AOA Villas

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Not sure if this is a trip report or not but this is where my life on these forums started.

Well for those of you that may have read my earlier posts about allocation on arrival villas you may be interested in knowing how things panned out now I am back home.

As it turned out although we booked through Thomsons we ended up with a First Choice package as they are now one and the same company. We picked the keys up at Sanford airport and registered the villa the next day at the First Choice office.

Well my initial question was about location and we ended up at Lake Berkley, just off 192 behind Medieval Times adjacent to Wal Mart. A great location with easy access to all the parks and amenities. We were allocated a 4 bed villa rather than the 3 bed we booked so to say we were pleased is an understatement.

The quality of the villa was good and what we expected basic, no frills, clean and comfortable a typical holiday home. The only thing that you could comment on was perhaps a freshen up of the paintwork would put a shine back on the villa. Comments from the guest book complained that the beds were noisy but we found them very comfortable and I don’t know what they got upto but when we went to bed we were beat and slept like a log. Usual cable TV in lounge and main master bedroom. No other TVs in the villa. An added extra was free international calls from the villa which was unexpected and very useful. This only worked to landline phones not to mobiles but hey it was free.

The pool was great, we had decided not to have it heated however found it refreshing and after a couple of days decided to have the heat switched on. We called in at the First Choice office and made the arrangements. It was $30 a day which we thought was a bit expensive so we opted for just 7 days which should boost it up and if we put the blanket over the pool at night this would keep most of the heat for the remaining days of our stay. Giving the pool a couple of days to heat we were convincing ourselves that we cold feel the difference but we still thought that the water was on the cool side. However as the temp was 88 – 94 degrees it was a welcome plunge to cool down. By chance after 5 days the pool guy arrived for his routine clean and we asked him what he thought. The heating had been turned on but the thermostat had blown and the water had not been heated after all. We went back to the First Choice office to advise them and as there would not be enough time to have the thermostat fixed and the remaining days left we asked for our money back. There was not problem with this but as it was Memorial Day they would have to check with the “real” management company who look after the villa to confirm that what we were telling them was the case. It took 3 days the get a refund. But no issues in ducking the claim. This was our only bad experience with this villa and all in all did not spoil our enjoyment.

Would we go back to a villa? The answer is yes, however if it were just my wife and myself we would probably go back to the Rosen Centre but if there were more of us then a villa is the way to go. Now having the confidence I also think that I would book direct with an owner as you all maintain a higher standard with added extras. Going with a Tour Operator, for us, was not a horror story and a good way to try it out without the “worry” of hooking things together. But now we have done it there is nothing to fear.

Attached are a couple of photos of the villa.

It all seems a distant memory now.

Please let me know if anyone has any questions about our experience.

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200863132235_villa1.jpg

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200863132329_villa.jpg

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200863132413_villa2.jpg

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200863132451_villa3.jpg

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200863132515_villa4.jpg

[img]http://www

[Paula D-S]

Glad to hear your holiday went well David. We had our first two Florida holidays and stayed at Lake Berkley both times, it certainly gave us the Florida Bug.

[Lynne S]

Thanks for the report on your holiday David and yes, Lake Berkley is a great location and just around the corner from us.
Glad to hear you will take the plunge and DIY villa holiday next time :)

[Lynnes]

Very pleased you had a good holiday in Florida. We are in our villa with all the home comforts at the moment but only have another week before we go home to the UK and probably the cold.

[mfairhurst]

I David glad you enjoyed your vacation and a nice place to stay in Lake Berkley near to lots resturants and shops also not far from theme parks .
It is not hard to plan your own vacation as you realise now but at least you can choose your own standards next time .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Yes, Lake Berkley was a great location and I would recommend it.

It is a gated community with security. You were issued a pass when you arrived which you had to display to gain access. The guards were friendly and always acknowledge you as they opened the gate. Felt very secure.

The general area was well kept with ground maintenance teams descending twice a week to keep the lawns well manicured. Bins were emptied twice a week although I never saw the garbage truck, and there was no litter.

Parking was only allowed on one side of the street and most opted for their driveways which made the place look clear and spacious. A strange thing was all the mail boxes were on the same side of the street, the non-parking side, which I guess is to help the mail man however it confused us when we arrived trying to find our villa.

[domster]

Glad to hear you had a great time. Pool area looks very nice. :)

[Clare R]

You're right the mail boxes are generally down one side of the street; the mail trucks or cars are right-hand drive.

[S&VEdwards]

Hi David

We are glad things worked out for you and that you had a nice holiday. Pool did indeed look very nice - makes us wish we were there especially when you look out the window at a grey sky - feels more like Autumn than Summer[msnsad]

Sandra

[ali-uk]

Hi so glad your holiday was a great one!

The pictures of the villa look lovely and very much like the villa i had through first choice.
I have booked my villa from a private owner this time, we dont go until Nov 09[msnscared]
Thanks for letting us know i was wondering how it went and glad it all ok for you and your family[msnsmile2]
Ali

[LiesaAnna]

Thanks David its always good to hear how holidays went for others.... glad you had a nice villa and pool and i know where lake berkley is!! drove past many times on the way to walmart:D:D we stay at Terra Verde which is just over the back i think...... thanks again for sharing your experiences with us....[msncool]

[steph_goodrum]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ali-uk

Hi so glad your holiday was a great one!

The pictures of the villa look lovely and very much like the villa i had through first choice.
I have booked my villa from a private owner this time, we dont go until Nov 09[msnscared]
Ali
[/quote]

Ali
Just out of curiosity are you finding that you are looking forward to your holiday more because you know exactly whare you are staying and have been able to choose a villa that suits all your family needs and don't have that niggle in the back of your mind wondering if you're going to draw the short straw if it's a busy time (as obviously during school hols will always be).
I know when we used to book package holidays I would never book allocation on arrival in case I found I was miles from anyway in the most basic, run down or dirty place and they had no places left to move me to if necessary. I always felt I'd rather pay a bit more, and know what I was getting for my money.
I know it concerned David and that was partly why he had to spend a lot of time researching after he had booked, but it would have been too late by then to do much about it if the feedback was negative really.

I'm glad it all worked out good for you though David and you had a good trip. At least you now have the confidence to look at privately rented places. I can fully understand where you are coming from with it being daunting as my daughter worked on Marthas Vineyard 3 years ago for the summer so we decided we would visit the place for a few days en route to Florida and pick her up. As it was peak time towards Labor Day we booked before she had arrived and when I was looking for a place to rent I was apprehensive about whether it existed etc, etc. but it turned out to be a lovely place and the location was spot on with the description etc.

[ali-uk]

Hi,

I am very excited about our next holiday to florida because i know everything about the villa where we are staying, the villa is a very high standard has everything we wanted plus more, is in the location we were at last time. So yes no niggling worries at the back of my mind.

My villa i booked with first chice was AOA but it stated 5 different locations all of which were in the formosa area, which now i know is a great area for being on the door step for Disney.
I felt a little sorry for David and his family as i had found this web site after booking my holiday with first choice(package).

Like David i had a lot of questions to ask and also was worried what the villa was going to be like, until you find a wed site like this you dont know the other option.

I am excited typing this now thinking about it all!!![clap]

Ali

[Nina A]

David and Jan, I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed your holiday, even if the home was rather basic. I’m sure it was a great relief after all the weeks of stress and worry beforehand.

Coincidentally this week, I have just spoken to a repeat guest who is staying in one of our homes. She stayed last year as an AOA but booked direct with us this year. I nearly died when she told me how much she paid for her holiday last year, especially knowing how little as the villa owner I received. She is over the moon this year as she paid a fraction of the price paid last year by fixing it all herself. She booked car hire through this site for less than half what a travel agent quoted and couldn’t believe it. Roger she wants to know how you can give such an excellent service for the price? All I could think of was your volume of sales enabled you to give such fantastic deals?

AOA is better than a hotel but not the way to go as it is definitely a lottery. Organising everything yourself you know exactly where you’ll be staying, what the home is like and the facilities it offers. Plus the home owner will be happy to answer all the questions you have and with local knowledge can give some great tips. With sites like this it isn’t even difficult. You can use it to arrange the whole package, flights, villa, car hire, park tickets, all sorted and tailor made to your requirements.

Because of the low rates paid we no longer have tour operator bookings in our homes. I believe unless tour operator rates to homeowners are significantly increased, the pool of homes available to tour operators will decline. Those that are left will surely fall into disrepair, as on such low rates owners will be unable to maintain or improve them.

[Sally D]

Glad you had a great holiday[msnsmile2]

We have only ever booked direct with an owner and wouldn't do it any other way.

The first time we went I was worried about the whole thing. Shouldn't have worried as everything was fantastic. When the owner saw that we only lived 40 mins drive away she invited us to her house one Sunday before we had even paid the deposit to talk about her house and show us more photos and chatted all about Florida all afternoon.

I like to know exactly where I am going to stay and have great pleasure looking through all the villas and picking just what we need, every single detail. The first thing we look at is the pool, I like a lake or conservation view, then it's everything else that we require.

I also always book my car and park tickets through this site.

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Nina,

Just for your curiosity, and anyone else, we paid just over £3K for our holiday, that was for 4 flights, SUV car hire, 4 x 14 day Orlando Flex tickets, 4 tickets for Kennedy Space Centre and the villa. What the breakdown was I don’t know. However the players were Thomsons Holidays, First Choice, Hotel Beds and Welcome Homes in Kissimmiee not forgetting the villa owner. (Thomsons / FC and Hotel Beds are all part of TUI) so I dare say everyone had a cut somewhere along the line.

For others ..
I mentioned that if it were just my wife and myself we would go back to the Rosen Centre.The thing about the Rosen Centre is the buzz. The villa was great and for families or several people going together it is ideal. We thought that when it is just the two of us it would be very quiet. If you are going two or three times a year then this could be an advantage. The other thing which is really Jan's view is familiarity. If you turn Jan around twice she is lost and as I was driving to and from various places she would say "oh, now I know where I am". I had no problems, didn't need a sat nav, once I get a fix on a location I can lock it in have a good sense of direction, so I felt comfortable about our exact whereabouts. Jan felt a bit disjointed and Lake Berkley is not that remote! Again this could be cured by going back to the same place over time.

At the Rosen Center it is far enough down I Drive and still had a buzz to it with people coming and going and if you have a room on the upper floors you can virtually see everywhere you will be going. Sounds terrible but with just your own company it's not like being on holiday if you know what I mean. We like to mix with others from different parts, chat with them etc. even the staff in the restaurant or bar, hear the different accents. It’s just the kind of people we are, even when staying away from home on business I like to strike up a conversation with people rather than going to my room.

The cost of the villas is excellent compared to hotel rooms especially when there are more in your party and defiantly would sway our choice. It is also a factor to consider for two maybe a week in a hotel and a week in a villa is a compromise. When there is just the two of you, you push the boat out a bit but if there are five or six of you eating out every night can get expensive so a villa again provides that economic option. I know that we phoned for Chinese take out to be delivered twice.

Anyway we have lots to think about and the villa certainly has widened our options and we enjoyed staying there. Oh I wish we were still there.

[Tonish]

Looks like it worked well David, and good to see you had a great time.

Just on your comments re pool heating, please see below a post I made last year on this subject. I think it's apt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi trevncoz

I hope you get it sorted OK, but can I make a suggestion or two? Afer many years of experience renting villas in Orlando, I have found that Murphy's Law applies more to pool heating than almost any other aspect of the holiday.

Like you, we are wimps when it comes to cold water and often spend many full days around the pool. It's a major part of our holiday and having our own heated pool is one of the main reasons we go back time and again to Florida.

However, over the years we have had the following problems with pool heat:

1. Not switched on until after we arrive, and turned off before we leave, depriving us of 2-3 days heat.
2. Switched off after one week
3. Running out of gas
4. On, but at an incredibly miserly temperature
5. Broken down boiler
6. Pool not being heatable in the first place

Plus many, many more. Generally speaking it's the management companies who are at fault. In my experience, they tend to be more "relaxed" about pool heating than their other areas of responsibility.

In your case, having booked with MyTravel, you may not know which villa you are getting until you arrive?

I would suggest the following course of action, (particularly since no-one in the agency seemed to have come across a pool heat request before)

1. Confirm with them now, and get a written response, that pool heating is available for your specific villa, and the price
2. Get them to confirm that they will turn it on the day before you arrive and not turn it off until the day you leave. Pay the extra if they're charging per day
3. Get them to confirm the temperature they will set the pool heat
4. Find out which management company they use and their contact details. Email the confirmations direct to the management company and get them to confirm they will follow the instructions
5. The day before you leave, call the management company and remind them, ask them to go out today to put the heat on
6. Take a pool thermometer with you (or get one at Walmart as soon as you arrive)and leave it in the pool.

I realise it seems over the top, but it's the only way you can absolutely guarantee it will work for you properly if you're not booking direct with a villa owner. One of the major difficulties is the length of time it takes to make a difference to the pool temperature.

A common scenario is as follows:

You pay for pool heat and arrive. The first day you get in the pool and think, gosh, it's not very warm, I wonder is the heat on? Then you think, no, we've paid for it, obviously the previous guests didn't have it on and it'll take a day or so to warm up.

The next day, you call the management company. They check their records and it shows you've paid for pool heat, so they say "yes sir, your pool is heated, I've got confirmation here". You say, but it's not very warm?

They say, "when did you arrive, it can take up to 48 hrs to heat, particularly if it hasn't been used for a few weeks".

You think, OK, I'll believe them.

Then the next day it's still no better, you go buy a thermometer, check the temperature, wander all round the heater, trying to find out if it's on or not (hard to tell as they're usually all sealed up).

Call the management company again and complain. They come out the next day and switch it on, all apologies. By now you're into day 3 or 4 of your holiday and it takes another 24 hrs to heat the pool.

Then add all the other issues you can have such as those listed above, and you can see that it can be really annoying.

Now, I'm sure most villa renters have never had those problems and maybe we're just unlucky, but we go every year and only once (last visit) did we not have one or other (and often several together) of the above difficulties.

If something goes wrong with the heat, i

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Thought I'd update that our holiday was £3400.
Just tidying things up and came across the invoice and didn't want to mislead anyone.

David

[shedenuk]

The first time we went to a villa it was part of a package holiday.
We have since been to 4 more villas but we booked them direct from the owners. This has worked out really well for us. We like to know in advance where the villa is located. That way we have driving instructions looked up and printed out before we even leave the uk.
I think you will find it much more fun and far less stressful knowing where you will be staying before you go.
Its also great to be able to speak direct to the owner of the villa (before and after the holiday)
I have also found that the privately owned villas are decorated and fitted out to a much higher standard

[SunLover]

Whilst I'm pleased that you enjoyed your Allocation Upon Arrival vacation, I would be mortified if my sofas looked as filthy as the ones in your photos.[msnoo]

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Just so you don't think that we were living in a pig-sty.
I think that the lighting and shadows can play a part in the appearance of a photo I've attached another photo cropped down and you can see that the sofa was clean.

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/DLB-GOUROCK/200868132047_sofa.jpg

That's one thing about the villa it was clean. Cleaner than one of our past experiences with a hotel (not the Rosen Centre) where we had roaches in the bathroom.

I took a look at your villa and can see that you have invested a lot of time and money in your home. It looks very nice.

I found the Management site that lookes after this villa and posted an enquiry for april next year. It has came back as $1043 for 14 nights to book direct. I have compared some out the villas through this site and can see better alternatives.

However, as I say, it have given us a taste for this style of holiday and I'm sure that we will come back and use our experience wisley. I am happy with what we had this holiday and don't think that we have been stung to hard. Everyone has to start somewhere and then you learn from what you have done. That is what makes life interesting.

[SunLover]

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/Data/Sunlover/20086815052_SofaCropped.jpg

Sorry, but I don't think this is a lighting effect !

Individual sections of the cushions are clearly soiled.

[msnwink]

[DLB-GOUROCK]

Let me assure you that this was not the case. We lived there.

However it is not may place to try and sell this villa to others as I have no axe to grind.
We have no interests if this property is a success or not. As a basic AOA villa we had no problems.

As I said I took a look at your link and from what I see you have a wonderfull home which you can be proud off.