I Found A House at the Villas at Grand Palms--Advice URGENT!!

[Christine]

A company called Sun Country Villas has this place available. It is 3 bdrm 2 baths per night. The property is 12 years old, has been redecorated in the last 3 years. It is $114 per night.

I'm scared! Does anyone know ANYTHING about this place or the agency?

 

[CoralCayTownhome]

Sorry know nothing about it. Have you tried looking on some websites to book direct with a villa owner direct instead - you may get something newer and you never know maybe cheaper aswell

Tracey

 

[Disbound]

Do a google search and maybe you will come up with other renters and see what they offer. Also try Villas Direct. They list resorts for rent by owners, maybe you might get lucky there and get a comparison. Good luck!

 

[5mins2disney]

I strongly encourage people not to rent through Villa Direct. They do not list homes for rent by owners....they are a big (and bad) local mgmt company. They take owners homes and list them themselves that they have under mgmt. There are numerous instances recently of them overbooking homes, then cancelling the reservation on the guest at the very last minute, stating, "sorry we're overbooked and have no place else to put you".

Secondly, their customer service is just abysmal. Great company to rent from, unless you ever need them for anything, then I hope it's nothing too major.

I'd even be concerned renting from a company where the owner uses them as their MC.

Hey, you've been forewarned...I'm sure some people have a great experience with them, but I've heard way too many horror stories from other guests and other owners not to warn you guys. Most of the time nothing goes wrong of course, but when it does, boy you find out in a hurry who the good vs the bad MCs are!

 

[Christine]

Oh well, nevermind. The guy from Sun Valley called me back to let me know that his daughter had rented the home earlier today and that he could not rent it to me.

I think I'm about out of luck now for a last minute Easter home rental.

 

[5mins2disney]

None of those places I sent you or owners the other day had openings? I must have sent you a dozen or so places with open calendar openings from VRBO...and no one responded from the owner inquiry network either!? Did you send emails to all of those VRBO links I sent you? (Fortunately I was sick and home from work the other day so I spent some time clicking on tons of calendars for you!) hehe

 

[Disbound]

After reading 2min2disney I realized I recommended totally the wrong place. VRBO is exactly what I was trying to recommend. So sorry! We have had great luck with them and stayed at Windsor Palms twice now. Hope you find something!

 

[Disbound]

OK, it's early... it's 5min2disney. Sorry. Got to get more coffee...

 

[Christine]

None of those places I sent you or owners the other day had openings? I must have sent you a dozen or so places with open calendar openings from VRBO...and no one responded from the owner inquiry network either!? Did you send emails to all of those VRBO links I sent you? (Fortunately I was sick and home from work the other day so I spent some time clicking on tons of calendars for you!) hehe

Yes, I sent off on EVERY one that you sent me. I got a few negative responses from some owners (that I assumed came from your inquiries). Everyone seems to be booked. They might have 2-3 of the nights I want, but not the whole thing.

I did run across two more last night so we'll see how that goes.

One of them was for a condo called teh Papillon Priory; however, there were very few photos from the owner. Any idea of how old this condo might be (it is in Windsor Palms).

 

[5mins2disney]

Yes, I sent off on EVERY one that you sent me. I got a few negative responses from some owners (that I assumed came from your inquiries). Everyone seems to be booked. They might have 2-3 of the nights I want, but not the whole thing.

I did run across two more last night so we'll see how that goes.

One of them was for a condo called teh Papillon Priory; however, there were very few photos from the owner. Any idea of how old this condo might be (it is in Windsor Palms).

Bah...means they weren't keeping their calendars updated then.

WP is a few years older than WHR...and it's in the same area. It's just on the back side of the Mystic Dunes Golf course if that helps. It's still a very nice resort, nice clubhouse, great location, etc, very close to WDW. If the place looks ok, I'd think about booking it.

You know the one other resort you might want to check is Vista Cay...there still might be some construction going on there, but it's brand new and supposed to be very nice. Check www.vistacayrent.com or vrbo.com
Built by the same builder, Pulte. We stayed in WHR when it was still under construction in May 05, and it actually didn't bother us in the least, the clubhouse wasn't even open yet.

 

[JANNYANS]

Just to make things clear -there are 2 companies one is Villa direct and the other is VillaS direct so make sure you get the right one -not the wrong one .

 

[bscs]

Did you try Alexander holiday homes at www.floridasunshine.com
We went through them last year and had no problems. Good Luck

 

[momto4obkids]

HAve you tried www.fabvillas.com ? You can do a general enquiry and it will get sent to the people who have availibility. Hopefully they keep their calanders up date!

 

[tednvon]

In my opinion, comment about VillaDirect is out of line and has no business on this board.

George, time to step back and take a breath, and remember that being an owner for a short time does not an expert make...

I appreciate your enthusiasm...been there, done that on these boards when we had our home at Emerald Island...

But slamming a management company on a public board is not our job epecially since you did not rent from them or deal with them directly, and even then, better be careful of what you say legally.

All the best...Ted

 

[horseshowmom]

You know the one other resort you might want to check is Vista Cay...there still might be some construction going on there, but it's brand new and supposed to be very nice. Check www.vistacayrent.com or vrbo.com
Built by the same builder, Pulte. We stayed in WHR when it was still under construction in May 05, and it actually didn't bother us in the least, the clubhouse wasn't even open yet.

Some of those have better prices than the others too. It looks like a really nice property and doesn't seem to have started being as heavily rented as some of the other more recognized properties have. Good luck!