Plan to rent a home in Windsor Hills, looking for tips or suggestions

[HaViet]

Hi everyone, this would be our first trip to Disney and looking to rent a home in the Windsor Hills resort. With 2 families and 5 kids, we thought it be much better to have an entire space to ourselves with a private pool.

The decision to rent in WH was based largely on the info gathered in this forum. Are there things we should look for when renting? What questions to ask of the owner to have a make sure the stay is smooth and fun? But most importantly, to avoid unwanted surprises.

Thanks much, and we're traveling in early August.

 

[HaViet]

Anyone stayed at the Windsor Hills recently?

Really appreciate any tips you can provide.

Thanks

 

[Lucky'sMom]

I am renting a home at Windsor Hills for the first time in June. I booked last November. Here is what I looked for: 1) reviews from previous renters. If the home is listed on vrbo or homeaway there are usually reviews. I did not feel comfortable renting a home without reviews. 2) I felt better with homes that were listed on one of the Windsor Hills official rental sites, like windsorhillsrent or windsorhillsofficialrentals. I liked that these sites were approved by the Windsor Hills homeowners association, so I knew for the sure that the owners really owned the home they were renting. After that, I just decided what features were most important to us. Do you want to be near the main pool? How many bedrooms do you need? Do you want a pool that faces greenery or open space vs. one that backs up to another home? Décor? Free grill? etc. It was fairly easy to narrow down the list to only about 4 homes after that, and then I just contacted them for prices, and went with the best deal. Good luck! Hope this helps.

 

[amym2]

We've rented a 5bdrm house in WH twice over the years, but it has been about 5 years and I don't remember where we booked it through. We have rented homes in various other places through homeaway.com and have always had a great experience. As far as WH, we were with extended family, so we loved having the private pool and full kitchen. I'd look at homeaway or vrbo.com and see what appeals to you most. There are lots of homes with decorated kids' rooms (the one we rented had bunks with fish decor) that are really fun.

 

[Ckania]

We have rented a few times with globalresorthomes.com. They have been really great in helping find exactly what we want and they have a lot of pictures on their website of each home put up by the owner. They are rated with the better business bureau and I haven't had any issues with them in a five times we have rented with them.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

We stay in Windsor Hills a few times per year and use a 4 bedroom villa called: Villa Park Lane. www.villaparklane.com We found it a few years ago on VRBO. It is nice and very clean and has everything that we need and our kids feel very at home there. The owners are very responsive to questions as well which is a big plus in my book. They are listed on Homeaway, VRBO and Windsorhillsrent.com.

There are quite a few very nice properties in Windsor Hills, so you shouldn't have any problem finding one that meets your needs.

A few questions I would ask an owner is how recent are their photos, is the property manager available after business hours if something needs attention and what extras are included in the rental, ie. pool heat, barbecue grill, free WIFI, etc.

You'll love it there! Good luck!

 

[HaViet]

Thanks everyone.

We're looking at properties listed on Homeaway.com.

First, we looked for properties with a at leat 10 5 star reviews. And we want to make sure the reviews are recent (within 12 months).

Then we look at the quality of furnishings, kids themed bedrooms, etc.

I think we settled down to about 8 properties, elminated some highest and lowest cost properties.

We ended up deciding on a 6br, 4 bath home for $1800 for the week in early August. I think most prices are in this range.

Thanks

 

[rlh75]

We are renting from Windsor Hills this march. It was recomended to me from another DIS'er who has rented from them before.

She highly recommends Windsor Hills....she recommended to book through vacationrentaldesk.com which is who I booked through.

The units look amazing. The pool looks amazing. And they have views of the disney fireworks! I am so excited to go!!!

 

[4forMe]

If you're staying for more than 7 nights, Florida Sun Vacation Homes will give you a 15% discount. The homes are decorated nicely, and more importantly, extremely clean! We've used them many times as well as vrbo; however, our last trip I rented a highly rated home on vrbo to save some money and it had an issue with large roaches (different management company than Florida Sun). We've NEVER had one problem with bugs through Florida Sun Vacation Homes.

 

[wiigirl]

We have rented a few times with globalresorthomes.com. They have been really great in helping find exactly what we want and they have a lot of pictures on their website of each home put up by the owner. They are rated with the better business bureau and I haven't had any issues with them in a five times we have rented with them.