Windsor Hills vs Terra Verde-A 3BR Townhome Comparison Review

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I stayed at 3BR/3BA Townhouse Windsor Hills in September and just got back from a 3BR/2.5 BA Townhome in Terra Verde. I will post individual reviews on the review boards but wanted to do a brief comparison here:

Windsor Hills townhome: http://www.windsorhillsrent.com/cgi-bin/members.cgi?fnct=details&id=256

Terra Verde Townhome: http://www.vrbo.com/188120


Location: Windsor Hills is MUCH closer to WDW!!! Via the Sherbeth Road shortcut you never have to get on 192 and therefore can be at the parks within 5-10 mins easy. Terra Verde is much farther-down 192 E a ways (a nightmare!!!!). You are looking at 15-30 mins travel time. I really don't like the stop and go traffic of 192 and the many traffic lights. When you're ready to get back to the room from the parks that drive can be no fun-although my daughter did fall asleep in the car most nights.

Price: $156.00 per night on the Windsor Hills (average for 4 nights with cleaning fee) townhome and $101.00 per night on the Terra Verde TH. So, clearly Terra Verde wins here being 35% cheaper than Windsor Hills.

Resort/Amenities: We really didn't use many of the resort amenities. Windsor Hills is a bigger resort and looks to have more amenities. The townhome at Windsor Hills had a splash pool and screened in lanai, the Terra Verde one had a hot tub but was not screened in. We were bit by bugs on the Terra Verde lanai!!!

Check-In/Management Companies: Check in was a breeze at Windsor Hills-just show the gate security your confirmation from the owner and they cross checked you with a list. They issue a parking pass and you are all set. There was a lockbox with a key that was very easily accessible. At Terra Verde there is a bit more to it: You have to check in at the clubhouse. At 10pm after travelling and being at the parks that's the last thing I wanted to do. I left my very cranky family in the car while I waited 15-20 minutes and filled out a long form to be issued a magnetic key to the gate. I had to give a $10.00 deposit to be issued the key so had to stand in line once again on check out day to get my $10 back! Bit of a pain IMO! We dealt with the owner at WH and never needed anything from them. At TV, the management company kindly procured our groceries for us and had the villa stocked when we arrived. They only charged us the receipt plus $10 which is a very good deal! They also let us check out 1 hr late on the last day because my daughter was ill. I highly recommend JuSt Management Company-they made our stay great!

Quality of Construction/Noise/Security: The townhomes are very similar. They both have nice layouts with 3 bedrooms (WH has 1 down 2 up and TV has all 3 up) and WH has a full bath downstairs while TV has only a half. We did have plumbing issues at TV, the plumbing seemed shoddy (noisy pipes, limited hot water availability) but we managed. Both have washers and dryers which is very nice! Noice was similar at both villas, you can hear your neighbors at times and outdoors children playing can be heard occassionally. We felt very secure in both locations and never had any issues!

Conclusion: For budget travellers Terra Verde was not bad. Too bad there isn't a way to bypass 192 because that road has very high traffic and many, many stoplights. If money isn't an issue Windsor Hills wins by a mile due to great location, ease of check-in, and a TOP quality townhome.

If you have any questions please just ask!

 

[isla bonita]

Conclusion: For budget travellers Terra Verde was not bad. Too bad there isn't a way to bypass 192 because that road has very high traffic and many, many stoplights. If money isn't an issue Windsor Hills wins by a mile due to great location, ease of check-in, and a TOP quality townhome. If you have any questions please just ask!

There is a better way to the parks from TV. It is calles the osceola prk way. It is $1.50 but worth every penny. Still the area is not as close as WH but it can be made doable.

 

[sympatico]

Yeah, as Deb said you could have gone north on Poinciana, crossed 192 and then taken Osceola Parkway into Disney. It's still not as close as WH but better than 192 when it's busy.

 

[Freaky]

Not exactly sure where TV is but we stay at Coral Cay Resort which is off the 192 eastside and we do not go right up the 192 when heading to the parks. Using the 535 and up onto World Centre Drive means you only have a few sets of traffic lights to go through on the 192 and you can be at the Disney Arch in approx 10 minutes.

One Sunday afternoon my DH decided to head to Epcot - just had to have another go on some ride and made the parking lot in less than 15 minutes!

Good to hear the differences you found between the 2 resort though. Thanks for posting

 

[sherry7]

Thanks for the comparison. We are staying at Terra Verde next month. I'll definitely remember the shortcut that someone posted above.

Can you tell me what restaurants and stores were in the immediate vicinity of Terra Verde please?

 

[samily]

We stayed at Terre Verde a few years ago - I don't remember specific restaurants, but there were a lot of them on 192. Coming from Terre Verde, if you take a right off Poinciana onto 192, there is a Super Target a little further up on your left for groceries. There is also a Starbucks in Target - a must have for my DH!

 

[jrteit]

I read the post above and tend to disagree with a few of the writers points. Windsor Hills is closer to the property entrance of Disney World but it still can be a 10 minute drive or so to get to many of Disneys theme parks that are located over a huge, sprawling landscape. When you stay at Terra Verde, you do not have to drive down Hwy 192 to get to Disneys theme parks or Universals theme parks as this writer has stated. By driving straight up Poinciana Blvd takes you straight out to the main Hwy( 535 I believe it is) that then has exits for Disney as well as the Hwy that runs to the other theme parks. These roads and Hwys are not nearly as busy as the Hwy 192 that tourists seem to take all the time. It is worth purchasing a map for the area before driving anywhere as you can then proper compare the two resort locations and the best way to get around town. The price you pay to be a little closer to Disney is not worth it as we found out. When you are not going to Disney you will end up driving 10 - 15 minutes, one way, along the busy Hwy 192 to get to the major restaurants, shopping, dinner theatres etc. You have to use the busy Hwy 192 from Windsor Hills because it is the only road that will take you to the entertainment sections. For a family of four that likes to eat out while on vacation, we found that staying at Windsor Hills was a real inconvenience because we had to drive along Hwy 192 way too many times - to get to Old Towne, all the best restaurants and most of the tourists shopping areas. The area outside of Windsor Hills is still relatively new and has not been built up that much. We stayed at a 3 bedroom home in Windsor Hills that had a splash pool. This type of pool is ok for cooling off but totally useless for swimming or having any room to move around. For the same price we rented a 4 bedroom townhome in Terra Verde that had a full size pool and was used every day by the whole family. Terra Verde has a good selection of homes to chose from. 3 Bedroom Townhomes with spas, 4 bedroom townhomes with pools and single family homes with up to 7 bedrooms and each one having a pool and a spa. Terra Verde Resort is a bit smaller in size than Windsor Hills but Terra Verde has its own private fishing lake. Our children just loved the fact that they could go fishing every night after spending a hectic day at the parks. A great way to wind down after a busy day. The Terra Verde Resort was built by Park Square Homes and the quality of construction is outstanding. Park Square Homes has won many builders awards for their designs and construction techniques. We found that the cupboards in the Windsor Hills washrooms were quite flimsy as the decorator panel was falling off because of the way it was attached plus the Windsor Hills layout was too confining for us as the kitchen, living room and dining room are basically one room. The 4 bedroom townhome in Terra Verde was layed out to give you the idea that these are 3 separate rooms. By checking out home pictures of both resorts will give you a better understanding of what I mean. Many homes in Terra Verde are rented out directly by the home owners, meaning that you can save a fair bit of money by dealing directly instead of through vacation rental properties. Also at Terra Verde, once we had picked up our keys from the owners property management company we did not have to check into the Clubhouse until the following morning. Our family did enjoy our two week stay at Windsor Hills but must say that our stay at Terra Verde Resort was ten times better because we did not have to spend so much time driving. Plus the fishing was a huge hit with the children. Check the web for information on both resorts and then decide for yourself. You can see some of the selection of Terra Verde homes from this website even though there are many more websites out there. terra-verde-villas dot com.
Also, I must mention that the Terra Verde Resort is run by a board of members that are all home owners within this resort. This new board has the resort in its best interest. For instance, many new plants, palm trees etc have recently been planted, new fitness equipment, new computers for internet access (for those who forgot their computers but still need to use one), new Clubhouse furniture, new ATM machine, new DVD rental machine, new Clubhouse pool deck furniture and the list goes on. These are some of the great improvements for a resort that is only 5 years old. So as you can see that this resort is always striving to improve itself in todays competitive market.

If you would like more information or want clarification on either resort then please just email me.

John

 

[Freaky]

If you are wanting somewhere on the 192 try Romano's Macaroni Grill - one of our kids favourite as you can draw all over the table cloth! They also serve a lovely large glass of wine (a really extensive wine list!) We also love Joes Crab Shack, on the junction off towards Celebration and have had good meals in Smokey Bones & Logans Roadhouse. Also love the pizzas at NYPD Pizzas (in the Publix store complex) - far nicer than Pizza Hut etc IMHO. You really don't have to go far to get a good meal - really just depends on your tastes.

jrteit - we too prefer a similar location as I believe TV is in the same general direction to where we stay at Coral Cay. Great for travelling to both Disney and Universal and really close to restaurants and supermarkets

Tracey

 

[jrteit]

If you are wanting somewhere on the 192 try Romano's Macaroni Grill - one of our kids favourite as you can draw all over the table cloth! They also serve a lovely large glass of wine (a really extensive wine list!) We also love Joes Crab Shack, on the junction off towards Celebration and have had good meals in Smokey Bones & Logans Roadhouse. Also love the pizzas at NYPD Pizzas (in the Publix store complex) - far nicer than Pizza Hut etc IMHO. You really don't have to go far to get a good meal - really just depends on your tastes.

jrteit - we too prefer a similar location as I believe TV is in the same general direction to where we stay at Coral Cay. Great for travelling to both Disney and Universal and really close to restaurants and supermarkets

Tracey

Hello Tracey
You are right on with your statements about location and the great restaurants. The resorts on the east side of Hwy 4, such as Terra Verde and Coral Cay are the best places to stay during the busy seasons. You can save a lot of driving time by being located to where the shopping and restaurants are close by. We too have stayed at Coral Cay and used the same roads to the parks that we now use from Terra Verde. We discovered Terra Verde after our stay at Coral Cay. It is just south, off of Poinciana Blvd. Only a 3 minute drive from Hwy 192. Terra Verde can easily be overlooked but it is well situated and feels like you are in a country setting but still just minutes from the "action".

 

[60sumtng]

I think that I have to agree with Jrteit.
We have stayed at Terra Verde on many occasions. It is a relatively small and well run resort, clearly managed by an interested and involved owner organisation.
As for the entry system, many resorts claim to be gated, but few actually enforce some sort of entry control. We would rather a resort that effectively controls the entry, even if that takes a few extra minutes when we initially arrive. (I am not implying that Windsow Hills does not)
Whether it is 15 minutes or 20 minutes from Disney is largely immaterial. To our view, Disney is just a part of the attraction of central Florida.
I understand that there is also a new terra verde website at terraverderesort dot net, which gives a good over view of the resort

paul

 

[Chrisinroch]

I've stayed at both and I would say that WH is maybe 5 minutes closer to the parks. From door to door, its maybe 15-20 minutes vs 20-25 minutes.

The biggest difference between the two that I saw was the sheer size of WH. It is much more like a good sized residential subdivision than the smaller TV. At TV, my nieces could walk to the pool, at WH I would not feel comfortable with that.

One small item, the landscaping at TV is better giving it more of a vacation feel than the subdivision feel.

 

[tuzanne]

Terra Verde is much farther-down 192 E a ways (a nightmare!!!!). You are looking at 15-30 mins travel time. I really don't like the stop and go traffic of 192 and the many traffic lights

I disagree with above statement. We used the Oceana Parkway to go to Disney parks Gate and I have timed it it at exactly 10 mins. The timings quoted are only to get to the actual Disney gate and it depends on what park you want to visit as to how long it takes you to get there as Disney has a lot of land.

Windsor Park probably has a few more amenities but it is a much larger community and some people like the fact that Terra Verde is smaller and therefore easier and safer to walk around, especially for kids and teenagers.

Terra Verde is in a great location really near lots of restaurants and places like Old Town. It is also minutes from 2 large Super Wal Marts.

As for the length of time of a checking in and out procedure this depends on how many people are there at the time. You cannot compare these when at one place there was no line and another which obviously had lots of people arriving at same time.

As for things like checking in and out times this really depends on the owner of the place you visit. All guests can negotiate a later checking out time and most owners are happy to do this unless they have a guest coming to stay on the same day and have back to back bookings. All owners have to leave time for cleaners to do their bit.

As for private pools you get what you pay for. It stands for reason that if you rent a townhouse with a private pool you would pay more for it than a townhouse with only a hot tub. The owner has to pay to maintain the pool to a safe standard of hygiene. Most villas have larger pools than townhouses with bigger pool decks so you would expect to pay more to rent one of these.

In my opinion both these resorts are excellent and guests have to consider what they are looking for. If you want a small community, with great landscaping and good clubhouse facilities and in a good locations to shops, restaurant, attractions and supermarkets then Terra Verde is a good choice.

Sue