We stayed at a villa in Davenport in the Santuary at Westhaven for the first week of April 2006.
Our family consisted at the time of DH, DS7, DD4 and I. We found the house on findvacationrentals and it is listing #5839.
As I mentioned, it is a 4 bed/3 bath, with 1 king ensuite, 1 queen ensuite, and two twin rooms. There was also a full family bathroom. The king ensuite bathroom had a garden tub and separate shower. The house was exactly like the pictures and the king bed was extremely comfortable (better than our bed at home!). The house was very clean and we did not have any problems while we were there.
The pool heat was on before we got there, as requested, and there was a pool blanket which we kept on all the time when we weren't using the pool.
There were also night lights provided which was great with the kids. We brought a couple of our own, but it was nice that they already had them. It was also great that there was a good supply of salt & pepper, sugar, coffee filters, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, garbage bags, dish soap, dishwasher soap and even shampoo, conditioner and soap.
The kitchen had pretty much everything we needed, and we did eat many breakfasts and dinners at the house, which saved a lot of money (plus we get sick of restaurant food, and our picky kids didn't starve!).
We first found out about renting villas in Florida the year before when my parents did it. We visited them while we were there, and we will now never go back to hotels. We like to spread out and have time apart to do our own thing, plus my daughter and husband are light sleepers and are woken up frequently during the night when we are all in one hotel room. My husband and I also find we enjoy our vacation much more when we can relax together after the kids go to bed, have a glass of wine and unwind, in front of the tv if we want, instead of having to be quiet and try to fall asleep because the kids need to get to sleep. Also having 3 bathrooms is great.
We are renting a different villa from the same owners for the last week of April/first week of May 2007. They were very easy to deal with and everything went exactly as it was supposed to. They are located in the US and I sent them US money orders for the deposit and balance. They returned the deposit promptly after we got back and were available by e-mail whenever we had a question. We paid $700 + 13% tax for the week, plus pool heat ($100/week) and a gas bbq ($30/week). You could also get a highchair, crib and stroller free for your stay if required. This is a gated community, and we were given the gate code and the code for the key box on the house (so you don't have to pick up the key somewhere) after we made our final payment, just a few weeks before our vacation. These homeowners also have other homes, I believe they are 5 and 7 bedroom homes, and I find their rates are very reasonable and the homes all look to be very nice. If you google Florida rentals by Helen & James, you will come up with some of their larger homes.
We decided to go for 2 weeks for our next vacation, because we want to have some days to just relax at the villa and enjoy the pool.
Davenport is about 20 minutes away from Disney, door to park. We didn't get a chance to explore the area very much, but there was a Publix, Walgreens and a couple take out places 5 minutes away from the house, on the way from Disney to the house. However, we didn't see any "sit down" restaurants to speak of, however as I said we didn't venture off the road between the house and Disney, and we had planned to eat most of our meals at the house anyway.
We did return in the afternoons for a swim/nap and dinner and found it to be close enough to do so and not seem like a waste of time.
We love having a home away from home on our vacation. I also love staying in hotels, but now with the kids two rooms are way too expensive, so renting a villa is the way to go for us.
Our family consisted at the time of DH, DS7, DD4 and I. We found the house on findvacationrentals and it is listing #5839.
As I mentioned, it is a 4 bed/3 bath, with 1 king ensuite, 1 queen ensuite, and two twin rooms. There was also a full family bathroom. The king ensuite bathroom had a garden tub and separate shower. The house was exactly like the pictures and the king bed was extremely comfortable (better than our bed at home!). The house was very clean and we did not have any problems while we were there.
The pool heat was on before we got there, as requested, and there was a pool blanket which we kept on all the time when we weren't using the pool.
There were also night lights provided which was great with the kids. We brought a couple of our own, but it was nice that they already had them. It was also great that there was a good supply of salt & pepper, sugar, coffee filters, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, garbage bags, dish soap, dishwasher soap and even shampoo, conditioner and soap.
The kitchen had pretty much everything we needed, and we did eat many breakfasts and dinners at the house, which saved a lot of money (plus we get sick of restaurant food, and our picky kids didn't starve!).
We first found out about renting villas in Florida the year before when my parents did it. We visited them while we were there, and we will now never go back to hotels. We like to spread out and have time apart to do our own thing, plus my daughter and husband are light sleepers and are woken up frequently during the night when we are all in one hotel room. My husband and I also find we enjoy our vacation much more when we can relax together after the kids go to bed, have a glass of wine and unwind, in front of the tv if we want, instead of having to be quiet and try to fall asleep because the kids need to get to sleep. Also having 3 bathrooms is great.
We are renting a different villa from the same owners for the last week of April/first week of May 2007. They were very easy to deal with and everything went exactly as it was supposed to. They are located in the US and I sent them US money orders for the deposit and balance. They returned the deposit promptly after we got back and were available by e-mail whenever we had a question. We paid $700 + 13% tax for the week, plus pool heat ($100/week) and a gas bbq ($30/week). You could also get a highchair, crib and stroller free for your stay if required. This is a gated community, and we were given the gate code and the code for the key box on the house (so you don't have to pick up the key somewhere) after we made our final payment, just a few weeks before our vacation. These homeowners also have other homes, I believe they are 5 and 7 bedroom homes, and I find their rates are very reasonable and the homes all look to be very nice. If you google Florida rentals by Helen & James, you will come up with some of their larger homes.
We decided to go for 2 weeks for our next vacation, because we want to have some days to just relax at the villa and enjoy the pool.
Davenport is about 20 minutes away from Disney, door to park. We didn't get a chance to explore the area very much, but there was a Publix, Walgreens and a couple take out places 5 minutes away from the house, on the way from Disney to the house. However, we didn't see any "sit down" restaurants to speak of, however as I said we didn't venture off the road between the house and Disney, and we had planned to eat most of our meals at the house anyway.
We did return in the afternoons for a swim/nap and dinner and found it to be close enough to do so and not seem like a waste of time.
We love having a home away from home on our vacation. I also love staying in hotels, but now with the kids two rooms are way too expensive, so renting a villa is the way to go for us.
