Info Needed On Pool Home Rentals

[Diz]

Hello,

This is my first post to the forum, so be easy on me

We will be in Orlando from June 22-June 29, 2002 and are strongly considering renting a pool home. We would like the privacy that a home gives us over a cramped hotel room as there will be 3 adults and 2 teenage girls.

I have looked at homes at the following sites:

http://www.holiday-rentals.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/regions/reg_refno/344

http://www.vrbo.com/vrbo/flcentral.htm

I was amazed that you can get a private home for about the same price as a hotel room would cost!

My question to the forum is, has anyone rented a home? If so, was it what you thought it would be or were you disappointed in some way. What were the good and bad points?

I thank you in advance.

 

[cem]

We rented a home from Jan 17-22 in Rolling Hills Estates off 192 near Splendid China. It was our family of 5 + one of my husband's teammates we hadn't met before. This was our first trip to Disney so I can't compare it to staying on-site. The two-story 5 bedroom house had plenty of room for all of us to have privacy. My 16 year old was actually able to study for midterms which began when we got home. We were in Disney for a baseball tournament so washer/dryer were used about 2x/day. It took about 10 minutes to get to Wide World of Sports Complex. Developments in that area seemed very quiet, almost empty. Looking back one thing I didn't like was the phone. I don't know what phone paperwork my husband signed at the rental office. You could hear advertisements in the background when using the phone. We ended up using our cell phone instead. A recent credit card bill shows $34.00 in phone charges that I haven't figured out yet. I also regret not taking the time to look for a better supermarket. We went to the Marketplace at end of road thinking it was a supermarket. It ended up being a glorified 7-11 with very inflated prices (a lot of prices weren't marked) & sour milk!

Although this was a quick (too short!) trip planned around 3 baseball games, I'd definitely consider staying in a rental home again. Getting to Disney and Downtown Disney was easy.

 

[BonnieA]

I've stayed in 3 different rental homes near WDW. They were all great, no problems. You can't beat the spacious room, convenience and price. It has spoiled us and we will not stay in a regular hotel room again when at Disney. I usually go with an agency because of their cancellation policy. Some private owners can't afford to refund money if you are forced to cancel your trip at the last minute. If you have any questions please email me.

 

[snookhams]

We have stayed in hotels 3 times and last time 10 of us stayed in a 6 bed villa, and I would never stay in a hotel again, we were thoroughly spoilt, with the wonderful villa it had everything that we could have wanted and we could please ourselves over our eating arrangements we often only ate breakfast at home and the rest of the time we ate out.

On two of our previous trips both our children have been ill and we have spent days sitting in the same room and it was awful at least with a villa you can put the kids to bed and then move around - we use to have an evening swim, it was just like it use to be in the pre-children days. The only problem we did have was we couldn't get out vehicles in the garage, we had been upgraded from 2 x 8 seater minivans to 2 x 15 seater minibuses and with the up and over garage doors they were to big, so the children played football (soccer) in there, this kept them out of our hair......

 

[Robinrs]

I been to Orlando 8 times in the past two years and my last trip was the first weekof January in a vacation home. After an exhaustive search, I went with a 3BR, 2BA from Florida Leisure. Their website will reassure you the very home you pick out, which was important to me, AND they have videos of the homes on their site.

I took a chance and got an incredible deal, considering it was a holiday week. I was very cautious but all caution was thrown to the wind when we arrived. The house was spotless and beautiful. We had a private, fenced pool and a WONDERFUL jacuzzi in the master bath. The jacuzzi turned out to be our watersport due to the very cold weather! In the afternoon we did use the lanai to relax.

We had a gas grill and a full kitchen, which was imperative because we're both on restrictive diets for our health. My son's birthday was that week, so I was able to bake him his favorite, sugar free, milk free cake, something I can't get at a restaurant! I really appreciated the full size washer and dryer which was used frequently.

I did have an issue with the fact that there was only one phone. We had to register it with a credit card number, then we used our pre-paid AT&T card so there was no charge for any of our calls. I used my cell phone mostly.

The idea of leaving the madding crowd behind was a big draw for me. We stayed in Indian Ridge Oaks which is about 3 miles from Disney, but in a very quiet, very residential area. We only saw cars leaving and returning from work and met our neighbor once. The peace was only disturbed by me one night when I accidentally set off the alarm system! The police were there in a matter of minutes, though, reassuring me that if something DID happen, we'd be safe. Sorry, OPD!

The garage was a big plus also. It was very cold that week and it was so nice to just get in and out of the car on the inside of the garage.

I took videos of my own of the house and have sold my Mom, sister and two co-workers to rent on their next trips. We are planning to rent homes on 2 of our next three trips this year. It can definitely spoil you!

Tip: Try to find a place that has a liberal refund policy and has a nearby management company. Our phone had a problem one day, we left to go to the parks and when we got back it was fixed! Love that customer service!

As you see I've become a big fan. We have stayed in condos to 4 star hotels, on and off site at both Disney and Universal, and my son and I both prefer vacation homes now.

 

[Diz]

Thanks for the replys, if was mentioned to use an agency and not an owner. Does anyone have some links to an agency?

 

[Robinrs]

There are several. I used www.floridaleisure.com, there's www.homes4uu.com, www.orlandopoolhomes.com, www.elitevillasflorida.com, Premier Homes, that advertises on this site, www.allstarvacationhomes.com, www.1st4floridahomes.com.

These are just a few of the ones I've checked out, there are MANY in the Orlando area. You might want to do a search for Orlando vacation rentals and see what you find! Good luck!

 

[Diz]

Thanks for the links - Wow, they are soooo much higher than renting through an owner. I guess they get a huge commission. I will stick with going through the owner directly.

 

[tednvon]

Good idea...we have never been disappointed...Ted

 

[Robinrs]

Unfortunately, tednvon, I have, TWICE.

Diz: The key is to ask for the low season rate. Decide how much you're willing to spend WITH tax and stick to it. Some agencies can negotiate with you. You can fill out a rental inquiry with www.evillas.net and receive loads of offers from agencies and owners.

Good luck and PM me if you need any help.

 

[Diz]

I will check into it, but I just hate dealing with agents. The last thing I want is a pushy agent trying to sell me a house when we are only interested in renting a home for a week.

 

[Robinrs]

I have never had an agent try to sell me a house{even though I am thinking of doing just that in the near future). They are not pushy at all, I've found them to be more interested in customer service than sales. Timeshare presentators they are not!

 

[BonnieA]

I've never had an agent try to sell me a home. The only thing remotely like that is a book or pamphlet they leave on the counter if you want to read it. I use elitevacationhomes.com, always had exceptional service from them. They give a 10% discount for AAA. I rented from them last in early Dec 2000 for the rate of $599/wk which included all taxes. That was for a 3 bedroom home which turned out to be a 4 bedroom I guess because it was a slow time of year. I only had to give one nights deposit for the house paying the rest upon arrival. And I could cancel with one weeks notice and receive my deposit back. Fortunately I never had to cancel.

 

[csharbo]

I am also looking to rent a house at the same time you are! It is my first time also. There will be 4 adults and three kids going. We are on a strict budget because we invited my babysitter to come along with her two daughters. We're coming from Michigan.

I have found several very nice property owners on the vrbo.com website. Everyone I have contacted have answered all of my questions promptly. I have narrowed it down to three properties. I also, cannot believe I can rent a 4 bedroom house for $700 for one week.

I have stated that rate in all my e-mails. I also have noticed that many housed are getting booked quickly for this week. Where are you getting your WDW tickets. We have decided to get 4-day hopper passes and I have been looking of the least expensive ones. For now, I think I will have to buy them from AAA.

Maybe we can compare notes. Let me know!

Celia

 

[Diz]

Hi Celia,

I hope we are not bidding on the same homes

I too have found those I have emailed to be very helpful. The problem is, there are just so many to choose from. I have ended up being very picky about what I want. We decided we wanted a totally private pool, so we are hunting for a 4BR/3Bath with a fenced in backyard. We also need to stay in the $700 range and have feelers out on 4 different properties.

We are not going to WDW. My daughters, ages 15 and 17, said they would rather go to Unversal Studios and Islands of Adventure. That was welcomed news as the homepage for US/IOA has 7 day tickets for less than $90 each. That was a nice and unexpected bargain!

Happy house hunting!