StephSalyer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2005
- Messages
- 301
We just returned from a 3 night stay in a 5 bedroom home through Florida Paradise Vacation Homes. www.floridaparadisevacationhomes.com The home itself was very nice and had some wonderful amenities such as a game room, heated pool (had to pay extra for the heat), nicely furnished, and some nice extra touches.
However, the people that run this are very unprofessional. I rented through the owners themselves and had been in constant contact via e-mail for well over 2 months. I had made some requests such as early check-in, security fence around the pool, and was assured that it was absolutely no problem. We arrived at the home at 1:00pm on Thursday, February 28th to find the owners there frantically cleaning and upon arrival I was told that it would be at least 3 or 4 more hours until they were ready for us to check in. We were traveling with 4 families and had 2 babies with us. Susan (the owner) told me that we were probably planning on geting some lunch and going to the store anyway so we might as well do that and come back in a few hours. She also told me that the last renters had absolutely trashed the place and that they were not prepared for that type of cleaning overhaul. OK, I can see where that could be a potential problem and not really thier fault. HOWEVER, the house had been empty for 3 DAYS! When I mentioned this, Susan told me that she had been ill and her entire cleaning staff had become ill too. OK, but why did you not call me to let me know so other arrangements could be made? She had no answer for me so off we went to lunch and to Wal-Mart.
We arrived back at the house at 4:45 with 2 very tired, cranky babies who were way overdue for a nap. They were still cleaning and had enlisted some help from the neighbors to help get the place ready. OK, I am still not too upset, things happen, we'll just get over it. I then walk out to the pool patio to find that the security fence for the pool is not there. Where is it? Oh, do you still want that? Umm, yeah. I even called you yesterday to remind you. Oh, well, it is in storage, we will have to make an hour's drive to our storage unit to get it. And by the way, we forgot to get some new batteries for the sliding glass door alarm going out to the pool. Well, I guess I will see you in a few hours after you go to get the fence.
Now let me explain why I was so upset over the pool safety - One of the babies with us is 18 months old and walking. We also had a 7 year old with us that can not be expected to remember to always close the door behind her. It only takes one second for a curious child to walk out the door unnoticed and a tragedy occurs I had discussed this at length with the owner and when we get there, neither one of the safety measures are in place.
Besides all of that, Susan (the owner) told me it was available if we wanted it and that it would be there.
So they leave and we begin to settle in. A few hours later they come back with the pool fence grumbling the whole time about how long and inconvenient of a drive they had to make, and how they had to get a sitter for thier children, etc. My husband then has to go outside and install the fence himself because they have no clue as to how to do it. And oh yeah, they forgot to stop and get the batteries for the alarm for the door going out to the pool.
OK, so we get the pool fence up, order pizza for dinner, get the 7 year old and the 2 babies down for the night and the adults decided it would be nice to use the hot-tub. We turn it on and the temperature does not get above 90'. Please note: we paid $35.00 a day for pool and hot tub heat. Arrrrrrgh....... The following morning I call and tell them that the pool is only 80' and the hot tub is only 90'. They come over to adjust the heat and then tell me that they only turn it up if the renters complain about the temps. Whattttt???? And still, no batteries.
Fast forward to check-out on Sunday, March 2nd - I call Susan to tell her we are ready to depart and that we are ready for her to come and check out the house and return our deposit. She then tells me that her husband is gone in the only car they have and that she has no way to get over there. She asks if she can just send us a check. Uhhhh, no. By this point I just do not trust her and again, we had discussed this prior to our arrival. I was told that if we paid for the rental in cash when we arrived, that she would return our deposit in cash the day we left. She then gives me her address (she lives in the same neighborhood - she could have walked over) and tells me we will have to come and get it. OK. So off we go. We get to her home and she meets us out in the front yard with our deposit and a handwritten note she wants me to sign that states we got our deposit back.
Well guess what? She calls me yesterday afternoon with a list of things that are wrong with the house and she wants me to send her money to cover it. She states that we broke the crib, tore up the slot machine in the gameroom, broke a curtain rod in one of the bedrooms, etc. She says it will cost at least $300.00 to fix everything. I then tell her that she had an opportunity to come and check the house before we left and she didn't. And I have to say for the record, everything was in working order when we left.
Again, the house was very nice, I would stay in it again if they were not running it. They were just very unprofessional and flighty to say the least. Needless to say, she will not be getting a dime from me. I have only mentioned the major problems, there were other little things too:
- Some of the towels smelled "soured"
- The grass had not been cut for a while, there were 2 foot high weeds in the yard
- The screen around the pool needed a good cleaning, there were large spider webs all over the place.
- When we took the cover off of the pool and hot-tub there were a lot of bugs and debris in it, we had to clean it before we used it.
- I was told there would be 2 high-chairs there for us, the second one never showed up.
- When we checked in, the trash cans outside were overflowing with garbage. Danny (the owner) said he would be back the next day to take it to the curb and he "forgot" to come over to do it . We were going to just do it ourselves, but the cans were chained to the house.
- I was told that there was a grill at the house, when we go out to use it, it is rusted through the bottom (it was a charcoal grill) and was totally unuseable.
- I was told that they were 10 minutes from Disney property - it took well over 30 minutes.
I hope this doesn't sound like I am being nit-picky. I just wanted you to know our experience in case you ever consider renting from them. This was not the worst experience I have ever had (that dubious honor goes to Oak Plantation Resort), but it was very annoying. Not a great way to start, or end a family reunion.
Steph
However, the people that run this are very unprofessional. I rented through the owners themselves and had been in constant contact via e-mail for well over 2 months. I had made some requests such as early check-in, security fence around the pool, and was assured that it was absolutely no problem. We arrived at the home at 1:00pm on Thursday, February 28th to find the owners there frantically cleaning and upon arrival I was told that it would be at least 3 or 4 more hours until they were ready for us to check in. We were traveling with 4 families and had 2 babies with us. Susan (the owner) told me that we were probably planning on geting some lunch and going to the store anyway so we might as well do that and come back in a few hours. She also told me that the last renters had absolutely trashed the place and that they were not prepared for that type of cleaning overhaul. OK, I can see where that could be a potential problem and not really thier fault. HOWEVER, the house had been empty for 3 DAYS! When I mentioned this, Susan told me that she had been ill and her entire cleaning staff had become ill too. OK, but why did you not call me to let me know so other arrangements could be made? She had no answer for me so off we went to lunch and to Wal-Mart.
We arrived back at the house at 4:45 with 2 very tired, cranky babies who were way overdue for a nap. They were still cleaning and had enlisted some help from the neighbors to help get the place ready. OK, I am still not too upset, things happen, we'll just get over it. I then walk out to the pool patio to find that the security fence for the pool is not there. Where is it? Oh, do you still want that? Umm, yeah. I even called you yesterday to remind you. Oh, well, it is in storage, we will have to make an hour's drive to our storage unit to get it. And by the way, we forgot to get some new batteries for the sliding glass door alarm going out to the pool. Well, I guess I will see you in a few hours after you go to get the fence.
Now let me explain why I was so upset over the pool safety - One of the babies with us is 18 months old and walking. We also had a 7 year old with us that can not be expected to remember to always close the door behind her. It only takes one second for a curious child to walk out the door unnoticed and a tragedy occurs I had discussed this at length with the owner and when we get there, neither one of the safety measures are in place.
Besides all of that, Susan (the owner) told me it was available if we wanted it and that it would be there. So they leave and we begin to settle in. A few hours later they come back with the pool fence grumbling the whole time about how long and inconvenient of a drive they had to make, and how they had to get a sitter for thier children, etc. My husband then has to go outside and install the fence himself because they have no clue as to how to do it. And oh yeah, they forgot to stop and get the batteries for the alarm for the door going out to the pool.
OK, so we get the pool fence up, order pizza for dinner, get the 7 year old and the 2 babies down for the night and the adults decided it would be nice to use the hot-tub. We turn it on and the temperature does not get above 90'. Please note: we paid $35.00 a day for pool and hot tub heat. Arrrrrrgh....... The following morning I call and tell them that the pool is only 80' and the hot tub is only 90'. They come over to adjust the heat and then tell me that they only turn it up if the renters complain about the temps. Whattttt???? And still, no batteries.
Fast forward to check-out on Sunday, March 2nd - I call Susan to tell her we are ready to depart and that we are ready for her to come and check out the house and return our deposit. She then tells me that her husband is gone in the only car they have and that she has no way to get over there. She asks if she can just send us a check. Uhhhh, no. By this point I just do not trust her and again, we had discussed this prior to our arrival. I was told that if we paid for the rental in cash when we arrived, that she would return our deposit in cash the day we left. She then gives me her address (she lives in the same neighborhood - she could have walked over) and tells me we will have to come and get it. OK. So off we go. We get to her home and she meets us out in the front yard with our deposit and a handwritten note she wants me to sign that states we got our deposit back.
Well guess what? She calls me yesterday afternoon with a list of things that are wrong with the house and she wants me to send her money to cover it. She states that we broke the crib, tore up the slot machine in the gameroom, broke a curtain rod in one of the bedrooms, etc. She says it will cost at least $300.00 to fix everything. I then tell her that she had an opportunity to come and check the house before we left and she didn't. And I have to say for the record, everything was in working order when we left.
Again, the house was very nice, I would stay in it again if they were not running it. They were just very unprofessional and flighty to say the least. Needless to say, she will not be getting a dime from me. I have only mentioned the major problems, there were other little things too:
- Some of the towels smelled "soured"
- The grass had not been cut for a while, there were 2 foot high weeds in the yard
- The screen around the pool needed a good cleaning, there were large spider webs all over the place.
- When we took the cover off of the pool and hot-tub there were a lot of bugs and debris in it, we had to clean it before we used it.
- I was told there would be 2 high-chairs there for us, the second one never showed up.
- When we checked in, the trash cans outside were overflowing with garbage. Danny (the owner) said he would be back the next day to take it to the curb and he "forgot" to come over to do it . We were going to just do it ourselves, but the cans were chained to the house.
- I was told that there was a grill at the house, when we go out to use it, it is rusted through the bottom (it was a charcoal grill) and was totally unuseable.
- I was told that they were 10 minutes from Disney property - it took well over 30 minutes.
I hope this doesn't sound like I am being nit-picky. I just wanted you to know our experience in case you ever consider renting from them. This was not the worst experience I have ever had (that dubious honor goes to Oak Plantation Resort), but it was very annoying. Not a great way to start, or end a family reunion.
Steph
