Christine
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 1999
Well, I've been back from my trip for about a week and realized that I didn't do a "proper" review of my first-time vacation home rental. I got so much help on the Orlando Hotels Board that I thought I should give back in return.
Here goes:
About 2 weeks prior to Easter, I got a great DING rate from Southwest Airlines to go to Orlando. My kids (15 and 12) were out of school starting on Good Friday, through the following week, and were bummed about sitting in the house all week (I work full-time). Feeling a little guilty, I booked 5 seats to MCO and me, the kids, and my parents went.
The only problem is, well, is that I'm an 'on-site' snob
and I couldn't FIND a room!!
So, I started looking off-site at some of the hotels offering suites. My parents would need one suite, and I wanted one also. Last trip, we did 5 to a room and it was NO FUN. My kids aren't little anymore and it's just difficult having all those "big" people in one room.
I booked what looked to be good suites at both the Doubletree and SpringHill (Marriott). Total cost for 2 suites was going to be approximately $1600 for our stay, but it did include breakfast! As I was hedging between the two, I was searching for reviews. That's when I stumbled upon vacation homes. I started checking those out, got very confused, and starting asking questions. With the help of several vacation home owners, they got me pointed in the right direction. Trouble was, all the vacation homes were booked.
These very helpful DISers put out private e-mails to their homeowner friends, I there managed to be a townhome available for my exact dates. I was "sent" to Selena at AmericasDreamVacations.com. Needless to say, I was VERY nervous about the whole thing.
End result: it couldn't have gone ANY better.
We got a 4-bdrm vacation townhome in a gated resort community. The townhome was an end unit. All the end unit townhomes at Terre Verde resort have their own pools--and decent pools too! We paid $570 (tax included) for the 5 nights.
PROS: The townhome was IMMACULATE. Absolutely, brilliantly clean. There was a flat screen TV in the living room, a leather sofa, a leather chair, a leather loveseat. The kitchen was full-size with a bar that had stools. There was also a table that sat 4-5 people. This kitchen was fully equipped with everything you need and all of it was new, nice, and clean.
The 4 bdrms were all good sized. I used the master bedroom (Queen Bed) on the main floor and there was a full bath in the hall. Upstairs there were 3 bedrooms: a master with a King bed and its own full bath, and 2 other bedrooms that shared a hall bathroom. One of the rooms had a full bed and a twin bed, and the other room had two twins.
Each bedroom had its own TV. The master bedrooms had wall-mounted flat screen TVs. There was also a Playstation in one of the kids' rooms.
CONS: Just one. The mattresses in the 3 of the 4 bedrooms were just not great. Not the worst of had, for sure, but they could have done better in this area.
The resort itself was very quiet and nice. It had a community center which was located with the pool. There was a library in the community center, a wi-fi area, an internet cafe with some desktop computers, a volleyball court, a "padded" soft-court for basketball, a very nice little playground, and a zero-entry pool.
I am told that this resort is farther out than some of the others (Windsor Hills) but I just couldn't get a feeling for where I was. I guess it *was* a bit off the beaten path. You seemed to be right near Disney but then would have to turn onto Poinciana Blvd and it was about a 2-3 mile drive down that road. My first trip down, I thought I was never going to get there, but after a few trips, it was no big deal.
Even with all the Easter traffic and actually travelling in their little rush hour, it never took us more than 15 minutes to get to a Disney parking lot. And we were traveling at a fairly low rate of speed most days (40-45 mph).
There is a SuperWalmart right up the road from this place so that was convenient.
The rental company was very good and charged everything to my credit card, over the phone, and I never had to go anywhere to get a key or hassle with them. They gave me a lockbox code and that was it.
My kids also ended up getting sick on this trip.
Never happened before. There were one or two days that we were "trapped" at the house waiting for them to feel better. I kept imagining how miserable we would have been cooped up in a hotel room. We all got to go to our own rooms each night, read, watch TV, whatever. It was so relaxing.
I encourage anyone to try this form of rental.
I'm not sure I can ever stay in a hotel again!
Here goes:
About 2 weeks prior to Easter, I got a great DING rate from Southwest Airlines to go to Orlando. My kids (15 and 12) were out of school starting on Good Friday, through the following week, and were bummed about sitting in the house all week (I work full-time). Feeling a little guilty, I booked 5 seats to MCO and me, the kids, and my parents went.
The only problem is, well, is that I'm an 'on-site' snob
and I couldn't FIND a room!! So, I started looking off-site at some of the hotels offering suites. My parents would need one suite, and I wanted one also. Last trip, we did 5 to a room and it was NO FUN. My kids aren't little anymore and it's just difficult having all those "big" people in one room.I booked what looked to be good suites at both the Doubletree and SpringHill (Marriott). Total cost for 2 suites was going to be approximately $1600 for our stay, but it did include breakfast! As I was hedging between the two, I was searching for reviews. That's when I stumbled upon vacation homes. I started checking those out, got very confused, and starting asking questions. With the help of several vacation home owners, they got me pointed in the right direction. Trouble was, all the vacation homes were booked.
These very helpful DISers put out private e-mails to their homeowner friends, I there managed to be a townhome available for my exact dates. I was "sent" to Selena at AmericasDreamVacations.com. Needless to say, I was VERY nervous about the whole thing.
End result: it couldn't have gone ANY better.
We got a 4-bdrm vacation townhome in a gated resort community. The townhome was an end unit. All the end unit townhomes at Terre Verde resort have their own pools--and decent pools too! We paid $570 (tax included) for the 5 nights.
PROS: The townhome was IMMACULATE. Absolutely, brilliantly clean. There was a flat screen TV in the living room, a leather sofa, a leather chair, a leather loveseat. The kitchen was full-size with a bar that had stools. There was also a table that sat 4-5 people. This kitchen was fully equipped with everything you need and all of it was new, nice, and clean.
The 4 bdrms were all good sized. I used the master bedroom (Queen Bed) on the main floor and there was a full bath in the hall. Upstairs there were 3 bedrooms: a master with a King bed and its own full bath, and 2 other bedrooms that shared a hall bathroom. One of the rooms had a full bed and a twin bed, and the other room had two twins.
Each bedroom had its own TV. The master bedrooms had wall-mounted flat screen TVs. There was also a Playstation in one of the kids' rooms.
CONS: Just one. The mattresses in the 3 of the 4 bedrooms were just not great. Not the worst of had, for sure, but they could have done better in this area.
The resort itself was very quiet and nice. It had a community center which was located with the pool. There was a library in the community center, a wi-fi area, an internet cafe with some desktop computers, a volleyball court, a "padded" soft-court for basketball, a very nice little playground, and a zero-entry pool.
I am told that this resort is farther out than some of the others (Windsor Hills) but I just couldn't get a feeling for where I was. I guess it *was* a bit off the beaten path. You seemed to be right near Disney but then would have to turn onto Poinciana Blvd and it was about a 2-3 mile drive down that road. My first trip down, I thought I was never going to get there, but after a few trips, it was no big deal.
Even with all the Easter traffic and actually travelling in their little rush hour, it never took us more than 15 minutes to get to a Disney parking lot. And we were traveling at a fairly low rate of speed most days (40-45 mph).
There is a SuperWalmart right up the road from this place so that was convenient.
The rental company was very good and charged everything to my credit card, over the phone, and I never had to go anywhere to get a key or hassle with them. They gave me a lockbox code and that was it.
My kids also ended up getting sick on this trip.
Never happened before. There were one or two days that we were "trapped" at the house waiting for them to feel better. I kept imagining how miserable we would have been cooped up in a hotel room. We all got to go to our own rooms each night, read, watch TV, whatever. It was so relaxing.I encourage anyone to try this form of rental.
I'm not sure I can ever stay in a hotel again!
