What puts you off hiring a villa?

[Picklepuppy]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

Even in a hotel I make my bed and tidy. I have never felt the need to actually clean a villa though. More and more people opt out of housekeeping so I don’t think it’s too much of a hardship.
I think needs change with time. With children I couldn’t bear to be in one room for 2 weeks. When daughter stops holidaying with us we will go back to hotels.

I do love playing house in a fabulous villa with a private pool- it’s definitely not like being at home !

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I tidy our clothes and stuff but don’t make beds. I also ask for fresh towels every day, just because i like it and feels like I’m getting a little treat!
I’ve got a 9 year old and a nearly 5 year old and would never consider a villa. We always stay in a family suite or family room wherever we stay. So we have plenty of space. Also we never cook on holiday so a kitchen is wasted on us!

[dreamadream]

Originally Posted by Picklepuppy

The fact I have to make the beds and tidy and clean! Why would I want pay to do what I do at home!

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So how do you cope all in one room if you don’t try and keep things tidy? Believe me it is much harder keeping one room tidy with a family than it is 6 rooms.

[Picklepuppy]

Originally Posted by dreamadream

So how do you cope all in one room if you don’t try and keep things tidy? Believe me it is much harder keeping one room tidy with a family than it is 6 rooms.

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We always have two room suites so never really have a problem. No matter where we go in the world.

[returnplanning]

As previous posters have said, the pool not being overlooked/having proper hedge/fence rather than just some frosted panels in the lower section of the lanai is the dealbreaker for me.

I'm not madly keen on leather sofas either, or completely tiled ground floor throughout (even in Florida, I'm a cold person and like to have some carpet underfoot!) but if the rest of the villa looked good, then I could live with those.

Loads of knickknacks is not something that appeals to me (and if I had small children would be a dealbreaker), but as I don't have to dust them, I can live with it

[returnplanning]

Oh yes, I almost forgot - just put up your availability dates, please, so it doesn't waste both our time.

[fizzypop]

The thing that will put me off in future in out of date photos. We stayed in one this summer -not a Dibb villa - that looked ok in the photos but when we arrived it was very unloved. The sofa was threadbare, the chairs had ripped cushions, the alarm had been disabled, the kitchen needed repairing, the towels had seen better days and it was dirty. Needless to say we were upset and phoned the management company after I had spent an hour cleaning and not made much progress. The following day the management company came and cleaned for 4 hours, sent someone in to spray the place as we had cockroaches and ants and clean the pool. It very much seemed like the owners didn’t want to spend any money on it.

We we looked at the website again, I noticed the photos were 10 years old which we hadn’t spotted before. A very disappointing villa.

[folkie]

Must have south or west facing pool, not overlooked and preferably backing onto water or conservation space (no hedge or solid fence across the back), with a covered lanai with fan and light.
We also go for a white bathroom suite and light coloured kitchen and furnishings.
Preferably no carpet on ground floor.
The last one we stayed in had a glass cabinet in the lounge area that had a big statue of an angel in it, we referred to it as the Weeping Angel. If you know your Dr Who it was just like that but minus the fangs, really quite creepy and definitely wouldn’t have booked if it had been visible on the photos! 😱 That one wasn’t a Dibb villa I hasten to add.

[Wobbles]

We stay in the same Dibb villa (the Bolton's) for a couple of weeks every year for the last few years, there are only two of us and we go for a villa for space, peace and quiet and the private pool. We pay less per person per night than we would do for somewhere like Cabana Bay.

So our priorities

Location - we love Championsgate and the reason we went for the villa first place is location in Windwood Bay. we have seen the area grow and get busier but we still love it. Ideal for the I4, the 192 and local places to shop and eat.

One floor - I have mobility issues, this is fundamental

Proper King-Size plus bed, Mr W is over 6ft

Things I have realised I never think about or don't think about much

I know they have plastic plates and bowls etc, because that's all we use (we don't eat in much apart from breakfast but when we do it's outside).

I can't think if they have plastic plants, I think so but even after so many years I don't think I have paid that much attention to it. I would need to check the photos.

The poolside furniture is robust and does it job. I don't care what it looks like, it is comfortable. I only know it's white piping because I have just looked at the pictures.

They do have a very nice big leather sofa in the family area, we love it and a big fridge that we also love.

They do have a games room, but we only use the washing line in there and don't go in otherwise.

They do have a Disney themed room - also known as the room with the cases in it. Cases go in on Day one, bags get added as we shop and cases come out on final day

They have a lovely range of TVs and in all the years we have stopped there I can only think we have watched one of them once.

They do have WiFi - even my kindle has the passcode in its memory.