villa location help ! please folks

[lizbro]

the plot thickens...............
oh no-now i`ve found a really nice villa at sunset lakes at a very good price for jan2008 i found it through villas200 com and its owned by a british couple who have personally emailed me the quote BUT do i dare diy our first trip ,it seems a bit too adventurous ,what if it all goes wrong,arg......i`m so confused now!
so the next question is anyone used that company and any reports?
oh and are you sick of me yet?!
thxs and sorry for being a pain!
liz

 

[lizbro]

oh..and i forgot to also ask,how do you do the thing where you check that the villa is owned by who they say it is?i read on here something about county something?sorry its late and my brain hurts !!thxs liz

 

[Miss Mickey Mania]

hi lizbro,

Haven't got much to add, I just wanted to say hi and hope you're having fun doing all your villa planning. I have stayed in many villas in the past few years. My favourite location is Formosa Gardens area. We avoid the estates on 27 as we don't like the location as it is a bit more out of the way. I know others don't mind though, so each to their own .

We stayed this July in Emerald Island and next summer in a different villa in a nearby estate called Rolling Hills.

I wouldn't worry too much about being adventurous your first trip and planning independently. We ALWAYS do it that way, every year without fail and will never use a travel agent or tour operator. We just would not rely on a company telling us where the villa is and having no say in it. If you want some reassurance or guidance, I guarantee you'll get it on this board.

Louise

 

[Tron[ADS]]

I'm with the anti-US27 gang. Ive never stayed up there, but I was horrifed when I was driving to Cypress Gardens recently to see just how far away the US27 developments are. They do look like nice new estates though. Best location villa ive stayed in so far has been the Terra Verde resort on Poinciana Blvd, and best complex location for me has been the Sheraton Vistana Resort at LBV.

 

[UKDEB]

Villas 2000 is a web-based 'catalogue' for owners to advertise their villas, so you don't book with them, but directly with the individual owner. It's one of my favourite sites for browsing to see what's around.

We always book directly with owners and we've never had a problem. I'm of the opinion that, even if we book through an agent or a tour operator, something could go wrong and I prefer to have control over the process myself.

You have to trust your own judgement in the way that you do in other aspects of your life. IMHO, you can quickly get an idea of the integrity of the people with whom you're dealing, even by email. I ask certain stock questions. Often I'll get responses confirming availability, but ignoring or skirting around the other questions. Anyone who can't be bothered to answer my questions, or is clearly avoiding them, is immediately struck from the list. Sometimes I can't even put my finger on what's putting me off, but if I feel any disquiet at all, I trust my instincts. Without exception, those we've rented from have been respectful, trustworthy and keen to please. The trust works both ways and, the way I see it, the owners have much more to lose than I do.

We stayed at Sunset Lakes in 2000. The home we stayed in had two enormous master suites and was only about 9 months' old at the time. The age of the community means it pre-dates jacuzzis. Many of the pools there appear to have them, but they're not actually hot-tubs. That's not to say that some owners won't have had them retro-fitted and, of course, it may not even be a consideration for you, but it's important to us, so I would ask the question. The most important thing to bear in mind with the older communities is that the properties get a lot of wear and tear, but the photos they present will have been taken when their property was new. I'd always recommend enquiring about the age of the property and/or when it was last refurbished. I'd also want to know if the keys are available at the property itself (many have lockboxes at the front door). On a couple of occasions, we've had to collect keys from management companies' offices and it's a complete PITA. I'm probably getting ahead of myself and making things even more complicated, so I'll stop now! Sunset Lakes is in a great location.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

the plot thickens...............
oh no-now i`ve found a really nice villa at sunset lakes at a very good price for jan2008 i found it through villas200 com and its owned by a british couple who have personally emailed me the quote BUT do i dare diy our first trip ,it seems a bit too adventurous ,what if it all goes wrong,arg......i`m so confused now!
so the next question is anyone used that company and any reports?
oh and are you sick of me yet?!
thxs and sorry for being a pain!
liz

Villas2000.com is one of the best villa sites around, we have used it several times.

The best advice for villa searching is to search and search and search until you have found just the right home for you, I would take your time and firstly decide on the location you want to stay and then try and find the right villa.

You really cannot go wrong if you stay close to Formosa Gardens or Poinciana Boulevard.

The other 2 websites I use are:

www.vr360homes.co.uk
www.holiday-rentals.com

 

[paulfoel]

I'm with the anti-US27 gang. Ive never stayed up there, but I was horrifed when I was driving to Cypress Gardens recently to see just how far away the US27 developments are. They do look like nice new estates though. Best location villa ive stayed in so far has been the Terra Verde resort on Poinciana Blvd, and best complex location for me has been the Sheraton Vistana Resort at LBV.

Stayed in a villa on US27 once at the start of August.

Trafiic on 192 was awful - used to take up to an hour to get to WDW.

 

[paulfoel]

hi lizbro,

Haven't got much to add, I just wanted to say hi and hope you're having fun doing all your villa planning. I have stayed in many villas in the past few years. My favourite location is Formosa Gardens area. We avoid the estates on 27 as we don't like the location as it is a bit more out of the way. I know others don't mind though, so each to their own .

We stayed this July in Emerald Island and next summer in a different villa in a nearby estate called Rolling Hills.

I wouldn't worry too much about being adventurous your first trip and planning independently. We ALWAYS do it that way, every year without fail and will never use a travel agent or tour operator. We just would not rely on a company telling us where the villa is and having no say in it. If you want some reassurance or guidance, I guarantee you'll get it on this board.

Louise

We're staying at Emerald in two weeks !!!! Whats it like ?

 

[Miss Mickey Mania]

We're staying at Emerald in two weeks !!!! Whats it like ?

I just sent you a PM

 

[lizbro]

ok-i`ve taken all your advice and got my prioritys on the villa,trawled through all recommended sites and emailed variuos owners and its looks like sunset lakes is athe best!!i think i might possibly have made a desicion!!
oh and bought the brits guide so can i be `officially ` planning now!!
talking of the brits guide just saw it being waved about on thompson tv florida program as the recommended guide!

 

[wauld29]

Hi
We stayed at Southern Dunes last Christmas/New Year, and it was great. The drive back from Disney in the evening took 30 mins, although it was a bit more going to Disney due to the volume of traffic.
It's about 10 mins along US 27 to junction 55 on I4, and from there a 9 mile journey along I4 to exit 64 so it's realy not as far as it looks.
The villa we had on Forest Hills Lane was beautiful,and there are plenty of restaurants close by and also a huge 24 hour Walmart just at the entrance to Southern Dunes.

 

[I Love Tigger]

We prefer to stay on the 27 for the location, it is near supermarkets like Winn Dixie, Walmart & Publix plus many restaurants along the 192. We have stayed on Hampton Lakes, Clear Creek, Woodridge and this year a lovely new gated comunity called Solana

We use the Sherbeth road short cut to WDW and it has only ever taken us 20-25 minutes at any time of year, including Labor day weekend.

Or if we are going to Seaworld or Universal, we use the I4 which takes us approx 30 minutes.