along with a home theater type area.

If anyone else has a link, please post.

Thanks again!!!!

 

[laralou]

We stayed here http://www.disney-daze.co.uk/index.html in May 2003 and then stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in November 2003. The vacation home experience far surpassed our expectations. We are staying again this November.

The family was wonderful to deal with and the home was very well taken care of. We loved having our own private pool and all the space of a vacation home. We had originally stayed as an experiment to see how it compared to on property but we are converts now!

Laura

 

[Grog]

I'm interested in renting a home for our trip in March, so these links have been helpful. There are a couple of places I'm already looking at as well. It's also nice to see some of you say good things about these places as I've been a bit concerned about the old saying... "If it looks to good to be true it probably is"

 

[ClanHarrison]

Originally posted by PrincessTori
Thanks everyone.

If anyone else has a link, please post.

Thanks again!!!!

PrincessTori, we have booked our Aug. 2005 trip here:

http://www.allstarvacationhomes.com/

and this is the house:

http://www.allstarvacationhomes.com/res/property.asp?ID=378

You don't need and extra Security Deposit, which I thought was great! We can't wait to go!

 

[PrincessTori]

Thanks for the links and replys. These have really helped! The task of finding a home for our group doesn't seem as daunting now.

 

[Beastlover]

We just came home from a FANTASTIC experience!! I have rented condos in the past, but this was beyond my wildest expectations!!

It was through www.allstarvacationhomes.com They were wonderful!!! Professional, clean, tons of choices!! We stayed at a 3 br 3 ba Townhome in Windsor Palms. There are tons of pictures on the website...and the one you see, is the one you rent! I can't say enough about it!! A five minute drive to Disney...we just loved it!!

Also, we are looking to buy a townhome in Orlando next year when the mortgage is paid off, and that place is #1 on our list.

ClanHarrison: sorry--I didn't see your post!!

 

[ClanHarrison]

Originally posted by Beastlover


ClanHarrison: sorry--I didn't see your post!!

That's no problem. I'm just happy to hear someone giving their "testimonial" about All Star. I haven't seen many and that may be because they're one of the newer developments.

 

[Cheap-n-Dale]

Originally posted by Grog
I'm interested in renting a home for our trip in March, so these links have been helpful. There are a couple of places I'm already looking at as well. It's also nice to see some of you say good things about these places as I've been a bit concerned about the old saying... "If it looks to good to be true it probably is"

I thought the same thing, "if it looks to good to be true it probably is...". Specifically, for me at least, the ammenities you get with a villa compared to the price of a hotel. Then I went to www.vrbo.com and looked at the Orlando section. I came to the conclusion, that there most be thousands of villas in the area to rent. From what I gather from many of the owners that I spoke with, they have bought these homes basically to have a place to stay when they come to Fl (many live abroad) or as future retirement. The fact that they rent them out, is just a means to an end for them. Many (not all) are not looking to get rich, just be able to maintain. This philosopy coupled with the shear volume of homes seems to lead to economies that favor the consumer. My theory at least. We are staying in our first rental villa this December. Splitiing a 4 bedroom with another family we are paying around $80/night for the Holiday week. Separate bedrooms for all, and private heated pool.

I love staying on-site, but I don't love it that much.

 

[AJKMOM]

Just my $.02, since I never actually rented a home, but I read a lot of the posts here, it seems people are more comfortable when there is a managemant company involved. Posters here seem to be reluctant to deal directly with a "villa" owner. You have more peace of mind, especially when there is a lot of money involved, when you find a website, address, and BBB recommendations.

 

[2BigKIdz]

We rented this home emerald island home in July for 8 days, it was truly magnificent. The owners were very nice and easy to deal with and the home was very well furnished and just beautiful. The resort is nice as well, and was very quiet in the section we were in. I can recommend the house and the owner's without a single qualm.

I found them on floridavacations.com.