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 walmartwe stay at Terra Verde which is just over the back i think...... thanks again for sharing your experiences with us....[msncool]
Liesa
<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.
Babblin Boo
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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
Tonish
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
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
Sheena
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]
Chris & Peter
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