Peace of Mind

[martinezeve]

i know many people have asked the same questions
Is this all as good as it sounds?
will the villa be reserved for me when i get there?
is there really a villa?
how safe is this transaction?
is it a scam?
ive contacted a villa owner, and all that is left is for me to make the payment. I am a virgin at this. and dont know anyone that has done this before. my family and i are going there for xmas, and i dont want it to be the worst xmas ever.
please.... i need some peace of mimd from anyone that is familiar with the Hampton Lakes community. i am looking at the number 1036 on villasflorida.com
i feel its too much risk on my end, and none at the time for the owner.
if anyone has stayed at this villa, or in that community, please resond to this very stressed out lady trying to plan a vacation.
thanks to all

[Paula D-S]

If you booked through this site or one of the sister sites, which Villas Florida is, you can relax and look forward to your holiday.

All the villas advertised on these sites have to be verified to prove ownership every six months.
If you have any questions ask the owner, after all that is what we are here for, to help make all your Florida dreams come true.

Have a fantastic time.

[Lynne S]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You really don't have anything to worry about when booking a home through Orlando villas and their sister sites. As Paula says all homes have to be verified every 6 months to keep our homes active on the advertising sites.

The big plus with booking direct with an owner is you get to stay in the home you have chosen and not one alocated on arrival, your children can pick which bedroom they want to sleep in and you can picture yourselves have a drink by the private pool.

Why not ask the villa owner to give you a call, they can tell you all about their lovely home and I know they won't mind doing this at all. In fact most of us owners like nothing better than talking about our homes and all that Florida has to offer you during your vacation.

Have a wonderful vacation, I'm sure you will love staying in a vacation home in Florida.

[ellie]

As Paula has said, you need not worry about whether your villa exists or if it is owned by the person you hope to rent from. Thankfully you have chosen a site which is owned by people who you can trust. I am afraid that there have been instances of scam villas on e-bay for instance - but as you know, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

So rest assured that your holiday is in good hands.

As for you taking all the risk and the owner taking none, I am sure if you thought about this you would realise that actually the villa owner takes a huge risk each and every time they allow guests to stay in their much loved homes, which are worth an absolute fortune compared with a villa rental. Remember, they, too, have no way of knowing if you are who you say you are, and no way of verifying this. It is all about trust on both sides.

You are absolutely right to ask questions. I am sure your owner would be only too pleased to answer you fully - I know we would. We love answering questions, and will do everything we can to allay any fears as we have absolutely nothing to hide. We like it when prospective guests take an interest in our home and we offer as much support as we can. That is the great advantage of renting direct from a villa owner on a reputable site such as this. In fact, we would not rent our home to anyone we did not speak to directly, on several occassions. We build up a rapport with all our guests over many months prior to their stay, and that is very important.

I am sure you will have a wonderful holiday in your villa, and I wish you a superb time.

[martinezeve]

is there anything that will guarantee me when doing this trasaction?

[steph_goodrum]

I can vouch that Hampton Lakes is a lovely community. We have our home there and in fact will be over for Christmas so might see you around.

The site owners check that the people who advertise on here do actually own their homes every 6 months so I am sure you will have no problems.

To tyr and put it in perspective, you may be trusting several hundred dollars to the owners but they are trusting you with their home worth several hundred thousand dollars. If the owner has a facility to take credit card payments you could arrange that if you are really worried, even paying the extra charge is worth it for peace of mind that you have a secondary recourse should something drastic go wrong. We've all been in the same situation ourselves at one time or another but if you ring or ask the owner to ring you personally, I'm sure once youve spoken you will feel more reassured.

[ellie]

Why not talk to your villa owner? I am sure they could set your mind at rest. They could also put you in touch with their Management Company who could also vouch for them. That might be helpful as you are obviously anxious about booking this villa.

[roger]

The owners of this villa have been advertising on our site for over 4 years. We have referred quite a few guests to them and not had any complaints.

Most villa owners rely on sites such as ours to obtain many of their bookings, so are not in the business of operating scams or dodgy transactions, else they would not survive (and we would have prevented them from advertising with us).

[martinezeve]

i have asked him to give me the contact info for the management co. but he wont until its paid in full. also i explained im looking for a specific location, since i have relatives in orlando and need something not too far, but he wont give me any info. im starting to think hes not interested in renting.
other owners have given me this info, but are too far. i dont understand why he wont give me the info, if for years people already know where the house is. he wont even give it to me after i give the deposit.
any ideas?

[steph_goodrum]

Hampton Lakes is on Hway 27, just south of the 192 and north of the I4.