Windsor Hills vs. Windsor Palms

[tsa]

What is the difference between the 2??
Is it just location???
Run by the same people???
Has anybody stayed at the Windsor Palms???

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Cruz91]

...people say 'I dunno - but blah blah blah', but I thought I'd post anyway... I don't know YET, but I leave tomorrow for our first time staying at WP. We've stayed at WH many times and LOVE it. I did a TON of research (including asked the same question you're asking) and the bottom line was most folks said WH was 'a little' better kept up and 'a little' closer to the parks. In actuality, the 'closer to the parks' thing can't be more than 2 minutes drive time difference.

Some folks also said they experienced a bad odor from the water treatment facility (look on google maps and you can see it) closer to WP. I will be especially curious about that - but the condo we're renting is one of the furthest away from the treatment plant, plus we're going at a 'cooler' time, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue. I'll try to remember to drop in and give an update when I get there.......

 

[jjjmranch]

I have stayed at Windsor Palm and I am going to stay there again this May. There were no issues with the treatment plant whatsoever. No smells at all. Compared to living in a city with pollution, this was absolutely gorgeous. When I read the boards, only one person complained about the treatment plant. I went in May 2008 and loved it so much, we're going back. A very quiet community. The pool isn't as big as Windsor Hills, but the community is much smaller. No 4th floor condos. Upkeep was fine, the clubhouse was being touched up and was well maintained. We took the Sherberth Road shortcut and were at WDW in no time. You'll have a wonderful stay. Have a magical trip!

 

[dyna]

One big dif for us is there are no elevators at the condos for Windsor Palms but Windsor Hills does have 1 per building in the center.....not an issue so much for 2nd floor but by 3rd floor it a pain an much easier not to have to hul the luggage up an down steps.....


NOW I've only stayed at Windsor Hills not even been back the road to the Palms but in Oct an Dec both sometimes I did smell a sewer typer smell out on the main road in front of windsor hills some days it was pretty bad out there .....now once we got inside the resort to our condo or the pool never smelled the smell only out on main road.....still does not look good out in front of resort even Maybe there nees to be some work done on sewer lines in the area or something there been a lot of condos an homes added to the area the last few yrs maybe the sewer having hard time keeping up...

 

[tsa]

Thanks everybody. Would love to hear all about your trip Cruz91. I am sure it will be AWESOME.

 

[KayR]

Windsor Palms and Windsor Hills were built by the same builders. I believe they both use the same association management company to administer the community (but often it is the manager rather than the company that makes the difference!).

WP is slightly older and smaller than WH. It has similar amenities, but on a smaller scale. Playground & pool are not so grand. Upshot of that is that purchase and running costs are less therefore rents at WP are cheaper.

As mentioned, condos are 3 stories, no elevator at WP. WH are 4 stories with an elevator. Townhomes are similar - some have splashpools.

WP resort is well kept and looked after. The community manager has added to the community amenities with bike hire, a Wii room and even pool side BBQs during busy times.

WP is small enough to be able to walk to the clubhouse from any home, WH is bigger.

If you drive down Sand Lake road, WH and WP are basically opposite each other (there is another community in between, but you can see WH across the road from WP). Drive time to any attraction is similar (maybe a minute more from WP over WH, but not enough to worry about). Both have easy access to the Sherbeth Road entrance to WDW.

I love WP. It is a great community. I have stayed there several times. If you have any questions, please ask them.

--Kay

 

[darlingfamily]

We love WH. It just seems overall, a little nicer. It is closer as well. We notice that the condos are more updated cleaner in WH. We have only stayed at one house in WH and not in WP. But, that is for another post. LOL

I noticed that the clubhouse, for us anyway, is more accommodating at WH as well. We have stayed at both places several times over the course of the last few years and we much prefer WH to WP.

I hope that helps!

 

[Cruz91]

We are currently in a 3BR, 3BA townhome at WP. We frequently stay at WH and have a number of 3BR, 2BA condos to use as a comparison.

First, the biggest thing to consider is that every townhome is owned by an individual (mostly, anyway), so regardless of which property you're talking about - that's the biggest difference you'll notice. Having said that - WH does seem to be, as others have posted, 'a little' nicer than WP. As an example - in the townhome where we're staying now, there are more nicks on the walls, a cracked tile here and there on the floor, and one huge problem (and probably a code issue) is there's a missing cover plate on one of the electrical outlets. Having said that - I find the place really nice and well worth the 80 bucks or so per night I'm paying for it (tax included, cleaning fee waived).

The grounds are fine - I think they're kept up pretty much as well as what we've seen around WH. One issue I noticed, and maybe it's because it's spring break week, but there are a TON of cars parked EVERYWHERE. Some townhomes look like they have 4 cars parked in front of them, which makes the area look a little cramped.

WP is also 'a little' further from the parks, but I don't think it's a huge deal. I would estimate it would take us (on average) a MAX of 5 minutes longer to get from WP to any of the parks relative to what it would take from WH. To me, that's not a huge issue.

There is absolutely NO smell we can detect from the waste plant. A non-issue for us.

BOTTOM LINE - If there were identical condos / townhomes at WP and WH, and they were equal in price, I would take the WH. If I could save some money on the WP property, or perhaps get the townhome at WP for the price of a ranch-style condo at WH, I would be fine with WP. Hope that helps...

OH - and one other issue we found out today... WP is closer to the urgent care than WH. DD8 had a 100 plus fever, coughy, complainy, etc - so took her to urgent care. Good news - strep test came back negative. Bad news - she's still whiny and we missed most of the day at the park today.

 

[sjanus]

We are currently in a 3BR, 3BA townhome at WP. We frequently stay at WH and have a number of 3BR, 2BA condos to use as a comparison.

First, the biggest thing to consider is that every townhome is owned by an individual (mostly, anyway), so regardless of which property you're talking about - that's the biggest difference you'll notice. Having said that - WH does seem to be, as others have posted, 'a little' nicer than WP. As an example - in the townhome where we're staying now, there are more nicks on the walls, a cracked tile here and there on the floor, and one huge problem (and probably a code issue) is there's a missing cover plate on one of the electrical outlets. Having said that - I find the place really nice and well worth the 80 bucks or so per night I'm paying for it (tax included, cleaning fee waived).

The grounds are fine - I think they're kept up pretty much as well as what we've seen around WH. One issue I noticed, and maybe it's because it's spring break week, but there are a TON of cars parked EVERYWHERE. Some townhomes look like they have 4 cars parked in front of them, which makes the area look a little cramped.

WP is also 'a little' further from the parks, but I don't think it's a huge deal. I would estimate it would take us (on average) a MAX of 5 minutes longer to get from WP to any of the parks relative to what it would take from WH. To me, that's not a huge issue.

There is absolutely NO smell we can detect from the waste plant. A non-issue for us.

BOTTOM LINE - If there were identical condos / townhomes at WP and WH, and they were equal in price, I would take the WH. If I could save some money on the WP property, or perhaps get the townhome at WP for the price of a ranch-style condo at WH, I would be fine with WP. Hope that helps...

OH - and one other issue we found out today... WP is closer to the urgent care than WH. DD8 had a 100 plus fever, coughy, complainy, etc - so took her to urgent care. Good news - strep test came back negative. Bad news - she's still whiny and we missed most of the day at the park today.

From a different perspective, sounds like an owner in trouble. I can't imagine owning a place, renting it to others, and not taking the pride to update, replace, fix, etc. Of course, you can find these situations in any resort, as there are lots of owners in trouble financially right now. But taking such low rates may be a tell tale sign of such a situation in a lot of cases. I'm sure there are many in Windsor Palms that do take pride in their homes and keep them like the day they bought them. So not a question of which resort, but perhaps which owner?

Glad you are enjoying your trip and feel that you did get value for your money.

Sandy

 

[Cruz91]

From a different perspective, sounds like an owner in trouble. I can't imagine owning a place, renting it to others, and not taking the pride to update, replace, fix, etc. Of course, you can find these situations in any resort, as there are lots of owners in trouble financially right now. But taking such low rates may be a tell tale sign of such a situation in a lot of cases. I'm sure there are many in Windsor Palms that do take pride in their homes and keep them like the day they bought them. So not a question of which resort, but perhaps which owner?

Glad you are enjoying your trip and feel that you did get value for your money.

Sandy

Actually - the second line of my post indicated that the biggest factor in the townhome condition was the owner, and you can have 'good owners' and 'bad owners' in either WP or WH.

The owner of the condo we're staying in now is what I'd call an 'o.k.' owner. They just bought a new sofa set, new plasma TV for the den, and overall I would call it a little better than average.

As for price, I found a number of owners willing to accept 75 - 100 per night for 3BR places (both condos and townhomes). I think it's more a function of what management company they use. From what I've seen, the more 'hands on' the owner is (willing to do more booking on their own), they tend to charge a little less. I would NOT associate people willing to take lower rates with an owner in trouble...

 

[sjanus]

Perhaps you should report the outlet cover to the owner? Sometimes it could be the case the owner doesn't know as no one reported it. Doesn't make sense that owner would buy plasma, replace furniture, etc., and not fix the outlet. That could be a dangerous situation with a small child and as you said a code violation.

I'm not saying that all low prices are associated with owners in trouble, but certainly there has been a correlation with all the foreclosures and short sales in Florida. There are many trying to get through the recession and have given great deals to try to recoup some of the bills I'm sure.But the longer one functions like that taking lower than market prices, the less chance they will be able to stay in business. It takes loads of monies to operate a rental property near Disney!

Glad you got a great deal and things are working out positively for you. Hope your daughter feels better soon and glad she doesn't have strept!

Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

Sandy