Villas with Virgin

[jax100]

Has anybody been in a villa with Virgin?

Any hints? Things to watch out for etc.

This is our first time in a villa.

All help appreciated.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Sorry, although we fly with Virgin and stay in a villa we always book our own.

The one thing I am sure is that the home should be reasonably new, which is very imprortant as the villas do get a fair bit of stick from the weather (and guests)....

I am very familiar with the Kissimmee area and have stayed at or driven around many of the villa developments there so if you know where you are staying I would be glad to help further - however, I suspect that you will not find out until you get there.

Staying in a villa gives you the extra freedom and privacy, you will spend a fair bit on groceries though...a couple of tips, you will find it useful if you have room in your suitcases for some black refuse bags, you will probably go through a few as the rubbish is collected twice a week...try and locate your local supermarket as soon as you can as you will be using it a few times...you will find that to visit any restaurant/shops etc you will have to drive everywhere, generally there are none within walking distance of any of the developments...ensure you leave the kitchen area very very clean, as ants will appear if you leave crumbs and never leave food out...

You will have a fantastic time in a villa, it really helps you to relax when you are not out at the parks..
if you have any questions feel free to PM me

 

[OrlandoMad]

Been in 2 Virgin villas, from what I understand they are all based down the US27, some futher than others. We stayed in 1 at Florida Pines which was superb, and 1 at Hampton Lakes...which was not so superb, lots of faults and annoyances. Last year we ended up finding a private villa to hire which turned out to be much better. Sorry to sound a bit negative but it is a lottery and the management company were less than helpful. We also found the drive up/down the US27 a bit tiresome after a while. Best of luck !

 

[marv]

Hi Jax

I cant help you with the Virgin Villas but ime in the same predicament as you.
We have booked a villa with Virgin and i have posted a few times to ask of peoples experiences, but never seem to have had much response.
I think its just a hope for the best when we get there i just hope its not at the either end of the US27 and i hope we dont have any problems with the Villa.(crossing fingers and every thing else )

Good luck Marv

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think probably the reason you do not get much feedback Marv is that as I said earlier unless you have booked one through Virgin it is difficult to answer.

We always book ours seperate because we want to see what we are getting, and we are fussy too (long story but the first villa we booked years ago was horrid)....I would agree that the US27 is not the best location, although the homes I have seen on there are very nice.

 

[OrlandoMad]

Unfortunately, as stated earlier, it is a lottery, the first that we had was almost brand new, secluded, well equipped and we put up with the drive each day, about 20-30 mins to get to most Disney parks, 30-40 to get to uni/seaworld. Based on having a good villa we booked again and got a small, pokey, fairly dirty and poorly maintained older villa, the safety alarm for the pool didn't work and when asked to fix it a guy turned up some days later and couldn't get it working, That added to numerous minor things, like broken taps, a shower that was falling apart, a light fitting that gave shocks, etc. etc. spoilt the "villa experience" for us. Hence we went private, found an excellent villa, that cost a bit more than Virgin, but only minutes from Disney. Its a shame you can't pick and choose from a selection before you leave, and its a shame that Virgin seem to turn their back on you once you choose the villa option.

I'm sure that most of the villas Virgin let are excellent and I hope we were just very unlucky ! I also hope that the management company lady was having an off day when we met her....

 

[tartangirl]

As with others we always book villas directly but I think the chances are you'll get a villa on the US27 so make sure you are aware of the short cut into Disney (Sherberth Road I think it's called). It's just past Bonanza Golf on the 192 and brings you in at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We've stayed at Bass Lake, Hampton Lakes and Westridge all on the US27 just south of the 192 and all the villas were lovely. Plenty of good supermarkets around (Publix on 192 and south on US27 and Walmart north on US27). It's a good area for Disney but can be a bit of a treck to Universal/Florida Mall etc. - especially when the I4 snarls up.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have always booked our own villa, however, the first was booked off a family's own website and it looked nice.
However, when we got there we could have cried, it was horrible, 10 years old and an absolute disgrace.
The pool was full of litter and the plaster had fallen off the walls, the interior was dirty to say the least - turns out the Management Company had turned their backs on the owner's due to lack of funds. We kicked up a stink and the villa was immediately cleaned and new pool furniture supplied, we moved to a different one after a week.
With that in mind we are extra fussy and have had no problems since.

I have driven around most of the developments and now tend to stay just off the 192 at some of the newer developments there, like Indian Creek.
There is easy access to Disney,the I4, Supermarkets and Restaurants.

I am sure the majority of Virgin villas are nice, personally though the US27 area is not for us.