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<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott
Like most home owners, I'm usually looking out for things to improve our home for our guests
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looking at the specs for your villa, i don't think there's anything that needs improving, especially considering your rental rates. which seem more than reasonable compared to many other villas i've looked at.
I'll chip in with a couple of odd observations-- we are still looking for our first villa, and I notice some of the villas with as many as 5 bedrooms, with plenty of space for 10 or 12 guests, only have tables that seat 4 people. I understand a small breakfast table, and a smallish table on the lanai, but if you have 10 or 12 guests, shouldn't you have at least one place to feed them? Same goes for coffee pot size. Why only have a 4 cup pot in a house for 12 people? [these small things are not decisive for us, just notable.]
Also, for us, references are a big plus. It is so nice to see guest entered positive comments on the website.
Also, a nice, comprehensive, and easy to navigate website. There are just too many rental homes out there to need to bother with an unattractive or hard to use website.
We will definitely pay more for a villa that meets our wish list. It's hard to figure out what "paying more" amounts to, though, when the prices range so greatly for essentially the same homes with the same amenities.
When we rented a villa for the first time this spring, I got the oppotunity to check with the owner all the bits that we were worried about...use of the pool, kitchen facilities, operating washing machine, diswasher, dining space etc. We got satisfactory answers for everything BEFORE I signed the paper to confirm the booking. So, I suppose everyone could try asking the owner about the facilities available.
One possible explanation of the small dining table could be the owners' assumption that guests either eat out or get take-away meals to eat informally around the house.
Thanks Lamina for your kind comments - we've acquired some extra facilities along the way since I first started this thread in February 2003. Owning a Florida home for rental is a 'never stand still' situation as far as amenities and facilities are concerned!
Lots of Florida homes have an informal dining area in the kitchen (nook/cafe) perhaps seating 4 or 6, a breakfast bar, seating 2 - 4 as well as a formal dining area seating 6 - 8 so dining seating shouldn't be a problem. As Nostromo suggests, it's always worthwhile asking the owner in case they've forgotten to mention something in their advert.
With regard to coffee pots, these are available in various sizes (ours is a 10 cup size - much above that and you start getting into catering equipment!) but individual owners will choose equipment that suits them and their guests best. As before, always ask if something's troubling you as owners would rather sort these type of queries out before your arrival, rather than to find that something about their home doesn't suit your party during your stay.
Almost all home owners will have references available from previous guests but, if they don't show these on their website, ask!
The beauty of booking a home via a site such as this (as opposed to via an agent) is that you can ask as many questions as you wish from the owner of the individual home and, because all the homes are verified, you can be sure that the person you're talking to does actually own that home.
I agree with Blott, if you are unsure about anything, just ask, thats what we are here for, on the odd occasion I have been asked for references from a prospective guest and we have passed on previous guests email address ( after asking their permission)
I have a friend who has just had someone staying in her very stunning villas and moaned all the time and his end shot was her villa was just too nice to feel comfortable in, her next guest couldn't praise it enough, in fact she sent both reports to me, so it just goes to show that everyone is very different in their approach to booking a villa.
Yet again we are searching for a villa!!!Having been now I know what is essential and what is desirable for us as a family. Would it not be possible to have a sorting order for amenities as it is time consuming to trawl through all the communities to find your dream villa!!! There is another site which does this so it must be possible, hope you dont mind me asking
We have to have
10 mins from Disney
4bed 3 bath
large pool/spa
pool table
PC+PLAYSTATION
It is desirable that we have
Lakeside
south facing pool
I can t seem to find all these features in the one house!!!so an index would help
I'm afraid we won't be doing this as there is a big danger that guests end up ticking pretty much everything and then they miss out on villas which may be perfectly suitable for their vacation but just do not have that "extra" the guest ticked but in reality does not need.
I'd suggest maybe using the keyword search part of the villa search page to location villas with specific amenities to narrow down your search.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by poet123
Yet again we are searching for a villa!!!Having been now I know what is essential and what is desirable for us as a family. Would it not be possible to have a sorting order for amenities as it is time consuming to trawl through all the communities to find your dream villa!!! There is another site which does this so it must be possible, hope you dont mind me asking
We have to have
10 mins from Disney
4bed 3 bath
large pool/spa
pool table
PC+PLAYSTATION
It is desirable that we have
Lakeside
south facing pool
I can t seem to find all these features in the one house!!!so an index would help
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Hi Poet
It isnt allowed for owners to contact you via the forum, sorry. The best way would be to make a general enquiry on www.orlandovillas.com or www.villasflorida.com and list all your requirements in the box, make sure you state that you would prefer owners not to contact you unless they match your criteria. Good luck, Lesley
Just send out a general enquiry listing what you'd like, as Lesley suggests. There are a number of homes on this site that have all of those features plus many more extras, as well. The main problem may be that if you are looking for a high season date for 2005, that these homes are already booked.
Happy hunting.:D:D:D
Don't forget onlinefloridavillas it is part of the family !
Hi Poet123 I can see that your list is what would be nice to have, but I think to be realistic it might be hard to get everyone of them, unless you look very far ahead, or are looking at a low season time of year to book. For example we have everything on your list except for south facing pool as ours is west facing. If I saw your list then I would not have responded to you because of this. This might limit the response you get to your enquiry. It might be better to list the things you def would not book unless they had them and see what you get.
Sue
Sue,
POET123 only said the southfacing was desirable, in the past I put out a search on another site for very specific requests and I got loads of replies back from people who did not even have the number of bedrooms I had asked for! It was annoying so I think they have it right on here about not replying if you do not have what is asked for but if POET123 was a genuine search, you could have replied as you met all the criteria....hope that all makes sense.:D:D
my tuppence worth, Firstly would like to know that a management company is on hand for emergency's
a, helpfulness/friendliness of the villa owners
b, proximity to parks/shopping malls etc
c, minimum of 2 toilets
c, heated swimming pool and heating
d, TV's and audio
e, washing machine and dryer
f, nice decor,
I guess my family is easy to please, we dont need disco lights in the pool, or piped radio/stereo throughout, spa, hot tub,
just a decent sized space to enjoy a well deserved holiday with access to facilities, parks, shops, but the most important thing is price, yes would love luxurious but space cleanliness, and the above would suit us lot, there is only 5 of us going in a villa that sleeps up to 10( 1 think):)
Have been following this thread with interest and I now have a few more things for my next shopping trip at New Year[msnsmile2]
Would also agree that if there is anything potential guests are unsure of they need only ask. I know that we added stuff to our villa after requests from guests[msnsmile2]
Well said Leisa
Although I have to disagree about the hot tub ... it is a lovely way to relax.
Barry
Sounds like your family go to Florida for the parks and enertainment Liesa:)
we like the parks but i am not over keen i have put my needs down first but after talking to my family they agree with me, we like to be comfortable first everything else is second, we dont do parks here, so doing the parks is great but not everything...... i like shopping in florida but not here,... but then we have much more money to play with on holiday, as i've said on a previous thread i have bad knees with arthritis i do as much walking as i can but i do like to lounge around the villa and it is a lovely villa, we relax and just chill, guess we're all different.........:)
this is my first time trying to rent a home for a vacation (I have posted here and have received many responces and so much help thanks)
the one thing that I wish owners would add in their descriptions of the homes is information about any baby items they may offer - such as a crib, stroller and high chair.
Im sure so many families travel with an infant and keep their comfort in mind when choosing what they rent.
I would have chosen a villa by now if there were some pictures or a better description of the baby items
after 2 weeks of searching and dozens of emails with questions about cribs and high chairs, Im still undecided as im still trying to figure out if a cot is a wooden crib or one of those fold up ones
a picture says a thousand words and with that i could avoid bothering the owners with my needless questions
thanks all
HI Momsbirthdayvacation
There is a rental company that can supply a full size wooden cot/crib and all other babay items so if the villa of choice doesnt have what you want there is a way round it :)
Lesley
I don't know if this has been mentioned before but I like to see floor plans and room dimensions. It's not the first thing on my list but it is often the deciding factor.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by MaggieAllan
I don't know if this has been mentioned before but I like to see floor plans and room dimensions. It's not the first thing on my list but it is often the deciding factor.
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Floor plans are a great help......I would of needed my kids near me when they were small....not right on the other side of the house.....both we very sick when young.....and they would need me quicky......having the twin bedrooms near the master would of been top of my list of must haves......
Well, we did manage to get all our requirements met from the list below and we are booking for peak time!!!! so it just shows that this site is so helpful and contains everything you could possibly ask for in terms of a villa and amenities, you just have to trawl through and select the one that suits you.
Thanks to all the homeowners who replied, all the villas sounded lovely, as did the owners, it was very hard to choose just one. The lakeside location we asked for swung it in the end, must be the PISCES in me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by poet123
Yet again we are searching for a villa!!!Having been now I know what is essential and what is desirable for us as a family. Would it not be possible to have a sorting order for amenities as it is time consuming to trawl through all the communities to find your dream villa!!! There is another site which does this so it must be possible, hope you dont mind me asking
We have to have
10 mins from Disney
4bed 3 bath
large pool/spa
pool table
PC+PLAYSTATION
It is desirable that we have
Lakeside
south facing pool
I can t seem to find all these features in the one house!!!so an index would help
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[/quote]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by poet123
Well, we did manage to get all our requirements met from the list below and we are booking for peak time!!!! so it just shows that this site is so helpful and contains everything you could possibly ask for in terms of a villa and amenities, you just have to trawl through and select the one that suits you.
Thanks to all the homeowners who replied, all the villas sounded lovely, as did the owners, it was very hard to choose just one. The lakeside location we asked for swung it in the end, must be the PISCES in me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by poet123
Yet again we are searching for a villa!!!Having been now I know what is essential and what is desirable for us as a family. Would it not be possible to have a sorting order for amenities as it is time consuming to trawl through all the communities to find your dream villa!!! There is another site which does this so it must be possible, hope you dont mind me asking
We have to have
10 mins from Disney
4bed 3 bath
large pool/spa
pool table
PC+PLAYSTATION
It is desirable that we have
Lakeside
south facing pool
I can t seem to find all these features in the one house!!!so an index would help
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Great news!! Where are you staying?[msnsmile]
We decided on Sunset Lakes, as it offered all we required and more, :)and is in the same area we stayed this year so it may minimise the problems we had with signposting!!! at least we may have an idea where we are, and the kids will not constantly be saying
"are we going on the right direction Dad" mind you we were staying no where near Championsgate and yet that is where we saw most of!! it seems to us all roads lead to Championsgate so perhaps a villa there would have been our best bet!!!!!!!!!!![msnwink][msnwink]DH kept muttering about "getting his bearings" we just kept thinking about the word that usually precedes bearings when we took yet another wrong turn!!!!!!!!!!!![msnoo]
we are going back to the same villa this year in order to get our bearings, thought if we could remind ourselves very quickly then we're halfway there, and not getting lost like we did last time, am getting all excited.............:)
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by poet123
We decided on Sunset Lakes, as it offered all we required and more, :)and is in the same area we stayed this year so it may minimise the problems we had with signposting!!! at least we may have an idea where we are, and the kids will not constantly be saying
"are we going on the right direction Dad" mind you we were staying no where near Championsgate and yet that is where we saw most of!! it seems to us all roads lead to Championsgate so perhaps a villa there would have been our best bet!!!!!!!!!!![msnwink][msnwink]DH kept muttering about "getting his bearings" we just kept thinking about the word that usually precedes bearings when we took yet another wrong turn!!!!!!!!!!!![msnoo]
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Fantastic, its a great location and a lovely community!
MUST have a heated spa to soothe our weary bones after traipsing the parks and comfy loungers for relaxing on pool days[msncool].
Location - 10 mins from Disney.
Pool table and playstation a bonus but not essential.
You have made me think,moms birthday vacation;unless it is specifically asked for I do not even mention our baby facilities on our initial response to an enquiry
And yet we have a good range including a large wooden cot(crib) high chair,bouncing chair,babybath and lots of baby toys.All free of charge
Perhaps I should start including this info with translations.You do worry about giving too much info and confusing people
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by LiesaAnna
we are going back to the same villa this year in order to get our bearings, thought if we could remind ourselves very quickly then we're halfway there, and not getting lost like we did last time, am getting all excited.............:)
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My husband still goes passed our house most visits......you'd think he'd know where it was after a year or so.........[msnscared]
We've been visiting Florida for over 15 years, originally staying hotels before moving on to villas, the more we visit florida the longer we seem to spend lazing around the villa ;)
We look for a rental home to have a mix of the following..
*televisions in all the bedrooms (size of tv not that important)
*two seperate living rooms \ one with tv
*computer with internet access
*large deck area with pool (pool size not that important)
*pool not overlooked
*shaded area \ lanai
*heated spa
*free international calls is a nice bonus and becoming more readily available
*good quality furnishing
*a garage to park the cars in to keep them out of the sun!! most recently we had a gamesroom in the house which meant we couldnt park the car (although I can understand that some families would love the games room[msnsmile])
its certainly a fussy shopping list, we're a big family and appreciate the above comes at a premium
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by orlandodaze
*a garage to park the cars in to keep them out of the sun!! most recently we had a gamesroom in the house which meant we couldnt park the car (although I can understand that some families would love the games room[msnsmile])
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This is perhaps the only complaint I have with the villas in Orlando area. There is a trend to convert the garage into a games room. While the games room is great to use on rest days, it would be nice if it was purpose built at the back of the house with the garage being left as it is. Knowing the popularity of games rooms, I wonder if the newer villas that are being built follow this principle.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by orlandodaze
*a garage to park the cars in to keep them out of the sun!! most recently we had a gamesroom in the house which meant we couldnt park the car (although I can understand that some families would love the games room[msnsmile])
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This is perhaps the only complaint I have with the villas in Orlando area. There is a trend to convert the garage into a games room. While the games room is great to use on rest days, it would be nice if it was purpose built at the back of the house with the garage being left as it is. Knowing the popularity of games rooms, I wonder if the newer villas that are being built follow this principle.
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Ours is a new build and the show models do not have games rooms set up in them. We have a 6th bedroom we could use as a games room and still have the double garage. Personally it is not something we shall be putting in. I believe most people use the garage or convert one of their bedrooms into a games room.
It is often very easy to move an item of games equipment to make room for a car in the garage in many villas if a guests wants to garage the car. However, it wouldn't do for us all to have them and there is a market for both games areas and garages! However, I do get a lot of people, families especially who do request that they want the games area and comment how much they enjoyed having it. Of course if we had a spare room at the villa I would convert that into one as that is the ideal situation.
Diane, thats what we did, it was a huge garage, we just folded up all that equipment and pushed the big table into the corner.. of course we put everything back in its place[msnwink]
our driver (DD) much prefers a cool car[msnwink] it can be like an oven if parked in the open day summer sun
Hi, when we visited Florida last May, our villa had solar pool heat:D This was great, we were in the pool all the time[8D] I know most people say that pool heat is not needed through certain months, we have been several times all in warm weather (90-100 degrees) but still find that the pool is too cold to enjoy all of the time. So I would definetly look for solar heated pool again on our next trip:) W e were able to go in the pool long after the kids had gone to bed. We have my husband and father in law in the pool and drinkin bud at 12.30 in the evening on video:D Great to watch when you think of going anywhere else on holiday, look at the video and it clarifies it has to be Florida every time[8D].
We are in the process of looking for a villa now. I must say that price was one of our main considerations. We just don't have much extra money. Next on my list was a fenced in pool. If I am going to be by the pool in a bathing suit, I don't want any one being able to see my big....um self. It is traumatic enough for my hubby and kids! I also looked for a villa that had more of a "homey" feel. Some of them looked more like hotels and less like someone's home. Internet was a big plus for me, but not absolutely necessary. Son wanted playstation or xbox, but was not a big factor either when I explained that he could bring his own if he had to. Location was a big part of the decision as hubby hates to get in a snarl of traffic and wanted to be able to go back and forth from the park. The thing that I learned from the responses I received, is that there is something out there for everyone. You just have to figure out what is most important to you. Now could someone tell me which one to pick??? lol
oops! Sorry for the double post. Son reminded me that one of our main requirements was tvs in the bedrooms. Makes for a miserable vacation when Dad takes over the tv and we all have to watch what he wants or find something else to do. Also, even though I do not have babies, I agree with the post about the stair gate. That would be a wonderful addition if the house is two-story. And something that most parents would not be able to bring with them. One thing that may sound petty, but I thought about while viewing some of the villas, is the fact that alot of them had glass top tables and things. I could just imagine one of my preciouses accidently slamming something down on them and breaking it. They may be sturdy enough to withstand it, I don't know. But I just don't want to spend my vacation walking around on eggshells because I am afraid of breakages.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by emtswife
oops! Sorry for the double post. Son reminded me that one of our main requirements was tvs in the bedrooms. Makes for a miserable vacation when Dad takes over the tv and we all have to watch what he wants or find something else to do. Also, even though I do not have babies, I agree with the post about the stair gate. That would be a wonderful addition if the house is two-story. And something that most parents would not be able to bring with them. One thing that may sound petty, but I thought about while viewing some of the villas, is the fact that alot of them had glass top tables and things. I could just imagine one of my preciouses accidently slamming something down on them and breaking it. They may be sturdy enough to withstand it, I don't know. But I just don't want to spend my vacation walking around on eggshells because I am afraid of breakages.
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Glass tables nowadays are very very sturdy they have to meet regulations, so it would need to be something considerable to break it.
You can delete one of your duplicate posts by clicking on the dustbin icon in one of them. This allows you to bin it!!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by emtswife
oops! Sorry for the double post. Son reminded me that one of our main requirements was tvs in the bedrooms. Makes for a miserable vacation when Dad takes over the tv and we all have to watch what he wants or find something else to do. Also, even though I do not have babies, I agree with the post about the stair gate. That would be a wonderful addition if the house is two-story. And something that most parents would not be able to bring with them. One thing that may sound petty, but I thought about while viewing some of the villas, is the fact that alot of them had glass top tables and things. I could just imagine one of my preciouses accidently slamming something down on them and breaking it. They may be sturdy enough to withstand it, I don't know. But I just don't want to spend my vacation walking around on eggshells because I am afraid of breakages.
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I'd not worry to much about glass top tables....I don't think I could break my dinning table with a hammer......the same goes for my coffee table.....
that is nice to know! I have never had one and could just imagine glass everywhere and a bill that would match the cost of the vacation. I don't worry very much in a hotel for some reason, but would just die if we damaged something in someone's home.