The unit we booked was this one:
http://vrentals.vacationrentaldesk.com/3BRWINDSORHILLS203.html
Windsor Hills itself: We've stayed here before numerous times so know what to expect. Since our last visit, they changed the pool area a tad. I don't like that they moved the hot tub near the pool area. It's so much smaller and sits directly under the blazing hot sun with no shading or seclusion available. The splash pad which was supposed to open sooooo many months ago is still not open. Perhaps by December? lol The kids enjoyed the main pool and the big slide.
Price: Reasonable. Dave Robinson sometimes offers lower prices and great deals for units for very last minute rentals. But we booked several months in advance and paid a price which is in line with similar units for my timeframe (early August).
Amenities: Bare bones for kitchen stuff (similar to most rental companies). Since we fly Southwest I always pack a few of my own kitchen pots and pans, kitchen utensils, etc to be on the safe side. Appliances all seem to work so far. TVs --- eh, we sort of "gave up" on figuring out how to turn on the living room TV. I made the mistake of attempting to change the channel and it all went black. Like so many of these rental units, TVs are wired through tons of devices and come with so many remote controls one doesn't know where to start.
Cleanliness: No problems -- clean unit.
Customer Service: Awful. At this point I just have to laugh or I'll cry. Three bad experiences:
1) My saga started here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-to-do-owner-wont-respond.3691425/#post-59434724 with me having to beg, plead, and threaten to cancel my contract if they didn't take my money. Vacation Central Florida finally charged my card and a day later, sent an email telling me that their policy is to not charge a card until 30 days prior. Funny, there's nothing in my contract which says this, in fact it puts the responsibility on me, as it should, to make final payment by 30 days prior to arrival. VCF's email also failed to apologize for their failure to respond to my numerous emails and messages for over a week.
2) We arrived late Saturday evening to find that our unit's decor/theming was completely different than what I booked. The kids were very disappointed, asked me to call management even. I wasn't going to do that. I hadn't any intention of even dealing with management over this because what could they do? I'm not after a refund, and they aren't going to suddenly find me some other unit. They had baited and switched us at worst, or were just plain negligent in posting old photos on their website at best. Chalk it up to a bad experience, make the best of it, and move on.
3) Yesterday morning we discovered that a dining room chair had gone missing. Yes, a chair had just up and disappeared. I know we had six chairs when we arrived. Now there are five. It went missing sometime between Tuesday (were out all day at the parks) and Wednesday mid-morning (slept in late). Emailed management to ask if someone had been in the unit, or whether I was just plain crazy and maybe there never were six chairs? The response was a simple we haven't been in your unit. (Um...yeah, someone was because that chair WAS THERE and it isn't now and I'm not crazy.) Been over it in my mind a zillion times, feel like I'm being gaslighted at this point, and yes, there were six chairs (kids confirm there were six chairs) and now there aren't. Why would they come in and just steal a chair? No idea. None. Unless they plan to suck more money out of me by saying I stole a chair or something which honestly, I wouldn't put it past them at this point. I don't even care that we're down to five chairs as we only need five chairs, but why lie and say you weren't in the unit when you had to be? There's no other explanation.
Would I recommend? No way. I had stayed with this company before and had an okay review, even recommended them in the past. I think between then and now they've just taken on too much (the size of their property management company has increased quite a bit since a few years ago). Their customer service has suffered and it shows. Never again.
http://vrentals.vacationrentaldesk.com/3BRWINDSORHILLS203.html
Windsor Hills itself: We've stayed here before numerous times so know what to expect. Since our last visit, they changed the pool area a tad. I don't like that they moved the hot tub near the pool area. It's so much smaller and sits directly under the blazing hot sun with no shading or seclusion available. The splash pad which was supposed to open sooooo many months ago is still not open. Perhaps by December? lol The kids enjoyed the main pool and the big slide.
Price: Reasonable. Dave Robinson sometimes offers lower prices and great deals for units for very last minute rentals. But we booked several months in advance and paid a price which is in line with similar units for my timeframe (early August).
Amenities: Bare bones for kitchen stuff (similar to most rental companies). Since we fly Southwest I always pack a few of my own kitchen pots and pans, kitchen utensils, etc to be on the safe side. Appliances all seem to work so far. TVs --- eh, we sort of "gave up" on figuring out how to turn on the living room TV. I made the mistake of attempting to change the channel and it all went black. Like so many of these rental units, TVs are wired through tons of devices and come with so many remote controls one doesn't know where to start.
Cleanliness: No problems -- clean unit.
Customer Service: Awful. At this point I just have to laugh or I'll cry. Three bad experiences:
1) My saga started here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-to-do-owner-wont-respond.3691425/#post-59434724 with me having to beg, plead, and threaten to cancel my contract if they didn't take my money. Vacation Central Florida finally charged my card and a day later, sent an email telling me that their policy is to not charge a card until 30 days prior. Funny, there's nothing in my contract which says this, in fact it puts the responsibility on me, as it should, to make final payment by 30 days prior to arrival. VCF's email also failed to apologize for their failure to respond to my numerous emails and messages for over a week.
2) We arrived late Saturday evening to find that our unit's decor/theming was completely different than what I booked. The kids were very disappointed, asked me to call management even. I wasn't going to do that. I hadn't any intention of even dealing with management over this because what could they do? I'm not after a refund, and they aren't going to suddenly find me some other unit. They had baited and switched us at worst, or were just plain negligent in posting old photos on their website at best. Chalk it up to a bad experience, make the best of it, and move on.
3) Yesterday morning we discovered that a dining room chair had gone missing. Yes, a chair had just up and disappeared. I know we had six chairs when we arrived. Now there are five. It went missing sometime between Tuesday (were out all day at the parks) and Wednesday mid-morning (slept in late). Emailed management to ask if someone had been in the unit, or whether I was just plain crazy and maybe there never were six chairs? The response was a simple we haven't been in your unit. (Um...yeah, someone was because that chair WAS THERE and it isn't now and I'm not crazy.) Been over it in my mind a zillion times, feel like I'm being gaslighted at this point, and yes, there were six chairs (kids confirm there were six chairs) and now there aren't. Why would they come in and just steal a chair? No idea. None. Unless they plan to suck more money out of me by saying I stole a chair or something which honestly, I wouldn't put it past them at this point. I don't even care that we're down to five chairs as we only need five chairs, but why lie and say you weren't in the unit when you had to be? There's no other explanation.
Would I recommend? No way. I had stayed with this company before and had an okay review, even recommended them in the past. I think between then and now they've just taken on too much (the size of their property management company has increased quite a bit since a few years ago). Their customer service has suffered and it shows. Never again.
