Our trip

[yorky]

Ok just back from two weeks in Orlando and these were the highs and lows.First the highs,great weather just about every day and and the people were as friendly as ever. Some great meals out the best at Bahama Breeze.

Now the lows. What can only be described as attempted robbery at the Alamo desk on arrival.We wanted to upgrade from a family to minivan and they wanted an extra $800. After many crossed words they dropped this by almost $500. We had a tired and crying child and other family,s were also unhappy. This on top of trying to charge us for a child seat that had been cancelled and promises that we had a brand new van which when we went to pick it up did not exist.
How a major company can behave like this is beyond me and we will never use them again.

When leaving the Ponderosa the first morning a guy came up to us and stated he was writing up a citation for driving on the wrong side of the road. When we called him a liar and asked for ID he stated he was collecting for the police fund.Beware of this crook. Lastly a very average villa that the management company could not care less about. Our complaints about broken furniture,smoke alarm, was ignored. We will book through this site in future.Lesson learned but a warning about how little some management companys are doing for clients.

[E. Cosgrove]

Sorry about the problems you had Yorky and hope it did not spoil your holiday too much. When you book your villa from this site next trip don't forget your car hire as well, it's so reasonable. I don't think it has cost us $800 for a minivan for the whole trip let alone as an upgrade!! Don't know the exact price as we paid in £'s but it was only £400 and something:D

[Kiddie001]

what a start to your trip!

we had a car thro' Alamo when we were there last month, when we arrived it turned out the travel agent had booked the next car down than the one we had agreed.
After I showed them my confimation email, Alamo agreed to change it at no cost to me.
When we got to the car park, there were no cars of our size left, so they upgarded us there and then for free to an SUV.
Couldnt be happier with Alamo, they were courteous and helpful.
Just goes to show its all a lottery!

cheers

Ian

[andrewmckay5]

Yorky,
who did you book the villa through this time.

andrew

[LiesaAnna]

oh yorky, sorry to hear about your lows!!!!
at least you know when you go again, you've got all these guys for help, advice and of course the rentals which will save you bundles!!!!!

[finishrich]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Did you book the whole trip as a package through a tour operator or did you book it separately?

The issue with cars. I'd say it's best to book the actual car size you require and through this site too it's great value for money, rather than wait and upgrade at the car hire counter as sometimes I think they just pick a number and any number at that when it comes to the cost, which could prove expensive unless you're ready to haggle.

[Ray&Sarah]

Sorry to hear that you had such problems Yorky. Glad it hasn't put you off Florida though and that you would consider booking your villa through on the sites attached to this forum next time. Its definatley a good thing to deal with the villa owner directly, then you know exactly what you are getting before you arrive. We had a few issues with Dollar Car Rental on our last trip, we flew into Miami and although we have used Dollar many times before with no problems, we were less than impressed with the service we received this last time.[msnsmile2]

[jolliffee]

Hope your problems hasn't put you off Florida, lets hope you'll only remember the good stuff in a few days.

[yorky]

Thanks all,and no it will not put us off and we still had a great time. We booked through Trailfinders and got a good deal on flights with BA but had to also book the car as part of the deal at the time.

I would not be suprised to see the villa we had on the market in the next year as the owners did not seem to be putting any effort into it. We were on the rolling hills community which I think is around five years old. Our villa had a string of problems inside and out. The pool had paint coming off along with tile wear along with dead grass outside as the sprinklers were not working.Inside there were loose sockets along with broken furniture, old noisy beds and ants coming through the kitchen sink area.
We were also shocked at the huge increase in prices of villas in short term let areas and are now thinking twice about buying in Orlando. Two years ago we could have got a villa for around $150000, the same villas are now $300000. We noticed an increase in management companies also.I only remember only one at formosa gardens last time against at least six this. I worry that supply will exceed demand over the next few years. We had a drve round rolling hills and many of the villas were empty, with at least
10 for sale.We found you could now buy in Celebration for around the same price. Yes not a villa with pool or short term lets area but a great investment for anyone that can afford it.

[LiesaAnna]

all those problems were the sort we encountered at holiday camps over here! am so shocked that you had that in a villa in florida!!!!!!!!!!!!![V]

at least you will know whats expected if/when you buy your own property in florida!
good luck for the future!!

[yorky]

What suprised us was the number of problems for a villa only five years old. I have to put some of this down to the actuall build quality of the villa.

[LiesaAnna]

oh well move on and put it down to experiance, rent from here? or buy your own!!!!!! cant decide, rent from here for now,
lottery ticket must buy 1:D