The Waiting is Hard

[isla bonita]

I am with you guys. I want to pick our own fruit, squeeze some limes and have a wonderful to die for Margarita. Not till Feb. so I got some time to wait. Have fun guys.

 

[marciemi]

Hope you don't mind if I jump in on this thread. We booked a home in EI also AGES ago! We booked in early 2005 for a summer 2006 vacation - made the deposit, researched the house, etc. Then found out in late 2005 that we'd be moving out of state during the summer which made the trip to Disney impossible. We spoke with the owners who allowed us to rebook for late July 2007 so we've been waiting more than 2 years.

Not sure if every owner does this, but one thing I've done that made me feel better is contact previous guests. On the availability calendar, there's a place for guest comments and I'd say about half of them left their emails. Back in 2005, I contacted all of them that had emails, and I'd said maybe 2/3 replied back to me. All of them only had good things to say and some shared pictures they'd taken, etc. It's also a good way to get specific details (how close are you to the people behind you or to the clubhouse). I had people tell me things like they had trouble with their toddlers being able to open the front door and get out which wasn't relevant to me since my youngest will be 12, but might have been to someone else.

Then when we rebooked everything this summer, I went and found yet another 4 or 5 people on the guest list and contacted them as well. Definitely made me feel better and of course the more you find out, the more excited you get! I forwarded some of the comments to the owner as well (all positive) and they enjoyed reading them as well. In the first batch I sent, I even found one person who lived less than a mile from me (at my old house) so since we discussed schools, etc. (since I was waiting for my district to post their calendar so I could pick dates for the reservations), I felt even more confident that this was a real person who had stayed at this house, not the owner posing under several email addresses or something!

Reading all the EI threads on this board just to find out what's nearby, etc., also helps to fill in the time here! Have to admit I'd never worried about a camera, but I'll spy around and see if I can find any!

 

[isla bonita]

Marciemi

That is a good owner you have there. I can not imagine not being able to switch or cancel when you are booking so far ahead. It is important that we owners keep in mind things in life happen and to roll with the punches. I think one guest like your self stating what happened and how accommodating the owner was is worth the kind things you will say from this day forward.

My thoughts any way. In a perfect world all of this would be obsolete but there is not a single one of us that live in that world. Just thank goodness there are individuals like your self and the owner that can work things out for both parties.

Have a wonderful time in EI. Hope you all have a great time.