Virgin Villa off the 27

[pilkipops]

Found ouselves approx 9 miles from Disney Land. Piece of cake,app 20 mins away by car.

Asked for a 5 bed Villa and got a huge 7 bed / 5 bathroom villa capable of sleeping 16.

In area called Hampton Lakes off the 27 (Near the Virgin check-in desk).

If you are going to find yourself in this vacinity you won't be disappointed.

Pilkipops

(May try to book direct with villa management company next time...any advise ?)
:wink

[Merryweather]

Pilkipops

That's where we are going in December. Never been to a villa before so we're really excited. We are having a couple of problems though. We couldn't get booked into Orlando so we are flying into Miami and driving up. Have to try to arrange with Virgin for somewhere to collect the keys (outwith office hours!) as I don't think we'll get there much before 10.00pm. Also wondering if all the beds will be made up as Louise (daughter) has a friend coming to join us from Michigan and, of course, she does not appear on the booking!

Where was the nearest supermarket.

[pilkipops]

Don't worry, we arrived about 9.00 pm. The Virgin office has a box outside which you will be given the code by Virgin.
When you arrive you will open the box and have access to various envelopes, one of which would have your name on.

This will give you the exact address of your villa with directions (should be in close proximity to the office)

You will be given a code for a small key box which is by the Villa front door, together with the villa alrm code and a pass word in casr you set off the alarm by mistake.

Find Villa, enter code into the key box which will open and privide front door key.

Enter Villa and find alarm box (will be near to door inside), enter code and off you go.

code was 4 numbers with a / and password

(eg #### / bobb)

if alarm set off, the phone rings and you have 60 secs to say "bobb" (obviosly not bobb...but your password !)

We didn't see a Virgin Rep untill the day we checked out to come home....fine by us.

Also. our Villa was undoubtadly the most luxurious standard of accom we have had during any holiday

Fully made beds, spare sheets, loads of pillows, loads of room, clean, fully furnished, 3 TVs, microwave, cookers, dishwasher , iron and ironing board, fridge/freezer etc..

We asked for 5 beds (9 of us). Got 7 beds and were told by Florida 2000 management rep (Visits next morning if you missed Virgin Rep on evening) that we were able to sleep up to 16 at no extra cost...if we had friends in the area.

We did pay extra to heat the pool $125 / week. It was worth it in Feb, but you can make up your mind when you want.

You will be fine....everything will be provided... and we didn't even ask for the luxury villa, just the standard !

Pilkipops

[Merryweather]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - you've really set my mind at rest and now I can relax and enjoy the minute by minute planning Louise and I are intending to indulge in - hubby just goes with whatever we plan (good man).

I think it sounds fantastic and I am glad you enjoyed it. Louise and I will be "Dibbing" forever so we'll let you know what we think when we get home.

[MalcolmC]

Spot the Hampton Lakes villa owner - and proud of it too!!!

I'm glad you liked the sub-divison as they're called. We bought there because we like that area - fairly quiet, not too far from WDW, central if you want the beaches.

Did you know they're going to build a Wal*Mart just up US 27 about 3 miles? It should be finished by October! ... and they haven't started yet.

[pilkipops]

MalcolmC.
does that mean you rent privately, or know the best way to do so.
We also tried to find out about buying to let, but ran out of time!
we are looking into the possibilty of buying..any advise and price guides would be appreciated
Pilkipops

[chris108]

We booked direct with the villa owner. Infact did the whole thing ourselves. Have not seen the villa yet but the pics look good. Saved a whopping £2000 for a 7 person two week holiday, by cutting out the travel agent. I have been a bit worried as the time approaches,but the people in this forum have given me all the reassurance I needed. We are going to Greater Groves.

Can't wait !

[Fiona]

Have a look at www.traveloptionsdirect.com as they are the most reasonable and best we`ve ever come across. You don`t have to book flights, car or travel insurance with them, you can just book the villa.
Fiona.

[MalcolmC]

Originally posted by pilkipops
MalcolmC.
does that mean you rent privately, or know the best way to do so.
We also tried to find out about buying to let, but ran out of time!
we are looking into the possibilty of buying..any advise and price guides would be appreciated
Pilkipops

Yes we do rent our villa out. If you are buying you need to get out and about and see what areas you like and think others would like to rent from you.

Your best bet is a resale ie. not a brand new home. There are very large commissions built into the new prices but resales can be much cheaper. There have been some recent discussions on this and "the other" forum.

If you want to find out the pitfalls visit www.top-forums.com where there are nearly 2000 of us owners who will do our best to put you off the idea, because you aren't going to make money out of it!

[jcholidays]

Hampton Lakes is a great location you will really enjoy your stay there. The other forum is also the best place to go for villa advise, it will open you eyes to the dream and at least you can then make an informed choice with out loosing any money.

Have a good holiday and good luck in your search for a villa.

[dismum]

I second what Malcolm c says -its hard work and not a money spinner and definitely not something to be done without taking the rose coloured specs off.Even without a mortgage things are difficult.

[edie_w]

Merryweather - you need to find out what you are risking if you don't declare that your daughter's friend is staying in the house with you.

It almost certainly invalidates the US equivalent of public liability insurance the villa owner/management company has, and it's fairly certainly in the Virgin small print that you can't sub let.

Sorry to be :thumbd: but I'd hate for it to go wrong for you.

[Merryweather]

We booked through a travel agent who spoke to a Virgin rep. She said it would be ok but couldn't guarantee that the Villa would be fully equipped. However, we will be contacting Virgin ourselves to organise car upgrade etc and will talk to them about it then. Thanks for the reminder though.

[coombsyl]

We really liked Hampton Lakes and have been there a few times now. We always like to book directly with the owners though.

That way we can book a four bedroomed villa for four of us and not pay any extra maximum occupancy charges. (we like a couple of spare rooms for the shopping etc) :wink

[MalcolmC]

Originally posted by coombsyl
We really liked Hampton Lakes and have been there a few times now. We always like to book directly with the owners though.

That way we can book a four bedroomed villa for four of us and not pay any extra maximum occupancy charges. (we like a couple of spare rooms for the shopping etc) :wink

When we arrive at Hampton Lakes the first thing "She who must be obeyed" does is to set up one of our spare bedrooms for an ironing room :confused2 :confused2 :confused2