Renting a Villa?

[carl_w]

Recently got back from two weeks at POFQ. I had a cunning plan for later in the year, which involved trading my TVR in for a Porsche or a Ferrari. But now I'm thinking that we could do two weeks at Disney over Christmas instead :

The POFQ rooms are getting a bit small for us (the rooms aren't actually getting smaller -- with a 13 year-old and an 11 year-old it's us that are getting bigger). What's the best way to rent a villa? Through a holiday company (someone to sue/change to another villa if it's crap, but no choice of villa in advance) or privately? What have other people done?

We've never really ventured South or East of Disney, so what's the better option -- Kissimmee or Davenport? We'd be looking for 3 bedrooms I guess -- had a look at one on Mytravel's website and they wanted nearly £800 for "under-occupancy"!

 

[Stella_the_Staff]

Our first time in Oct03, we stayed in a private, villa, booked everything separate, 2 adults , 3 children. Nice to have a bedroom each. Doing the same again this Oct. PM'd you

 

[LoopyLoo]

We always book a private villa direct with the owners, we have never stayed in the same villa twice,(not because we don't like it just like to try out new locations) this year we have booked a 5 Bedroom villa on Highlands reserve. We just love having the space and your own private Swimming pool is the icing on the cake.

All we do is once we have decided on dates we check the internet find loactions we like we do try and keep to fairly new developments send off emails to the owners and wait we booked a villa through Virgin Holidays one year but the villa was quite shabby,this is why we like to book direct with the owners.
Enjoy your search

 

[Rosie]

Hi Carl

We stayed in a Villa in April and I can't go into detail as I am negotiating with the U.K company we booked through. Lets just say that in my experience ResortQuest (sometimes trading as Advantage Homes) provided poor value for money and their service was dreadful.

We will not use them to book a villa in Orlando again.

Hope you find a good one!

Regards
Rosie

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have always booked off the following websites:
www.villas2000.com
www.vr360homes.co.uk

You are much better off staying in Kissimmee, Davenport for us is too far south.
We stayed in the Davenport area once and apart from being too far away the villa was horrible, hence I have always done a lot of research since.
Try and get one that is relatively new, has a south facing pool and is not overlooked by other properties.

In Kissimmee along the 192 you have good access to supermarkets, restaurants plus Disney and the I4.
The main 2 locations for villas are the Formosa Gardens and Poinciana Boulevard.
At FG you have Formosa Gardens(naturally), Indian creek, Rolling Hills, Windsor Palms and others.
Poinciana has Chatham Park, Eagle Pointe, Indian Point, Cumbrian Lakes and others.
IC and CL I would recommend.
Both areas have a Publix Supermarket nearby.

 

[martina857]

Try www.daystarvillas.com

If someone provides a service and it is not up to scratch you can sue them... Regardless of how big or multi national they are, in fact if something was not right god forbid you probably have more chance of getting compensation from a private owner who would not want the bad publicity or extra costs in defending said suit )

That said I have now rented loads of villas of private owners and some I liked and some I disliked (not much) but just a matter of taste, the only problems I have had were in the earlier days when I would only rent from agents like Resortquest (then Styles) Feel confident renting from owners, you will get much better value for money and somone taking pride in the apperance etc.

I now always book on newer resorts and now always in the splendid china area my favorite right now is Emerald Island but Windsor Palms is nice also but they have quite a lot of road construction going on right now.

M

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Recently got back from two weeks at POFQ. I had a cunning plan for later in the year, which involved trading my TVR in for a Porsche or a Ferrari.

NO NO NO NO NO - how could you even consider trading in a beautiful TVR for a Ferrari, or even worse a Porsche

We've just rented our first ever villa and it's a real time consuming - but fun - thing to do.

I looked at loads and loads of sites, but the two Johnny Sharp recommends were my two faves - excellent details and you get to speak to the owners direct.

Just have in your mind what you want, namely

- distance from Disney/Universal
- pool / jacuzzi / hot tub
- privacy (ie not surrounded by other people's pools!)
- gated community / communal facilities (ie sports stuff and large pool
- how many bedrooms / bathrooms

There are thousands and thousands of villas out there, they've all got their own special magic, but charging for under occupancy sounds like a serious rip off. There are only three of us going and we were looking at 3 bed/2 bath villas, private pool and jacuzzi etc etc in the region of £450-£500 for a week in August. We were never quoted an under-occupancy charge - that's just something the tour company are adding

Take time to look around at some of the beautiful villas out there - we're die hard Disney and Universal 4 and 5 star hotel people, but just fancied a go in a villa this time and we are really excited and looking forward to ours

 

[Stuartpaul]

From our first trip in 2001 we've rented villas. We vastly prefer the greater 'freedom' to live as a family rather than feel confined in hotel rooms (also easier to keep an eye on the little 'darlings'). Its a very personal thing.

We choose Davenport (Champions Gate area) every time if we can. I guess its a comfort that comes with familiarity. We've never had a problem getting to the parks and consider the slightly longer trip (staright up the I4) worth the quieter setting.

Just wack 'florida villa rental' into google and stand back, - there are literally hundreds to choose from. We always treat the villa hunting as part of the planning fun (sad I know!!).

Previous advice on knowing what you want makes lots of sense. Also be very picky, - there are plenty to look at so don't settle for something that doesn't do what you want.

 

[alexcturner]

We have rented a villa before and now we are on the other end and have bought our own. It is brand new, has a professionally designed interior and is almost ready to accept rentals. Anyway, we chose the very up and coming area of Champions Gate. I love this area! When leaving Disney just take I 4 West. Champions Gate is the first exit (when leaving Disney) exit #58. It has a new Publix, Restuarants the new Omni Resort, Greg Normans Champions golf course etc etc. It is very close to Disney, (the area we are in is elevated and you can see Disney fireworks in the distance.) It is also close to Reunion and Celebration. We felt very pampered with all having their own rooms, bathrooms, private Pool with very nice furniture for enjoying the outdoors etc. The kids seem to rest better and longer. Love having a kitchen and washer and dryer. And I can get back home while others are still waiting for a shuttle (on-site).

Lisa T

 

[carl_w]

Unfortunately there is no way I could spend enough time in Orlando to warrant buying a property. And the holiday rentals market isn't that great at the moment -- more properties than tourists. Look at the availability of lots of these places and you'll see they're only unavailable (i.e. booked) for about 8-12 weeks of the year.

 

[stubb]

helllo

we bit the bullet last year and have bought a four bed condo at venetian bay kissimmee it took a lot of soul searching but we are so glad we did it. Ours is with a rental company but if you want details you can pm me.

michelle

 

[mark&sue]

We are DVC members and one of the biggest drawbacks to having accommodation is the flight prices escpecially during school holiday times.

You can get a cheap hotel package for the same price as the flight only. I would assume this was the same for renting a villa privately and going out to your own villa. But please let me know if I am missing something. Anyone know of cheap direct non-stop flights to Orlando?



Susan

 

[Shropshire Saint]

Thats all very interesting. We completed just last week on a 5 bed in Davenport & have 7 weeks of confirmed (& paid for) bookings already without selling them for a loss. But this for me is a long term plan to retire 8-12 weeks a year in the sunshine state. Not a money making scheme. In fact I am happy to subsudise it quite heavily. We spent 4 years deciding. It cost us more to buy, but we eventually found a property that satisfied our criteria (& our 2 young boys, big pool daddy!) based on 14 visits to Orlando & years of research.
We chose Davenport. We preferred it to the developments around the 192 as that road is always so busy. They are building a new road right next door to all the developments from the Formosa Gardens turn. According to the planners I spoke to, it will be as busy as the 417, right next door to your pool. I personally was put off by that.
We quite liked the developments by Poincianna, but a lot of the places looked a little old & shabby.
Why did we prefer Davenport? Well its 15 minutes to Disney, 2 minutes to Champions Gate (I'm a golfer), 3 minutes to the I4, 2 minutes to Publix, 4 minutes to WalMart, we got to SeaWorld in 15 minutes & Universal in 20 (but would never advertise that because of the works on the I4), Disney own all the land behind Davenport in Polk, they are putting a new gate down by J55 & we like our privacy.
As this is not an advert for our house, I would recommend 2 developments for 2 very different reasons.
Emerald Island is beautiful, just off the 192, toward the west end by the H27 exit. Its very close to everything. The houses are all very new (but too expensive for us) & most appear well maintained. They also have a communal clubhouse.
All though quite far out, I quite like Crescent Lakes at the bottom of Poincianna. The setting is beautiful & very quiet. Some of the properties are very dated so be careful. Its also a good 15 minutes to Disney using Osceola & a half hour to Universal.
Also when we booked we always asked if there was building still going on. Some people like brand new villas. I understand that, but its horrible being woken by builders at 6.30/7.00am & leads to a distinct lack of privacy. Watch out for the sand in the pool too.
Our house is on Tuscan Ridge south of the 192 exit of H27. We love it there & are really very happy indeed that we took the plunge.

Try www.lastminutevillas.net