My wife thinks pools are gross..

[mata2635]

My wife thinks big pools at large resorts are gross...has anyone have advise for a vacation home with a private pool? There are about a million options and I value the feedback from this group.

Thank you.

 

[BarryHom]

I haven't done a vacation home, but the pools I've seen aren't gross at all. Yes, you may find a bad one at a cheap hotel, but most hotels keep them clean. Imagine the headaches if they didn't keep a clean hotel. It's like if you got a dirty room. You would be seriously complaining!

 

[alde]

I dare not assume what the original poster was implying .. but perhaps his wife thinks because there are other people in the same water, it may not be completly "sanitary"

 

[GoldenOldie]

JMHO but...

I would tend to trust the professionals at the large resorts in maintaining the proper balance of chemicals to keep their pools sanitary. I would also tend to trust the local Board of Health who tests these conditions on random unannounced visits.

When you have a private home rental, you don't know who has been maintaining that pool, whether it's been done correctly or even if it has been maintained at all recently. There are no Board of Health visits to private home rentals unless a complaint has been filed. It's not unheard of for a property management company to send their house cleaners over with instructions to "throw something in the pool while you're there cleaning".

YMMV

 

[twinklingstars4u]

Give the guy a break, some people have a problem with resort pools. Something about being around all those little kids in the same water is gross. Remember when White Water had all those problems with the e-coli outbreak? They were meeting govt standards at the time, still did not stop a problem from arising!

I do think that the larger resorts keep their pools the cleanest and I agree with the previous post about private pool owners. You never know! If you are going to go with a private home there are some good companies out there that maintain the homes for their owners. Probably your best bet. Hopefully one of the more knowledgable people on this board will fill you in on the details!

Peace!

MB

 

[UKDEB]

Hi mata2635

We always stay in rentals homes and we feel we know quite a bit about them now. Can you be a bit more specific about what it is you want to know?

 

[FLeisure]

I absolutely agree with Golden Oldie on this. Public facilities have to be maintained to the highest standards and therefore, any hotel swimming pool should be clean and properly chemicalled.

Private homes are a different matter and the less scrupulous companies do take short cuts. Typically a private pool will be looked after once a week, (hotels every day) and problems can occur because of that. It is essential that the MC company employs professional pool people who can respond quickly if a pool develops a problem.

So....next time you are booking a home remember that whilst you may be getting a better price from one company, they may be the company taking short cuts.

 

[HockeyDadof2]

I would assume that most of the vacation home companies use professional pool care companies where as a hotel would most likely have a regular staff person who is not a "pool care professional" take care of the pool. I don't know. I personally don't have a problem with hotel pools, but I certainly could see how some people would.

 

[FLeisure]

HockeyDad,
Unfortunately you have it the wrong way round ! The hotel has to have someone who has been trained and who can keep the chemicals at the right level. State laws require it.

MC's for vacation homes are not held to the same standards and unfortunately there are more than one or two MC's who cut corners. I personally know of several people who have bought a MC and then proceed to clean the pools themselves without any prior training.

These are usually the same companies who offer cheap rates on vacation homes..... this isn't the only corner they cut.

 

[mata2635]

Sorry I was too brief in my original message..and by my post I hope I didn't offend anyone..but by the tone of some of the responses, I may have..anyway...My wife is not comfortable by the sheer number of bodies in the pool and the number of infants in questionable pool pants over thier diapers. I don't think too much about it but you have to admit that you do see things that make you cringe.

I was really looking for someone, anyone, who has experience with a quality home rental company that specializes in clean, comfortable homes with private pools.

Thanks!

 

[LISALISA36]

i have rented thru www. elite-homes.com
and the pool was awesome and the homes were beautiful.

 

[HockeyDadof2]

Would it be fair to say that most of the "reputable" rental companies use a pool service? If that is a concern of someones I would simply ask the company before I rented from them. I know the company we use has a little plastic card stapled to my fence where they write down when they were here and what and how much and what chemical they added.

I know with the number of times the pool was closed when we stayed at the Sunspree Hotel a few years ago, made me wonder how many other accidents there were that went unreported and untreated.

 

[tednvon]

Hello....pool care is an absolute regular item for our management company....and no, our home will rent "cheap", but we do insist on total quality from our company. There is a great deal of repeat business without guting prices or cutting corners, and I am pretty sure people would not return to a home with poor pool "hygiene".........you get what you pay for and if a home rents for an unbelievably low price, let the renter beware....Ted

 

[UKDEB]

These days we rent direct with the villa owners, but many people are not comfortable with this and I fully understand their reasons. We take sensible precautions, but you can never be 100% sure, whether booking direct or through management companies.

Here are a few companies I would feel happy doing business with:

www.welcomehomesusa.com
www.floridasunshine.com
www.premier-vacation-homes.com
www.floridaleisure.com (beware the annoying music!)
www.floridachoice.com

 

[FLeisure]

Ted
I hope everything works out well. It seems to me from time to time that people purchase their vacation based on price rather than quality. Since September I've seen some crazy deals and even more corners cut by some MC's - one of which has been mentioned in this thread ! You've taken a bold step, enjoy the learning curve !

Hockey Dad - Yes, it would be fair to say that but unfortunately most of these companies spend 5 minutes at the home. I had such a company once upon a time but they never cleaned the pool area or the furniture despite us paying extra. The pools were always kept pretty clean though. We have found it much better now that we have our own trained staff doing the job.

UKDeb & others - I can remove the music...just need to know if more folks want it removing !

 

[UKDEB]

FLeisure - it's not that big a deal. I just find it difficult to concentrate on two things at once! I just turn my speakers down!

 

[eeyore0062]

The Davenport area (about 15-20 minutes west of the parks) has some lovely rental homes.

 

[mata2635]

After reading the responses and giving up on sifting through all the home rental web pages, we decided on Vistana Villages. We'll keep an eye on pool maintenance while we're there.
Thanks!