help - any idea anyone for good (cheaper) villa sites

[mackay_j]

Our Villa has just gone pear shaped- the pool heating has broken down and its very unlikely to be fixed before we our holiday dates - Even although I feel for the owners - the bill is going to be upwards of $4000 ooch - I still feel we need to cancel and find an alternative - but its new year and I am struggling to find reasonable priced ones at this late stage - any idea of sites I can try (tried tipadvisor/ homeaway/villa2000. I have emailed a few we can afford - but I mean a few! - Any other agents/ travel sites I can try - feeling under pressure as we need it to work in many ways - mobility/ outdoor shade (shelter)/ pool heat - We plan not to hit the parks big time so planned more time lazing at villa this time round. Or has anyone any other ideas of where we can aim to stay that would give us the room to chill out (mum dad and 2 grown up girls) and won't cost an arm and a leg - as I have a short supply of some of those already lol.

 

[robinb]

When are you going?

 

[Woodview]

Try IPG Florida Vacation Homes

 

[mackay_j]

27th dec- 7th jan
IPG Lowest quote $2750

 

[dixonsontour]

Have you tried eBay (.co and .com) sometimes see last minute cancellations. Dibb also has a villa section.

 

[mackay_j]

totally forgot about dibb been years since I was on there-thanks for that. I have tried ebay but no luck - new year and trying to do this so late - I had booked about a year ago to get what we wanted at a price we could do. Going to try the dibb now- thanks

 

[robinb]

27th dec- 7th jan
IPG Lowest quote $2750

Don't worry! You are in the driver's seat! The owners will be desperate to rent their places with just a few weeks to go. Go back and try Home Away and VRBO and ask for their BEST price for your dates. Don't just ask the ones that you can afford from their ad, ask all the ones that will work for your family. Also, look at houses that are really bigger than you need for the same reason. We once rented a 4 bedroom house for just 3 of us because the price was right. Also consider that you may have to pay for 2 whole weeks because some places only allow Saturday arrivals and whole week rentals. You may have to "check in" on Saturday 12/25 and "check out" on 12/9 even though you are not using those days. Even so, you should be able to find something for less than $2750 for two weeks. You are also absolutely able to negotiate. If you find a place that you really like, but it's a little too high you can ask the owner/manager to come down to your price.

When I email vacation homes I keep a set of email folders labeled with the cost per week: ie $700, $800, $900 and then I file the answers into those folders as they come in. I also have a "No" folder where all the expensive ones, ones I don't like go.

Good luck!

 

[married2mm]

If all else fails on the villa front-
Why not consider bonnet creek?

 

[Portugal1000]

Not a villa but we always stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Right next door to Typhoon Lagoon. 6 pools, Huge rooms from 1 to four bedrooms.
We book with Ken and Denise at www.vacationupgrades.com
Fantastic resort. Last time we were there was for 21 nights this August. Cant wait to go back.

 

[1andrea]

We always use VRBO and copy and paste a little message in asking for the best price. They always come back less than the quoted price :0)

 

[Byron13]

Pool heaters only take a couple of days to instal. Have you asked them why it can not be fixed?

 

[mackay_j]

I got more info yesterday- it is not actually the heater but something to do with a pipe problem that has sucked back water and blown the heater so apparently ground work needs doing to fix the problem as well as replacing the heater. The owners agents/cleaning company have stepped in and provided us with another villa for the same price. The agent phoned me last night and sounded really nice and was very helpful. It is as a favour to the owners that she is doing this as the owner feel really bad about letting us down. So all sorted now but thanks anyway for the helpful suggestions.

 

[robinb]

That's GREAT news! Kudos to the agent for making things right!

 

[Byron13]

Good news, do not know anything about pipe problem