The Disney area is unique in that there is a huge market for short-term rental.   Certainly there are other areas of the country where renting a vacation home or “villa” (this is a European term) is a possibility.  However, availability is often limited and the rates can be expensive.    In the Orlando area, short-term rental homes are easy to find, easy to book, are a great value and offer the utmost in luxury, comfort, and Floridian style!

There are too many reasons to list why this is an incredible alternative to a hotel room, but read on to find out about a few!

We all love our children dearly, but it’s a real downer being cramped in a small hotel room trying to get them to go to sleep late at night (or even early morning hours!) while all you want to do is collapse in peace.   It never seemed right to have to sacrifice the comforts of home on what is supposed to be a vacation.  Some vacation!!!  The one thing   I appreciate the most since discovering short-term rental accommodation is that I don’t have to give up my privacy and downtime!  After a long day at the parks, the children are in their own rooms (with the peace and comfort they need to fall asleep!) while my husband and I unwind in the lounge watching a good movie or discussing the events of the day. 

The second thing I appreciate most is having a fully-equipped kitchen!  No – I don’t enjoy cooking on my vacation, but it can be very stressful having a meal in a restaurant with young impatient children let alone 3 in one day not to mention the expense!  But, to have a refrigerator, pantry and microwave for quick breakfast foods, snacks or easy lunches is the ultimate convenience!

How about the many outfits youngsters can potentially go through in one day?  Can you possibly own enough to pack for an extended vacation?  Let’s face it, do they not always manage to wear their food, find the mud, and often have accidents that we don’t need to go into detail about?  This brings me to my third favorite thing – a laundry room!  Need I say more?

And finally, the best of all is the private pool!  Yes – a pool all to yourself just outside your door!  No need to walk to the hotel pool and then camp out for hours while the kids swim.  Nope! They’re right outside your door where you can keep a close watch on them while doing whatever else you might want to do when you’ve had enough of swimming! 

If you haven’t discovered this amazing way to vacation, then once you have, you will never want to do it any other way!  Enjoy!

Why Choose A Villa Over A Hotel?

Here are some good reasons why staying in a villa is much better than staying in a hotel:

1. Space. You have a huge space to relax in, not just one room like in a hotel.  Separate areas mean that different members of the party can do different things; for example the kids can watch TV while the adults sunbathe, and most importantly once the children have gone to bed, the adults still have the rest of the villa and pool at their disposal.

2. A pool for your exclusive use.  No need to share the pool or fight over sun beds.  Whist some hotels ban the use of inflatables due to their size, in your own villa, you can bring what you like and you don’t have to traipse back to your hotel room with large lilos.  There’s plenty of space on the pool deck for everyone.

3. Kitchen amenities. Whilst I am sure you will want to eat out a lot of the time, it can be great to have an area in which to cook and eat should you want.  There is usually a large fridge so you can store cold drinks and sometimes it’s nice to loaf around the villa and have breakfast at your leisure before a jam packed day at the theme parks.  You can also take advantage of the great Floridian weather and have a couple of meals by the pool.

4. Additional bathrooms.  Hotel rooms generally have only one bathroom so queuing for the bathroom in the morning is inevitable.  With 2 or more bathrooms available, there are plenty to go around.

5. Peace and quiet.  You will be staying in a detached property, not a hotel room with rooms either side, above and below and people walking along the corridors at all hours, equally, if you have a small child who may be affected by the time difference and is likely to wake in the night, you don’t need to worry about disturbing other guests either.

6. Laundry facilities.  With a washer, dryer, iron and ironing board, you don’t need to pack a full two weeks worth of clothes if you don’t want to and you don’t need to take home two weeks worth of dirty washing.

7. A real home from home.  With everything you need provided you really can experience “living” in Florida for the duration of your stay…go on….make yourself at home!

You may think that having all this on holiday will be expensive.  On the contrary, a private villa can work out cheaper than a hotel room, especially if you go with friends or extended family.

Most people come to Disney with children and long days are spent at the Theme Parks. These can be very hot in the summer and always exhausting no matter what time of the year.

To come home to your very own private air-conditioned villa and cool off in your private pool and relax with a cool drink, what could be better?

A fully equipped kitchen is a godsend when the kids are tired and do not want to go out again in the car to a restaurant, a meal at home is so much less stressful.

Many private villas have two sitting rooms, great for two family’s holidaying together.

They will have en-suite bedrooms and two or more bathrooms.

You may find TV’s in all bedrooms, DVD players, Play Stations and even Games Rooms with Pool Tables.

No need to bring towels and linen – it’s all provided for you.

All the villas are privately owned, bought by people like myself because we love our little piece of Florida. In renting a villa you will deal with the villa owner direct and not a tour operator and can be assured of a very personal service. Many have management companies who look after the guests and are there 24/7 if needed.

Renting a villa is great value for money as the price you pay is for the villa and not per person.

There are many communities to choose from, most of them are within 20 minutes from Disney, all sizes of villas ranging from 3-7 Bedrooms, the fun is choosing which one of the wonderful homes to stay in for your Florida vacation.