As a villa owner I am asked many questions by holiday makers about villa rental and associated questions about Florida. I shall try and answer some of those now so you will be better informed when you are trying to wade through all the offers you will get from other villa owners.
Do I need to hire a car?
My answer is always yes, unless you are prepared to take rather expensive taxis everywhere. Disney World is 42 square miles, almost the size of a small country in England! You could get a bus to the entrance to Disney, but then you may have another 20 – 30 minute drive to the park you require. Disney have sewn up their transport quite nicely in that you can only use their buses if you are staying at one of their hotels or vacation resorts. If you are only going to Seaworld or Universal Studios you may be all right using public transport but it is still not ideal. Taxis do tend to be very expensive but it is possible to get taxis to drop you right at the door of which ever park you are going to.
Do I need to bring towels and bedding?
I have never known a villa not to provide all linen some even include pool towels. I think some people ask as they have been to European Gites which do not provide any linens, even bedding. The only rule I know of is that it is not normal to provide bed linens for babies cots/cribs.
Do you provide a daily maid service?
This is a very unusual request but does come up once in a while. This would be all down to the management company of the villa owner, but in general I would say, no this is not normally provided.
Can I have a discount for 2 people occupancy?
The reason villa owners charge per villa is that it cost as much to run the villa when it has full occupancy as when there are only 2 people. The air conditioning is the same, the management fee is the same, pool pump running cost is the same, electricity and water is only very marginally less and the cleaning fee may be at most $20 less if they lock off some rooms. So please do not ask for discount as it is very difficult for us to keep explaining the reason for the ruling.
Continued in part 2
Do I need to hire a car?
My answer is always yes, unless you are prepared to take rather expensive taxis everywhere. Disney World is 42 square miles, almost the size of a small country in England! You could get a bus to the entrance to Disney, but then you may have another 20 – 30 minute drive to the park you require. Disney have sewn up their transport quite nicely in that you can only use their buses if you are staying at one of their hotels or vacation resorts. If you are only going to Seaworld or Universal Studios you may be all right using public transport but it is still not ideal. Taxis do tend to be very expensive but it is possible to get taxis to drop you right at the door of which ever park you are going to.
Do I need to bring towels and bedding?
I have never known a villa not to provide all linen some even include pool towels. I think some people ask as they have been to European Gites which do not provide any linens, even bedding. The only rule I know of is that it is not normal to provide bed linens for babies cots/cribs.
Do you provide a daily maid service?
This is a very unusual request but does come up once in a while. This would be all down to the management company of the villa owner, but in general I would say, no this is not normally provided.
Can I have a discount for 2 people occupancy?
The reason villa owners charge per villa is that it cost as much to run the villa when it has full occupancy as when there are only 2 people. The air conditioning is the same, the management fee is the same, pool pump running cost is the same, electricity and water is only very marginally less and the cleaning fee may be at most $20 less if they lock off some rooms. So please do not ask for discount as it is very difficult for us to keep explaining the reason for the ruling.
Continued in part 2