Where do you book your hotel?

zoicca

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Messages
64
Do you use a travel agent? Package deal? Hotwire or Priceline? AirBnB?

I saw a post earlier about booking a hotel on eBay. Yes, eBay. Ever tried that? I'm not sure how it works or if it's safe.

My goal is to find an accommodation for 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids) that is affordable, spacious, and within driving distance to and from the parks. We'd like a pool and something with a fun and friendly family vibe.

I typically use Hotwire (with help from www.hoteldealsrevealed.com and www.betterbidding.com) but Orlando seems to offer a breadth of vacation rentals in addition to the typical hotel booking engines. Honestly, AirBnB seems like a lot of work trying to arrange logistics with an owner renting his/her place.

I would love to know what you use to book your hotel. I don't travel until March 2018 so i have plenty of time, but because we are a family of 5, I'd like to book sooner than later.
 
There are countless ways to find and book a place. Driving distance is relative. You could drive to and from Daytona each morning. It really depends on how far away you want to be. As for space, the LAST thing I would want is a hotel unless it had 2 bedroom suites. Then, it would be a Suites and not a hotel. Personally, we prefer the more luxury timeshare resorts. Rent points from an owner and enjoy the amenities. Renting from an owner comes with risk. In almost all cases, if you find a reputable owner you won't have an issue. It is with the sketchy ones that you will have a problem. Our last 6 trips have all been through owners (timeshare and DVC). Not once have I had issues. 1BR DVC rooms for 7-nights were $1,250. 2BR offsite rooms were $750 or less for 7-nights.

There are literally 100s of options. The more specific about your requirements, the easier it would be to offer recommendations. As for March, that is Spring Break season. There is a lot of inventory now I am sure. Expect those to get gobbled up quickly in the coming months though.
 
We rented a 3 bedroom 3 bath townhome with private pool at Windsor Hills for our next trip. We rented through this company:
http://www.vacationcentralflorida.com/

Windsor Hills also has condos and single family pool homes. We went with the townhome because we wanted the private pool (which the condos don't have) but we thought the single family homes were more space than we needed for our family of 5. Windsor Hills also has a beautiful community pool, movie theater, playgrounds, sundry shop, and fitness center. It located very close to Disney property. There are many places to rent Windsor Hills units, both through private owners or local vacation rental companies. We chose VCF because their prices were lowest for our dates and they also have a good cancellation policy and don't charge a large security deposit like many vacation rentals do. If you are interested in Windsor Hills though, definitely shop around for the best price.

I know Wyndham Bonnet Creek is also very popular on these boards and a lot of people recommend www.vacationstrategy.com for booking there. I got a quote there but it came in at quite a bit higher than Windsor Hills which is why I went with WH. But you may want to get a quote for your dates to compare. WBC looks like a beautiful resort with full condo accommodations. Good luck!
 
with DVC villa the price varies - depends upon which villa (the MK resorts - BLT, PVB, GFV - are generally more expensive) - the ones not near any theme parks are cheaper - OKW and AKV - sometimes SSR (other times it cost more to stay at SSR than BWV)

if you just want a hotel room - try these sites
expedia, travelocity, - now for the cheaper rooms (but still clean) with go with Motel 6 - it use to be only available thru its site - hear this has changed.

have used priceline and ebay no problems - that was before fast passes - not sure how that works when renting.
 

I think that the ones on Ebay are timeshare offers and not your standard hotels. As @BigredNole mentioned above, I prefer the space of a timeshare resort. A good place to look is Ebay and Redweek. Timeshare resorts allow space and convenience. It's more than just a place to sleep and shower as regular hotel rooms are. It is not my idea of a vacation for 3 or 4 of us to be packed into a hotel room with one tv and one bathroom to share. A timeshare gives you a full livingroom, dining room and a full kitchen. If staying in a 2 bedroom or larger, you generally have at least 2 bathrooms. There is a washer and dryer in your unit, so you have the ability to wash and dry your clothes at your leisure. If you have never stayed in a timeshare, I think you should give it a try at least once to see if it's something that your family would enjoy or not. Did I mention the amenities and activities they have on-site at timeshare resorts. My family prefers if we go to Disney, we do not go everyday of our vacation. Sometimes we go to Florida without going to Disney at all. That may not be ideal for your family, but I do think you should try a timeshare. You may also frown at hotels after staying in one. Even if you want to go to Disney everyday from sun up until sun down. A timeshare resort is still nice to come back to after a day at the parks. Did I mention that many of them have jacuzzi tubs in the master bedroom. What a way to relax after a LONG day at the parks.
 
We just returned from a stay in a two-bedroom unit at Sheraton Vistana Villages - fantastic resort! Lots of space, nice pools, a little market on site. Very centrally located on International Drive. We booked direct with the hotel through a special link in the Mousesavers newsletter.
 
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