Vacation Home Advice Needed

[tnmom25]

My family of 8 (dh, ds18, dd16, dd8, dd7, dd2, dgd2, & me) are looking for a vacation home. We want as close to WDW as possible, but also need a bargain. We want a private home w/a pool.

Any suggestions or advice about what to avoid?

Also, anyone know of ones with princess themed rooms for kids?

 

[tnmom25]

Forgot to add, we are planning first week of December 07 for our trip.

Ok, I found a house on vrbo.com. It's in Lindsvields listing #90452... anyone familiar with it?

 

[FLParadisevilla]

I am not familiar with the home, but Lindfields is close to Disney. The neighborhoods that are the closest to Disney would be:
Indian Creek -Not gated
Emerald Island - Gated Community
Oak Island Cove - Not Gated
Windsor Palms - Gated Commmunity
Formossa Gardens - Gated I think??
Rolling Hills - Not Gated
Windsor Hills - Gated Community
Indian Ridge - Not Gated
Indian Ridge Oaks - Not Gated

I think George has a good map of the Neighborhoods, and I am sure he would post it on there. When you are planning you trip, you should start with a list of what your looking for,
Pool, Spa, Internet, Game room, themed rooms, and which neighborhoods you are interested in. There are some sites where you can send out general enquires, but you will get emails from people all over the area, that can be a bit overwhelming and time consuming to weed through.
I know some of the neighborhoods have sites for just homes in thier neighborhood.
Such as www.indiancreekflorida.com and www.windsorhillsrent.com and I will have to ask Deb to post for Emerald Island, I have not memorised thier site.
Dont let this get overwhelming it can be lots of fun to look at all the homes and finding one you love and want to rent! You will have a great time and I know you will find an awesome home! Enjoy and ask us if you have any questions. We all just love talking and planing Disney Trips on here!

 

[Sunrisedream]

Can I add Sunset Lakes - gated to your list Karen?

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Yes I forgot Sunset Lakes and that is a nice neighborhood. I have friends that own a house there!

 

[tnmom25]

I have the map, I got it from another thread. I really, really like this house that we found www.vrbo.com/90452 It has a private pool, 4Br (1 princess theme & 1 cartoon theme w/mickey tv) gameroom w/pool table, 2 living rooms and fenced yard. The owner has been very nice so far and our quote for 8 nights is less than $900. I think this is the one we're getting.

How does this work? Is there anything I should be aware of before doing this? I know that vrbo.com is by owner, so there isn't any rental agency involved, right?

 

[isla bonita]

Here is the map that shows where all of the rental communities are located hope it helps you.

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/villa/map.htm

 

[robinb]

You may want to ask for a reference from a former rented. BTW, that's a great price!

 

[tiff211]

I went to rentalo.com and put in my info (how many people, dates, how much I was willing to spend, etc) and got a lot of emails for available villas. Much easier than searching myself. Now I just have to pick one!

 

[meglovesbelle]

We rented a beautiful home with a pool from allstarvacationhomes.com you can even see pictures of the inside of the homes.

 

[KayR]

I have the map, I got it from another thread. I really, really like this house that we found www.vrbo.com/90452 It has a private pool, 4Br (1 princess theme & 1 cartoon theme w/mickey tv) gameroom w/pool table, 2 living rooms and fenced yard. The owner has been very nice so far and our quote for 8 nights is less than $900. I think this is the one we're getting.

How does this work? Is there anything I should be aware of before doing this? I know that vrbo.com is by owner, so there isn't any rental agency involved, right?

I have just had a look at the home, and it seems fine.

I would check on the following..

Any additional charges (tax, pool heat, there was some mention of an admin fee on the site)

Look at lots of photos. There are a few there and some of them seem to be cropped carefully. Now I can understand cropping pictures to get the best compostition, but when I see photos of the pool (and nothing else) I wonder what is around the pool. Ask when the photos were taken - are they recent?

There is no spa as far as I can see, and if you don't want one, then that is just fine. What I would look at is your list of wants and needs and make sure that home has all the things you would need and enough of the wants that you are happy.

It looks as though you have youngsters in your group. Think about pool safety. Are there alarms on the doors to the pool or a pool fence (or both). How close is the pool to the back of the house. I have seen some homes where you step out of the back and you don't have much room before you are in the pool - I also have a 2yo and know that my priority where a pool is concerned is keeping her safe. I would want at least one pool safety option and I would prefer that the pool were not right outside the doors.

Ask about who looks after the home locally? Who are they, where are they located.

Look at reviews of the home.

Do you need high chairs for the youngsters or boosters/cribs etc? Are they provided or will you need to rent them.

As far as the booking is concerned - make sure you have an address for the owner. Make sure you have a contract and that you are happy with the terms and conditions. If anything is unclear, then ask.

Trip insurance - highly recommended. Anything can happen before a trip and trip insurance is a great way to cover any non-refundable monies.

Ask questions until you are happy and comfortable.

Enjoy your vacation home - the extra space is well worth it.

-Kay

 

[Mainebound]

Buy trip insurance, preferably within 14 days fo making your first payment for this trip if you or anyone in your party has a prexeisting condition you want waived. Go to www.insuremytrip.com to get quotes.

Vacation home owner cancellation policies are positively draconian -- many will charge you the full rental price if you cancel less than 8 weeks out.

It looks like you found a good place. If you want to know more about Lindfields, try the forums at www.orlandovillas.com. Many folks there are British owners who own at Lindfields.

If for any reason this home doesn't work out, I highly recommend the two homes we have stayed in, "the Bonita" and "Emerald Footprints", both in Emerald Island, which is new, lovely, and very close to WDW.

 

[BillyM]

this is where we are staying http://www.vacationbythemouse.com/index.html 6 bed room for 130.00

 

[tnmom25]

I'm not understanding why I need trip insurance ... we are driving and have our own medical insurance and the only thing we lose on the house if we cancel (within 7 days of arrival) is $154 deposit. Now, granted, it could be more than that if it's a last minute cancel. But, the owner's policy is if you have to cancel, you can reschedule your trip within 12 months and not have to lose any money. I talked to her on the phone and she is a wonderful lady and I do not foresee any problems renting from her.

The only policies I could find on insuremytrip.com include medical, luggage etc. Is there anything that covers just cancellations?

 

[Mainebound]

I'm not understanding why I need trip insurance ... we are driving and have our own medical insurance and the only thing we lose on the house if we cancel (within 7 days of arrival) is $154 deposit. Now, granted, it could be more than that if it's a last minute cancel. But, the owner's policy is if you have to cancel, you can reschedule your trip within 12 months and not have to lose any money. I talked to her on the phone and she is a wonderful lady and I do not foresee any problems renting from her.

The only policies I could find on insuremytrip.com include medical, luggage etc. Is there anything that covers just cancellations?

If it is only $154 then no, don't buy trip insurance. That's a much more forgiving policy than I have encountered from villa owners. Great job!

(We insure our plane tix, too, but that's not an issue for you!)

But for future reference, yes, the policies on insuremytrip would pay you any money you were out if you lost your deposit on the villa. In our case, the March, we'd lose the whole 9 nights rental (over $1000), so it was worth it to spend $100 on trip insurance. We have kids, and they get sick, one had a broken arm once, and I feel it is better to be safe than sorry if a lot of money is on the line. [Also they would reimburse you the money you spent on plane tix. not to mention luggage loss etc.]


Have a great trip!

 

[tnmom25]

No, I can't see paying $80 (the cheapest I could find) for trip insurance, just to recover $154.

This owner is absolutely wonderful, so far. If all goes well, I will definitely be recommending her and her homes on this board.

I am putting deposit down today so I can relax about it. Next step, buy tickets!! Then work on saving the $$ for trip!!! You guys have been more helpful than you probably realize!

 

[tnmom25]

I put down $153 deposit today, with a balance due 30 days prior to arrival of $630 for 7 nights. I think I found an incredible deal, and I highly recommend these people. Below is the link to their website that shows their properties. They have three, I think. We chose the 4br/3ba and I'm so excited It doesn't show in those pics, but they have a newly themed Princess room w/a princess TV and the Spongebob room has a Mickey tv.

http://houseofmouserentals.com/

I am so glad to be done with that part of planning, no more hotel/house hunting!!!

Thanks to all of you for your advice!

 

[5mins2disney]

Hmmm.....where is it located? (Website doesn't say) 2 mistakes if you ask me...they don't say where they're located...and they don't have an availability calendar...so it's hard for guests to see where they're at...also they don't have information like rates and booking instructions online.

Not that any of this is a problem for a guest...it's more of a problem for the owner, since her bookings are going to suffer from not doing her website optimally. (I'm pretty critical of STR websites, get lots of calls from other owners asking how to improve their bookings...not critical in a bad way, just realistic/helpful).

Come back and let us know how you like their homes, you may just "save" her from a bad website, good PR on the DIS can help an owner out immensely!

Cheers!
- George

 

[tnmom25]

Hmmm.....where is it located? (Website doesn't say) 2 mistakes if you ask me...they don't say where they're located...and they don't have an availability calendar...so it's hard for guests to see where they're at...also they don't have information like rates and booking instructions online.

Not that any of this is a problem for a guest...it's more of a problem for the owner, since her bookings are going to suffer from not doing her website optimally. (I'm pretty critical of STR websites, get lots of calls from other owners asking how to improve their bookings...not critical in a bad way, just realistic/helpful).

Come back and let us know how you like their homes, you may just "save" her from a bad website, good PR on the DIS can help an owner out immensely!

Cheers!
- George

If you go to this site: http://www.vrbo.com/90452 It has all the stuff that her own site doesn't. I will mention to her that she should have a calendar and everything on her site. The house we got is in the Lindsfield area, on Picadilly Street 3.5 miles from Disney. I got the contract last night and it's pretty simple and straightforward.

I will definitely be posting a trip report and recommending them if it all works out well.

 

[SherryG]

We are renting a villa on Picadilly Circle too. We are there in November so just before you! Hope that it's a nice area!! At least it's close to the parks from what everyone is saying on here!!

Sherry