Short Term Rental (House, Condos etc) have new requirements ~ know before you book!!

[HopperFan]

No short term rentals (condos, houses, AirBnB etc) could open until their county got approval from the Governor's office on the plan requirements. Our county (St. Augustine FL - big tourist area) just got approval and the rules are not only extreme since hotels don't have these rules, they will be costly to owners and bias against residents of some states.

In addition to long list of sanitation etc rules ...

If you are coming from a hot spot like NY NJ LA CT etc, you will have to book longer than 2 weeks because you will have to quarantine in your unit for 14 days. If you are caught leaving your unit you will be charged criminally.

Units must be empty a full 24 hours between guests, which means no more Sat-Sat rentals, you will only get it for 6 nights.

Owners are required to remove all soft items such as pillows, blankets, and any normally laundered stuff has to be done professionally now ...... so not in unit w/d.

Is this going to be the rules in Orlando too? So all those homes and condos will have these rules for the folks heading to Disney?

EDITED:

Osceola County

"Any person coming from a highly-infected area, as defined per the governor's guidelines, must reserve a minimum stay of 14 nights and follow CDC self-quarantine guidelines."

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/osceola-county-submits-plan-for-reopening-vacation-rental-homes

 

[disneysteve]

A 14-day minimum and self-quarantine (if enforced) will destroy the rental business for the foreseeable future. We rent a house or condo every year, sometimes twice a year. Sometimes it's for 2 weeks sometimes for 1 week, but obviously it's so that we can visit Disney and local attractions and restaurants and shops.

We would have absolutely no reason to rent a house there if we wouldn't be allowed to leave and do all of the local stuff.

 

[HopperFan]

A 14-day minimum and self-quarantine (if enforced) will destroy the rental business for the foreseeable future. We rent a house or condo every year, sometimes twice a year. Sometimes it's for 2 weeks sometimes for 1 week, but obviously it's so that we can visit Disney and local attractions and restaurants and shops.

We would have absolutely no reason to rent a house there if we wouldn't be allowed to leave and do all of the local stuff.

Def going to hurt. It's almost like the governor is trying to hurt those businesses while boosting hotel businesses.

Family A comes from NY to stay at Hilton and is in Disney the next day.

Family B comes from NY to stay at rental home and has to sit 14 days before going to Disney, or be arrested.

MAKES NO SENSE.

In area where we are there are tons of rentals on the beach and only a couple hotels. If owners have to eliminate all renters from certain states, have gaps of a day so no more weekly rentals, pull all pillows & blankets while using professional cleaners for other linens, housekeepers will be fully decked in PPE and have double duty in cleaning. Income goes down substantially. And then the local government doesn't get all that hotel tax money. If I were an owner, if I could afford it I wouldn't even rent my house and deal with all that. We own but don't rent but our neighbors do. This is going to hurt.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Family A comes from NY to stay at Hilton and is in Disney the next day.

I thought the rule is that everyone arriving from NY has to quarantine for 14 days.

 

[HopperFan]

I thought the rule is that everyone arriving from NY has to quarantine for 14 days.

Yes he issued some time ago and was supposedly "meeting" them at roadblocks and airports. Many reports nothing was happening at airports, and only two highways in had roadblocks. Lots of theater.

Currently there are no quarantine restrictions on hotel guests, but they are putting it on rentals. In terms of hotel guests they are only required to use social distancing. There are no forced requirement to book a minimum of 2 weeks so that you can self-quarantine.

NY NJ CT LA are the states being restricted in vacation rentals.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

So what would happen if you had a flight that connected in one of those states? Would you be forced to self quarrantine as well?

 

[HopperFan]

So what would happen if you had a flight that connected in one of those states? Would you be forced to self quarrantine as well?

I don't know but sounds like they aren't even enforcing anything anyway in terms of travelers arriving (unlike Hawaii). The reason I posted is that they are claiming they will force folks booking those places to book weeks long trips and potentially follow up. Our county threatens criminally arresting you if you leave building.

The entire "plan" is a mess, mostly unenforceable unless they are going to follow everyone.

 

[HopperFan]

UPDATE: Just got more info from our property management. They will not rent to folks from the restricted states at all to avoid all the complications that come with it. They also said that all the requirements are costing owners considerably more (some may not rent for now) and that they housekeeping services is having a difficult time getting all the cleaning supplies that are required; which may impact ability to rent.

For those that are renting ... aside from some things missing from units; fitness center closed, everyone must clean chairs/tables at pools upon arrival assuming you get one because they have removed half of it. YIKES. And clean when chairs when leaving - telling us to bring cleaning supplies, no equipment check out so bring your own tennis & racquetball equipment ....

 

[ClapYourHands]

My guess is that they put these restrictions on the books so if someone flouts them, and any infections can be traced back to those tourists, the state will have someone to blame.

Now, the restrictions will probably have the effect of keeping the rule-followers at home, so it will decrease the tourists from those states, which can be a valuable risk reduction method. However, the ones who would abide by the quarantine period or not go are probably also the ones who would follow other rules like wearing masks consistently. The people who go anyway are more likely to be the ones who aren't going to practice other risk-reduction measures.

It’s basically a mess. MA has more cases than CT, but doesn’t seem to be included. There are counties in the tri-state area with far fewer cases than some other metro areas in other parts of the country. And cases are going down in those first-hit areas while going up in other areas. I’m wondering at what point Florida will update the restrictions, as they were based on cases back in March, and things have changed since then.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Family A comes from NY to stay at Hilton and is in Disney the next day.

Family B comes from NY to stay at rental home and has to sit 14 days before going to Disney, or be arrested.

Technically, family A is subject to the same quarantine as family B. All of them will have their information taken at the airport, and be advised they must quarantine for two weeks or face arrest.

The difference is that Family A can more easily ignore the rules because they can book a shorter stay. Once Family B is there, there’s really nothing stopping them from going to Disney the next day, either. It’s all basically honor system on the renter’s part.

As for the hotel vs vacation home renters, I’m going to guess it’s just easier to go after the little guy that to require the Hilton to monitor their guests’ city of origin. Hotel chains have better lobbyists.

 

[HopperFan]

Technically, family A is subject to the same quarantine as family B. All of them will have their information taken at the airport, and be advised they must quarantine for two weeks or face arrest.

The difference is that Family A can more easily ignore the rules because they can book a shorter stay. Once Family B is there, there’s really nothing stopping them from going to Disney the next day, either. It’s all basically honor system on the renter’s part.

As for the hotel vs vacation home renters, I’m going to guess it’s just easier to go after the little guy that to require the Hilton to monitor their guests’ city of origin. Hotel chains have better lobbyists.

And that is where the failure is --- a hotel should not be able to accept a booking for anything less than two weeks for a person whose address or credit card address is from those states.

Most reports are that no one is being confronted at airports and the two road blocks I heard of in the past don't seem to be happening but in typical government stupidity ... drivers just get off and go around them.

My point in posting continues to be that folks who normally book these places need to be aware of what they might be getting in to on arrival. I would be asking if they are following the guidelines approved for the county - and if they are it might impact their stay.

 

[Jennasis]

We plan to bring cleaning supplies with us in August to clean the vacation home ourselves when we arrive. The property owner didn't seem to know anything about additional requirements (such as professional laundry service or removing any soft goods). We may bring our own sheets and comforter too. Will also plan to run the dishwasher and all dishware when we arrive too.

 

[RabFlmom]

As for the 2 week quarantine....it has mostly been on an honor base and seeing that the people from said states swarmed the state of Florida while their own states were telling them to stay at home and then hit our stores without quarantining here, there is a lot of resentment of people from those states who came down. Their deaths are not reported as Florida deaths or positives but some counties report travel or coming from those states taking up beds and ventilators in our hospitals and as our positives. It is not fair to think you don't have to follow rules and then go out and brag about the fact you don't have to. Just sayin' . Protect our kids and families who are working to make a vacation for you. At this point we don't care if you don't like it. Think of our families if you won't think of yours.

 

[fancymouse]

We plan to bring cleaning supplies with us in August to clean the vacation home ourselves when we arrive. The property owner didn't seem to know anything about additional requirements (such as professional laundry service or removing any soft goods). We may bring our own sheets and comforter too. Will also plan to run the dishwasher and all dishware when we arrive too.

Yes. These restrictions seem difficult to enforce and I am sure most won’t comply. I live in FL and back in March was thinking about just getting away for Memorial Day (observing any social distancing rules of course). I looked into houses in the Keys on VRBO and AirBnB and reached out to a few of the owners about their cancellation policy (as the Keys were cut off from visitors at the time). Several acted like they would take my reservation, but only one mentioned they weren’t allowed to take reservations right now. Sure enough there was a restriction from even renting, which I didn’t even know about at the time. So apparently some owners didn’t even know they weren’t allowed to be renting , yet they think that all of these AirBnB places are going to professionally wash linens after visitors??

 

[HopperFan]

Yes. These restrictions seem difficult to enforce and I am sure most won’t comply. I live in FL and back in March was thinking about just getting away for Memorial Day (observing any social distancing rules of course). I looked into houses in the Keys on VRBO and AirBnB and reached out to a few of the owners about their cancellation policy (as the Keys were cut off from visitors at the time). Several acted like they would take my reservation, but only one mentioned they weren’t allowed to take reservations right now. Sure enough there was a restriction from even renting, which I didn’t even know about at the time. So apparently some owners didn’t even know they weren’t allowed to be renting , yet they think that all of these AirBnB places are going to professionally wash linens after visitors??

I think it will depend on what type you are trying to rent and local governments as they were the ones who had to apply to the state to reopen.

Our community is large and one of the most popular here on this beach. They are strictly adhering to all rules ... even though in the end it is costly them a lot of money from lost income. A percentage of rental fees helps pay for our nice amenities. If someone comes here and our community didn't share with them the reduced offering .... it would be a bummer to arrive to that ... but they are being very honest, and it's been a quiet first open week.

My neighbor's kids are coming to visit them from one of those states (they have been in full quarantine for months), driving straight through to avoid staying in hotels, and bypassing the police road blocks to get here. They have to get their kids things from college dorm in FL but again will not book any hotels ... because they don't trust the hotels since they don't have the same heavy rules. Very difficult to have such diverse and inconsistent rules among areas and types of rentals. And as with all the rules here in FL, most aren't even following them at all.

We ordered to go food from a restaurant, at pickup it was packed (there are limits here on occupancy), zero social distancing and the staff was not wearing masks but handling our food. Plan was to order from them several times but we will not order from them again. When businesses don't even care about what the rules were for them to open, why should the guests.

 

[ClapYourHands]

And as with all the rules here in FL, most aren't even following them at all.

We ordered to go food from a restaurant, at pickup it was packed (there are limits here on occupancy), zero social distancing and the staff was not wearing masks but handling our food. Plan was to order from them several times but we will not order from them again. When businesses don't even care about what the rules were for them to open, why should the guests.

That's disgusting! I'm in CT, and although we have had more cases per capita than Florida, the people around me are taking transmission reduction measures seriously. We have staff members outside stores - grocery stores, Target, etc. monitoring entrance. You can't go in until someone else goes out, and have to wear a mask. We've just started with outdoor seating, though we've been doing pick up for a while. Everyone I've seen wears a mask while working. The outdoor seating is spaced out, and seems to be starting up slowly. People wear masks until their food arrives. Even when we went to get ice-cream from a stand at a local dairy farm, everyone wore masks in line, even though it was outdoors, and the places to stand in line had 6ft markers. I honestly think I'm safer up here.

 

[jodi786]

UPDATE: Just got more info from our property management. They will not rent to folks from the restricted states at all to avoid all the complications that come with it. They also said that all the requirements are costing owners considerably more (some may not rent for now) and that they housekeeping services is having a difficult time getting all the cleaning supplies that are required; which may impact ability to rent.

For those that are renting ... aside from some things missing from units; fitness center closed, everyone must clean chairs/tables at pools upon arrival assuming you get one because they have removed half of it. YIKES. And clean when chairs when leaving - telling us to bring cleaning supplies, no equipment check out so bring your own tennis & racquetball equipment ....

Hello. I logged on just to see this information, so thank you for posting! I live in NJ and we are in an area without a lot of infection right now. We are hoping the quarantine for NJ residents will lift soon because we were thinking of trying to get away and spend a little time with family in Florida and relax for a few nights in an Orlando area hotel. We rarely spend time in the hotels when we are visiting because we spend so much time in the parks. I'll keep checking here and watching the news for updates. If course, we would never travel if it was not allowed.