Have you looked into the different types of accommodation that Orlando has to offer when you're planning your vacation, and in particular have you researched all of the options for Florida short term rentals? Single family homes and condos are available to rent on a weekly (or even shorter) basis, so you can enjoy the luxury of staying in your own home-way-from-home, with all the convenience that brings, for little more than the price of a single hotel room.
This is because Orlando in particular is one area where absentee owners have purchased homes and adopted the short term rental approach as a way to recover some or all of their running costs. Intense competition has held back prices. Now more and more families and groups are building this type of accommodation into their Orlando vacation package to make the most of their time away from home.
But can you have confidence that the short term rental property you see on the Internet will live up to expectations? The last thing you want is for all those weeks and months of anticipation to be wrecked because your accommodation is below standard. So how can you make sure you get what you're looking for?
The simple answer is to be just as rigorous in researching Florida short term rentals as you would any hotel or motel. And to apply just the same sort of thought process as you would with a hotel/motel. So plan your Florida short term rental, particularly if you want to be close to Disney World, Sea World and Universal, around the following guidance:
* It is very easy to think that price doesn't matter when it comes to choosing a short term rental property for your vacation package. But if you wouldn't book into a motel offering rooms for $35 per night then you should certainly stay away from the lowest priced rental home. The cheaper a home is there is more chance that it is poorly maintained, lacking facilities and likely to be of poor quality.
* Quality: Hotels and motels are increasingly showing room photos and virtual tours of the room you'll be renting so you can check the quality. And so too are vacation home owners. Ask for pictures and an on-line tour and limit yourself to those owners and companies who commit to allocating your home at the time of booking. Obviously if you're dealing directly with a home owner who only has one house, this problem is solved!
* To find the location of the property you are renting, ask the owner or booking company for the address then check it out on Google. If they won't give you the full address ask for the zip code. Don't rely on descriptions that state that the home is only "5 minutes from Disney World" because most of the rental homes are two to ten miles away from Disney. Travel times to the parks will obviously vary depending on time of day, season and traffic conditions.
* It's a good idea to ask in advance how the owner or management company would deal with issues such as the pool not getting hot enough, the air conditioning breaking down or the television not working. If the problem cannot be fixed straight away do they have another property you can move to?
* Most hotel rooms have a guest book to help you find the services you need and the facilities the hotel has to offer. But there is always some service or need these books don't cover. In a hotel you can ask at the front desk but in a rental home you have to find the solutions for yourself. To find the nearest shopping mall or restaurant you can look on the internet and for anything else ask the management company.
Whenever you venture out of your own home to stay in rented accommodation you are accepting some sort of risk that it won't live up to your expectations. The last thing you want for that dream vacation is to find that you're booked into a place that spoils the entire break. But up-front research and an understanding of how things work, whether you're choosing hotels or Florida short term rentals, should mean that you get exactly what you need for a great vacation.
Sue built and ran a Central Florida property management company so she has a lot of inside experience on choosing Orlando holiday villas and helping her guests with Orlando vacation tips.
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