Good Deal?

[tonykirsty]

We've never rented before and stayed in a pretty basic hotel last time we visited Orlando in 1997. So we're fairly new to all this - to emphasise it this is our first post, though we've been reading this forum for a few months with interest.

We really like the look of 99% of the villas on your pages and have sent a couple of requests in for availability over the last few months. However, I've just come across an offer from a UK based company (ABTA bonded, etc) for a week's rental, including pool heating, for £299. The only drawback is that the villas are allocated in arrival. Should I be worried about this or should I just book (assuming there are any still available), on the basis that as long as it's comfortable to sleep and the kids can have a swim, we're 90% of the way towards having a great holiday?

We're going in mid to late Feb, so I really need to get my finger out and book something. Normally, I would pay a bit more for peace of mind but we have to count the pennies just now (or the builders might not get paid!) and this seems a worthwhile saving.

Any views? We would be really grateful of any advice and wouldn't hold it against you if something went wrong!

Thanks

Tony & Kirsty

[resorthomerentals]

I guess it all depends on your comfort level. When I rented a villa for the first time last February I checked many websites before I settled on a specific villa. It was very reassuring to have seen pictures of the actual villa and talk to the owner directly. Knowing where the villa was actually located made our late night arrival much easier.

[blott]

Welcome to the forum Tony & Kirsty!

Well... perhaps if we put it this way.

Florida homes cost a lot more than GBPounds 299 a week (including pool heat) to run - believe me, I've got one and you can ask any owner on the forum or OV websites and they will tell you the same. And the home owner won't be receiving anything like the GBPounds 299 a week that you'll be paying to the company concerned as they will be taking their cut of this amount first.

So, perhaps you should be asking yourself how the owner of the home you may be renting is keeping it up to date with all the little things that make a Florida home well, like home... on such a small amount of money? Stuff like repairs, replacements, making sure that everything works OK, etc tends to get forgotten when you don't have enough money coming in to pay for them perhaps. So may be the fact that the home is allocated on arrival isn't the only drawback here?

OK, so you may hit lucky with a relatively new home with not much in the way of problems but you won't know that until after you've arrived will you?

You've stayed in a pretty basic hotel before so perhaps now's the time to try a pretty basic villa? If you're willing to take a chance on where you might end up with your Florida holiday, that's, of course, your choice.

If Disney offered two tiers of theme parks - the ones that are like the actual ones in Florida and a second tier of well... perhaps the paint isn't up to date, it's a bit grubby around the edges, half the rides have disppeared but the other half of the rides are fine, I wonder how many people would pay less to go to the second tier of parks?

Personally, I'd prefer to know exactly where I was staying, have the opportunity to discuss info with the actual owner of the home and know that the home I was staying in had a high standard (you can tell that by talking to the owners and checking out the info about the home for yourself). High standards and quality don't come free or on the cheap anywhere and perhaps the old chestnut of 'you get what you pay for' applies here too?

[Carla]

Pool heating alone generally costs about one third of the money that you would be paying and unless you enjoy swimming in pretty cold water, then you would definitely need the pool heated. Most owners charge around £100 per week for this and that money goes towards covering the phenomenally high electricity bill and leaves a small amount in reserve to pay towards maintenance, servicing and repairs to the heater. The heaters don't last forever and need completely replacing after a few years.

My pool heater is maintained during the winter on a regular basis and serviced annually every September (just before the heating season gets underway) without fail. This is not cheap. Now, the owner of the home that you would rent if you went down this route, is unlikely to be getting much at all from your payment towards the pool heating, so perhaps you might ask yourself when that pool heater was last maintained and/or serviced? If it doesn't work properly and the pool water is very cold, this will be another "drawback" for you.

The home that you would rent is much more likely to be "tired" than not, as Blott said. The furniture will have seen better days, particularly as it will have been at the cheap end of the price range when it was initially bought. So, even a 1 year old home that's had a lot of these back to back cheap tour operator bookings is likely to look as though it's been around since the early 80s. But, you could get lucky, you just never know.

If it's the tour op that I am thinking of, then if you have any problems while you're out there, don't bother complaining or letting them know about it when you get back home, because they won't want to know. Their attitude will be: "Well you got it cheap, what did you expect???"

If you book with them accepting the fact that you'd be paying next to nothing for your accommodation and pool heating, and that you will therefore get a home way down at the bottom of the range, then anything else will be a pleasant surprise for you, if you are lucky enough to get better. It's a big gamble. Would I do that? Not in a million, and definitely not, if I had my kids with me.

[SunLover]

I would agree 110% with what Blott & Carla have said.

When you consider the type and standard of accommodation offered by owners connected with all the Orlandovillas.com sites and then look at the prices, you will quickly realise that although somewhat more than the bargain bucket price you have been quoted, you are guaranteed a personal and professional service, and a standard of accommodation that far exceeds anything you could hope for with an upon arrival allocation deal.

Considering all the great luxury extras that are available, it's often easy to be convinced that all villas are equipped to the same standard. Trust me, and the other established owners when we tell you that this is simply not the case.

I firmly believe that 95% of upon arrival allocation villas are sold in that way because if you saw photographs beforehand you would never book.

Quality Florida villas are already amazingly good value for money, but if you try to cut corners, I'm afraid that old adage about "getting what you pay for" will come back and bite you where it hurts !!!

[Nostromo]

Tony & Kirsty, I have taken my family 5 times to Orlando so far, between 1991 and 2004. Up until last year, we always stayed at a hotel and thought it was bees knees. But we had a big party last year and decided to try out a villa for the first time. We got one through this site and it turned out to be the best decision that I ever made. Not only was the villa wonderfully convenient in all respects, the help and feedback from these forums was fantastic. We have decided that we'll never stay in an Orlando hotel again.

I have seen quite a few postings from others who have tried 'cheaper' "allocated on arrival" villas from other sites and found the deal very unsatisfactory. All the villas registered in this site are checked out and so you know excatly what you are getting. You will be able to communicate with the owner directly and make sure that you are getting what you want. In the extremely unlikley event that something goes amiss, the admins of this site will investigate it for you. Best of all, you get plenty of advice and feedback not only on the villa itself, but the entire trip via this forum.

Of course, the villa is just part of the package. You get great value for flights, car hire and park tickets via this site.

[MaggieAllan]

Tony&Kirsty..welcome to the forum.

It's a tough decision at so cheap a price but personally I would say no, having just had an allocate on arrival last September. We were very dissapointed. We have stayed in a cheaper end hotel before and also a private villa many times, and it has to be private every time for quality and comfort for us. The one we got in September was more expensive than you are paying and was very shabby, and no better than a cheap hotel.Things were broken, stained and dirty. Little touches were missing e.g. there was no toilet paper, trash bags, dishwasher tablets etc etc, normally you can count on a few days supplies. These things all add up. The private one we have just been in at Christmas had all these things and more like salt and perer, spices, tea bags, sugar, washing up liquid, tumble dryer sheets, DVDs, books, maps, toys and games, pool toys, table tennis, bycycles, every conceivable kitchen equipment, enough towels to save us taking any ...the list could go on and on....none of these were in the allocated villa.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving money to spend on other things, but it spoiled our holiday and we spent more money out and about entertaining ourselves, whereas usually we want to go back and spend time there relaxing. So in the long run it could work out more expensive???

Hope you have agreat time whatever you decide.

[Snapper]

Hi Tony and Kirsty,

As Blott says, you might hit relatively lucky with the villa you get, but it's really a percentages game. If you figure that, broadly speaking, the nicest villas book up first, then the villas left available for 'allocate on arrival' packages would be ...

Villas are pretty much like everything else in life. You get what you pay for. There are hundreds of villas on these three sites that are excellent value for money, but I don't think you will find many that are cheap.

There was a thread on here last year from someone who had landed in a villa that was a real tip. This is the exception rather than the norm but it did sound quite ghastly.

[Lynnes]

A few years ago we rented a villa on the Gulf coast, it was quite cheap but when we got there we realized why, everything was either worn out or damaged. this really spoiled our hols and was one of the reasons we decided to buy our own. I am a great believer in you get what you pay for.

[LiesaAnna]

something tells me.......forget that idea [msnwink]
and go with a verified villa owner whether it with this site or any other, i wouldnt ever go allocation on arrival!