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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

booking a private villa

12 replies

Flier · 10/02/2009 10:41

I think I may be about to book a villa for our once in a lifetime holiday to florida
This will be the first time I have booked a private villa so my only worry in these credit crunch times is what if, for instance, the villa owners could not keep up mortgage payments, what would happen? We would be booking with a credit card, but would this be enough cover for us?
Are tehre any questions I should be asking the villa owners about this?

OP posts:
bellavita · 10/02/2009 13:42

Bumping for you as I don't know the answer only that paying by credit card is better than debit for insurance purposes.

Can I just say though, we have done Florida the last three years in a row and have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages - we originally booked a fly drive deal through Virgin.

You may find a villa a little quiet during your rest days?

ChopsTheDuck · 10/02/2009 13:45

your holiday insurance should cover you if you had any problems.

We've booked villas lots of times though and never had problems.

Original poster
Flier · 10/02/2009 18:23

thanks bellavita tbh I've still not 100% made up my mind, we coudl still book a hotel/resort yet Is Sheraton vistana within walking distance to anywhere? and how easy to get the WDW and the rest of the parks? we were orig looking at LBV resort village & spa.

thanks chopstheduck

OP posts:
bellavita · 10/02/2009 23:25

Flier - nothing is in walking distance of anything!

Florida is huge. When you get onto the road that leads into Disney, there is probably about another 3 miles to go in which ever direction you need to take to get to the park you want.

Sheraton Vistana Villages is on the really quiet end of I Drive - ie. no restaurants or shops (there is a Publix supermarket literally about 3/4 mins drive away and also a Designer Outlet). To get to the other end would take say around 20 mins driving time.

If you are staying on site at Walt Disney then they will have complimentary shuttle buses within the Disney Parks.

The Sheraton is literally a few mins away from Discovery Cove, Seaworld and Aquatica, but then again it is not really walking distance especially in the heat.

If you stay on I Drive without a car, there is the I Trolley, but it stops at literally every destination going, one year we got on it and what would have taken 15 mins in the car took one hour 30 mins with the Trolley. We have also used a taxi one night to go from I Drive to the Hardrock Cafe at Universal (I am the driver and DH is the navigator), so that I could have a cocktail or two. The return trip cost us around $65 dollars which last year was ok as the exchange rate was fab.

Hope this helps.

ChopsTheDuck · 11/02/2009 10:02

i'd get a private villa and a car. Private villas are really cheap in florida. We had a lovely one with own pool when we went. If you look around Kissimee, they are cheap and within reasonable distance of I-Drive and Disney. Kissimee also has a lvoely little old town and a lake wiht play park for the kids for a quiet day and break from disney.

Original poster
Flier · 11/02/2009 12:13

thank you ladies I am now in the process of booking a fantastic villa in the Davenport area, tuscan hills, sooo excited now.

Just been reading up a bit on car seats now though - I will need a proper seat for dd (2.11) and a booster for ds (5) but reading on the dibb the ones that come with car hire seem to be a bit hit & miss - do you take your own seats out with you or what have your experiences been with the ones supplied by the car hire companies?

OP posts:
ChopsTheDuck · 11/02/2009 12:26

when we went to america we took our own, so I don't know what their seats are like. Previous experiences elsewhere have been seats that seem very old and not very well padded or comfortable. I'd take your own. Airlines don't include car seats as part of the luggage allowance.
We actually invested in lightweight ones specifically to make flying with them easier.

EldonAve · 11/02/2009 12:33

We always take our own seats

bellavita · 11/02/2009 12:34

Sorry, cannot comment on car seats as my children are a lot older.

Although many years ago when we went to America with some friends who had DS 3 and year old twins - they had something like 15 pieces of luggage between them inc car seats, buggies etc!!

Original poster
Flier · 11/02/2009 13:02

oh no! The very thought of having to take our own seats too but I think I'd rather - not looking forward to telling DH this tonight

OP posts:
ChopsTheDuck · 11/02/2009 14:37

other end tho, you get a courier to push the trolley for you and jsut have to tip them a few dollars!
I wish they'd do that in our airports, was soo handy.

mumoverseas · 14/02/2009 10:45

for future reference or if you haven't already booked, you should look at loyaltyusa.com They are in Kissimmee, are owned by a british lady and she manages around 40 homes, all of which are within 4 miles of Disney. If you book through her with credit card you are of course protected and if you were to book mine direct (minnies mansion) I don't have a mortgage so you wouldn't have to worry about me not paying it
hope you have a fabulous holiday

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