What do you look for?

Lyn,

You note:

"When looking for a villa I want to know exactly where it is, I once had a bad experience of being miles away, so now I only look on sites that give me the address of the villa (there are not many sites that seem to do this)".

There are a number of reasons that the addresses aren't posted. First and foremost, is security. These are rental homes and posting the exact address of a rental home/villa is looking for trouble - here I am, come rob me.

Second, some Management Companies (MC) own multiple homes and sometimes you really aren't assigned a home until the day you are told the address. This allows these companies flexibility in booking.

Third, until a guest pays the weeks rental payment, we really don't know "you are who you say you are" It is too unsafe to provide even a "tentative guest" the exact address. What if they really aren't a guest - but a thief, looking to be told when a house is empty, ie, "available for renting".

But, the majority of privately owned homes/villas do list the "community or sub-division" that the home/villa is located in. I haven't seen one private owner not provide this information. Those that do not provide even the community or sub-division are probably larger MCs and are looking for total flexiblity in moving you around at the very last minute. If they give you a community or sub-division then they are tied to that community or sub-division and if they tell you nothing - the field is wide open.

But the exact address - we keep to ourselves until we need to provide it (which translates into, after we have your money - then it is safe to provide it).

I hope this helps.

Blott: I paid alot more for a rental this April that met my criteria (a TV in each of at least three bedrooms- this was absolute hardest to get; big pool and I don't care which way it faces as long as I can get it heated; covered lanai area) and I even gave in and didn't get one thing I wanted- internet access-- to get those things. Yes, I did pay alot more, not just a little more, to get those, esp. the TVs.

Arnie

I agree that giving out the exact address could be a problem, but if someone says to me 'it is off Poinciana Blvd' that is a vast area. to say 'it is of Siesta Lago Drive' & gave me the Zip Code that I can cope with as it is a much smaller area. My sister was once told 'it is 15 minutes from Disney off Poinciana Blvd' it was at least 45minutes drive from the 192, I would hate that.

Also I would pay more for the villa that suited me best.

Lyn

I agree with Carla and would always expect to pay for a full size cot.

My 2 year old still needs a full size cot but sleeps better in her own room. Therefore, I would need it placed in another room to ours which would involve extra work and I would expect to be charged for that service.

Julie R

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:My sister was once told 'it is 15 minutes from Disney off Poinciana Blvd' it was at least 45minutes drive from the 192, I would hate that.[/quote] There isn't anywhere on Poinciana Boulevard that's 45 minutes from the 192 as the whole of Poinciana Boulevard is only 14 miles long from beginning to end and the end 4 miles or so doesn't have vacation homes anyway!

I happen to agree with Arnie in that I'm quite happy to tell prospective guests that our home is in Crescent Lakes but there's no way I would tell them the road name as our house is just too easy to find from its description and photos. Sorry Lyn.

Many villa websites have location maps where you can fairly accurately locate a community and so do a lot of individual owners so I would have thought getting a good idea would be relatively easy - as long as the owner tells you which community

Jackie D

Hi:)
It`s always interesting to see what the "customer"
wants.
We have noted all the comments and I sure have the other villa
owners.Keep your ideas coming !!!!
Ian[8D]

From a personal point of view we would be prepared(and have done) to pay a very much higher price than usual for the extras we want and that will enhance our holiday. If you look at the rental costs in spain etc for villas comparable with the florida ones the prices are at least 3 times as high. Before deciding on florida we were on the point of booking a villa on the costa blanca which looked very luxurious but no more so than the one we have booked now in Florida and it was £1850 pw in july. So although we have paid what seems to be a high figure going off some villa prices we are happy to pay this. Usually you do get what you pay for and its no use crying afterwards if you cut corners on the accomodation and it doesnt meet your expectations.:):):)

Going back to the original question of what do you look for, I would advise villa owners to make sure their photos are nice. I'm looking at villas (and Florida) for the first time and am amazed at the quality, choice and added extras. Cutting a long search story short, we found a villa which had all the things that my increasingly choosy family wanted. But we didn't even enquire about availability because the photos were so gloomy - the pool shot looked like it was taken on winter's day in Scotland and the interior shots were very dark too. I'm sure the villa is very nice and sees lots of sunshine but the photos put us all off - the kids were used to looking at pictures of sparkling blue pools so they wouldn't let me even ask about this one.

One thing I will say is make sure all photo's are up to date as sometimes villa shots are taken when the villa was first bought and some of the items in the villa on arrival are not as they were shown in the original photo's.( not on this site , but there are agencies out there that never change the photo's from one year to the next,so always ask if the shots are up to date)

One thing for sure is to make your photo's stand out and look bright and inviting, nothing worse than dark gloomy shots of any part of the home.

Everybody will have their own interpretation of what they require when coming on holiday so it almost always comes down to personal choice, and it shouldnt detract from an absolutely wonderful holiday "if" you dont get everything that you totally desire. What you dont have you shouldn't miss, anything extra is a bonus.

As far giving out the address of the villa...no way, not until I receive my balance, does anyone get the address, the name of the development should be enough to tell people how far it is from where they want to go.