Has anyone rented a home?

[lovepuzzles]

We will be traveling with a group in June and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with renting a home. Since there will be at least 4 mother/daughter couples going this might be a good choice for us. Could you please share who you reserved it from and and what your opinions were and if you would do it again? And also how close it was to Disney. The site I've been looking at says they all come with a pool. I thought that would be nice for the girls at night. Thanks for any help.

 

[Lisa AF]

We will be renting our 3rd home this summer. We LOVE it. We prefer to rent directly from the owner. We've used www.VRBO.com and http://www.orlandovillas.com/.

We love staying on site, but our children really prefer the rental homes. They love having there own pool and we love having our own room!

This is a map of the developments closest http://www.floridasunvacationhomes.com/subdivision.asp . This one list most of the developments. http://www.orlandovillas.com/Map.aspx Really, none are that far. It might be a 10-15 minute drive versus a 5-10 minute.

 

[4kidsnus]

We have, and we liked it so much we bought one (so I'm obviously biased!!).

We've also stayed on property, but we thought staying in a home was a better deal, especially when we bring the 4 kids!

When we rented, we rented from www.floridahomesdirect.com

There are a lot of choices, and VRBO.com is a good place to start looking. Some of the homes (and their neighborhoods) are getting older, and some haven't had as much loving care, if you know what I mean.

Shop carefully, ask a lot of questions, and insist on seeing lots of photos!

The downsides include being a little farther from the action (although I like to escape and unwind at the end of the day - and I don't have to wait for crowded busses!), and not having room service, but my DW tells me that that is what frozen food is for On the positive side, the private pool (and/or hot tub) and the space to relax is sure nice!

 

[vernon]

One of the most important questions you can ask is actual distance (not driving time) from Disney and the location. Many owners and companies estimates tend to be on the hopeful side. IMHO the best area to look in is the western end of the 192 close to the now defunct Splendid China. Developments in this area include Lindfields, Formosa gardens, Indian Ridge, Indian Ridge oaks and Indian Creek. There are a lot of restaurants in this area and it is genuinely 15 minutes to reach any of the Disney parks.

You will need your own transportation if you rent a home, I have found that it usually works better to have two (or maybe even three) smaller cars than to hire one large (9 seater van). The luggage space is usually a little cramped in the vans if you're close to the passanger occupancy plus it gives you all a little more flexibility if some of the group want to visit another/different attraction,restaurant or just go back to the vacation home early.

 

[foxyfee]

We also liked renting so much we bought one! We have gone through tour operators (you get allocated a villa on arrival), and direct with the owner, which we found by far the best way. We knew exactly what we were getting, having seen detailed pics, and get given an address before we leave home. Some owners operate a collect a key system, and others have a keycode so you go straight to the villa.

One question I would check out is to ensure that no building is going on near the villa, this can be an inconvenience. We had building going on opposite us in Naples and although there was no dirt or mess, the noise was a bit irritating - but only when we were outside, couldn't be heard from inside at all.

When we stayed in Kissimmee we thought we had chosen very carefully and were surprised how far we found ourselves having to travel. So much so that when we bought the criteria was to avoid the "are we nearly there's" from the back seat! So I would agree with Vernon that the West 192 is a good location, as is the top end of the 27 which is only another 5/10 minutes to travel.

Guess where we will be 7 days today - can't wait!

 

[kaylajr]

Renting a home is a GREAT way to vacation

it is the ONLY way my family will do it now
we need the space to spread out

the home we rented this past OCT was the best one we have ever stayed in
close enough to everything but off the crazy hustle and bustle of the main strip
it had 5 bedrooms 3 baths and a pool
also a room with a pool table and games in case you get a rainy day

we had so much fun
you can check it out at http://www.jansfloridavilla.co.uk/
jan is a great person and communicating with her is so easy
she answered all our questions ( even my DH's who askes the weirdest stuff)
she is a member here so she may chime in with some advice also

whatever you decide have a great trip

 

[lovepuzzles]

Thanks for all your replies. I feel more confident about renting a house now and know where the best places to stay will be. I have several houses picked out, just have to get the okay from the rest of the group.

 

[JANNYANS]

As Kaylajr says always ready to answer questions .
I have to agree with what has already been said and also add if you find a home you like do not be afraid of asking the owner anything we do al we can to help your vacation go smoothly .

 

[momm2four]

Please be sure to ask for pictures and when you do, remember to ask one thing...."Are these pictures current? Have there been any changes to the house or the neighborhood?"

We rented a house at the beach last summer. I went through VRBO and found a beautiful new home for a really affordable price. I saw pictures and was so excited. His site even said that a tram would come and pick you up at the end of your driveway and drive you to the beach.

When we drove into this gated community, we were pleased until we started running into dumptrucks, piles of sand, workers and puddles of water everywhere. This house was located at what had been the end of the development. This area was now being expanded and there was construction, as well as construction noises, everywhere. It was hard to get down our street b/c of trucks being parked everywhere. There was even a worker's truck parked in OUR DRIVEWAY, so we had to park on the street.

THe house was absolutely PERFECT. It looked like something out of a magazine, but the house that was being built next door was only about 10 feet away, therefore all of the hammering, sawing (electric) and talking that was going on there seemed to be in the house with us. Imagine being woken up by that at 6 or 7 o'clock every morning. We also walked out onto the front porch, only to be met by a worker standing right by our porch, in our yard, taking a smoking break.

We also found out that the tram did not run by our house as he said, since it was now Oct. We called the owner, who fortunately used a local rental agency, and they were able to find us another house in the same area for the same price. (They also sent us a coupon good for $200 off our next rental there)

All this to repeat, ask if there are any changes to the house or the area. The pictures that the owner sent us and had posted on his site showed the house with nothing on either side of it, so they were definitely outdated. He also failed to mention the fact that there was some heavy duty construction going on all around his home.

Lori P.

 

[madscrapper]

I absolutely agree that you need to ask specific questions about the driving distance. We just returned home from a week stay.

While the home was lovely and just as described, it was much farther out than we thought. Add to the actual distance the traffic we sat in each day. We were off Rt-27, which is off I-4. Coming home from the parks and then having to sit in traffic was a real pain - a few nights we stayed longer than we wanted to just to avoid rush hour. Same thing in the morning.

We also had construction next to us. While not as inconvenient as the previous poster, we could have done without.

Staying at a home was a great way to vacation, but I'd definitely ask more questions next time....and look at a map.

Good luck,
Jeannine

 

[JANNYANS]

There is a lot of constuction going on near the intersection of the I-4/27 as they are building a new city there .The upper end of the 27 near the 192 junction both north and south are not affected and if you stay there you can use the Sherbeth road turning.

 

[littlestix]

I'm interested in renting a home as well. I would like to have something on a lake or very close to a lake. My dad would like to go on this trip but insists on being able to fish. Any ideas???

I hope I'm not hijacking this post. If this is wrong, I'm sorry.

 

[JANNYANS]

nearly all communities have a lake some where close even if the home doesn't back onto it.They are suposed to be "catch and put back" but apparently the stock control is not that good onmost of them so I have heard.Maybe youe Dad's best bet would be to go to Lake Toho and take an organised fishing trip with them

http://www.centralfloridabassfishing.com/