Your best Vacation Home / Villa tips

[MadisonMom]

For those of you who have rented a vacation home/villa, any tips to share? For example, what is essential to pack?

 

[TheRatPack]

We took what we normally take, but also took a few Electrasol tablets for the dishwasher, and a few of the Purex tabs for the washer. We always bring our own shampoo and soap, which we do this even if we stay in a hotel. They supply towels, dishes....etc. Really I don't think we packed anything extra when we stayed in a house rental versus a hotel room, except maybe that electrasol for the dishes....but we always take Purex for our clothes. One thing that I remember though, is that we wanted to sweep the kitchen one night and there was no broom to be found. There is a room/closet locked beside the kitchen that looked to be a pantry and we assumed all the cleaning items were kept in there for the cleaning crew to clean when we left. That is really the only thing I remember having trouble with, I would have hated to spill anything and not be able to get it up easily....luckily that didn't happen.

It's really just a home away from home though, so just pack based on what you use everyday at your own home

 

[JANNYANS]

In most homes absolutely everything you need will be provided although there will only be a start up set of dishwashing items so you will have to provide them and laundry detergent.Some homes do not provide pool towels and ask you not to use the ones that are there around the pool or at the waterparks and some may not have hairdryers.If you are renting direct from the owner then simply ask them what they provide- if its from a company they may not know .A good place to look for the broom is in the gargage or laundry room the locked cupboard is for the owner to keep their own things in .If there isn't a broom -it may be because the cleaners take their own into the house to clean it-like wise with a hoover.

 

[MadisonMom]

Thanks for the tip! I saw some Cascade (I think)/gel packs that looked useful. I didn't see the the Electrosol ones, maybe it's regional? I'm in Wisconsin.

 

[tmli]

We've rented condos twice now and both times have had brooms, mops etc.

As previously mentioned laundry and dish soap, we also bring with us grocery items from home. Things that you may need only a little of like spices, rice, pasta etc. We also bring special items for favorite recipes. Of course we usually drive, which allows us to bring more items from home.

 

[spiceycat]

laundry tablets - I like wisk - fabric softener

are you driving or renting a car?

if you - I generally wait until I get there to go grocery shopping - Florida is cheaper than Ala - not a sales tax on groceries - and some of their prices are cheaper....

 

[MadisonMom]

Thanks for the tips! We are flying and renting a car in FL. We are renting a house from ResortQuest in Highlands Reserve off Rt. 27 in October.

 

[ptcruisermom]

You should be able to find a Publix near you-it seems as if they are all over. Best priced groceries around. I bought the Cascade Gel-tabs when we were there for 3 weeks at Christmas-they were great.

 

[BrittnTylersMom]

Great tips!!
This is our first time renting a villa. I never thought to bring the Electrosol tablets from home! We're stocked up on them right now so I'm going to put some aside to pack for our trip. They're so small, throwing them in the luggage won't be a problem at all!

Any other great tips???

 

[kilee]

I too wait until I'm in the area to get my groceries. You'll need more toliet paper sometimes too. As for packing. I still only bring what I would if I were staying in a hotel.

 

[JANNYANS]

Madison mum you will find you are right next door to a Publix on Highlands Reserve so you should be ok to get suuplies

 

[MalcolmC]

Our home, and I'm sure most rental homes (Jannyans can perhaps confirm?) supply an initial supply of the following:-

Toilet soaps
Toilet Rolls/tissue
Dishwasher detergent (Usually Electrosol tablets)
Washer detergent
Wahing up liquid
Bin bags/Trash can liners
New pan scourer
Washing up cloth.

We also provide all towels and linens (as well as a spare set) plus extra pillows.
Pool towels.

If there is something specific, contact the owner, if you can and if they haven't got it already they might arrange for it to be obtained.

We can also provide a grocery package to save you shopping the moment you arrive, but to be honest it's not very good value and you're better going to Publix yourself and buying what YOU want.

 

[JANNYANS]

Thats about right Malcolm -its just enough to kick start the holiday.Our cleaners throw away any items left over from previous guests for safety reasons.Like Malcolm we provide everything you might need (I hope) including pool towels and robes, hairdryers and at least three changes of bed linen. As Malcolm syas if you want something specific ask the owner -most of us are eager to please our guests if at all possible.

 

[MadisonMom]

Jan and Malcom,

Your guests are very lucky to have such conciencious hosts! Thank-you for reassuring me (and others) that a vacation home is a great alternative to staying at a hotel.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by MadisonMom
Thank-you for reassuring me (and others) that a vacation home is a great alternative to staying at a hotel.

Personally, we consider a hotel a huge step down from a rental home. So many folks around here talk about the advantages of staying on site. For us, it is the onsite stay that involves all the compromises and inconveniences - no kitchen, one bathroom, community pool filled with everyone else's kids , one tv, parking not near our room, noise and crowds all day, etc.

Staying in a rental home I can stretch out on the sofa and watch a large screen tv while my DD sits on her bed in another room and watches something else or plays Gameboy or reads. We can eat a dirt cheap breakfast in our house everyday and get an early start in the parks rather than wasting time and money in restaurants. We can even do some simple meals in the house for dinner. We can swim whenever we want to and not have to share the pool with anyone or be splashed at or bothered by bugs since the pool homes are all screened in.

I have yet to encounter anyone who has stayed in a rental house who didn't think it was better than an onsite hotel.

Steve

 

[kaylajr]

rental homes are definatly the way to go
i would however recommend renting direct from the owner
2years ago we rented from a management company had some problems and they basically didn't care

this year we are renting again this time from a wonderful owner and things are going great
i can't wait to arrive and enjoy her home

we bring less clothes than we would at a hotel because a washer and dryer and right there at the house
we wash a load while the kids are having breakfast
throw it in the dryer while we swim and it is great to come bac from vacation without the suitcase of dirty laundry

the grocerys we wait until we get down there to buy and we save alot of $$$$ on meals

i couldn't imaigine staying in a hotel we would just be to cramped

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by kaylajr
i would however recommend renting direct from the owner
2years ago we rented from a management company had some problems and they basically didn't care

we bring less clothes than we would at a hotel because a washer and dryer and right there at the house
we wash a load while the kids are having breakfast
throw it in the dryer while we swim and it is great to come bac from vacation without the suitcase of dirty laundry

I have to disagree with your first point. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you have rented from the owner or through the MC because once you arrive on site, it is the local MC that you contact for any problems. There are definitely some bad management companies out there but there are great ones too that are very responsive to guest's needs. You just need to choose wisely.

I defintely agree with the laundry comment, though. We love being able to do laundry during our stay without going to the far end of the hotel and pumping in quarters. We bring less clothing and go home with most everything clean so we aren't faced with a pile of dirty laundry when we get home.

Steve

 

[debden]

We rented a fantastic 5 Bed/4 Bath home in Hampton Lakes last December and enjoyed it immensly. There was the bare minimum of necessities.This August we are renting a home in Thousand Lakes and now we know exactly what we'll need to buy. We rented both homes directly from the owners.No problems so far.
Debbie

 

[JANNYANS]

Disney steve,I think the major difference between renting direct and renting through a large company is that by renting direct you have the opportunity to build up a relationship with the owner and feel as if you know them -this obviously works for the owner too-Any little problem that occurs before the actual arrival date can be sorted usually fairly easily as the owner has a bit more control over what is happening. You are correct -obviously -in saying there is still a man co to deal with after your arrival -and that there are good and bad - but i think you might find that any owner who does their own bookings does not stay with a bad one for very long as they get the feed back from their guests and if there are problems -the man co goes.The not so good ones stay because the owners of the homes they are looking after may not take much interest -for whatever reason -in the way their home is run and as the guest never gets to know who owns the house -they cannot get in touch with them to complain -so the owner never knows about any problems .

 

[disneysteve]

Jan - I agree. I just didn't think it was fair to make a blanket statement that renting through an MC is a bad idea. We've done it a few times and never had a moment's trouble. Maybe we've just been lucky, but the MC always provided good service and responded quickly to any problems or concerns.

That said, on our last trip in November, we rented direct from the owner. I e-mailed her several times before our trip with questions and she always responded almost instantly - the woman must live at her computer. While we were on vacation, I e-mailed her a couple of times to let her know how everything was and report a couple of maintenance issues. After we returned, I sent her a list of suggestions to improve the property. We spent some time discussing those and she really appreciated my input. Obviously, none of that would have happened had we rented through an MC.

Steve