Vacation Rentals by Owner

Another Great Vacation

Guest: Bob & Debbie (Wilmington NC)
Date of Stay: 11/10/11 Review Submitted: 11/21/11

Ken we had a wonderful time again. This is our second time staying in your vacation home. Its so nice coming back to a great house after a long day at the parks. I would suggest you try to take in the Disney Christmas Party it was just awesome, that alone was worth the trip. Thanks again!

Recommended for:Families with young children

Great August 2011 Vacation Rental: Great Location, Clean Home, Lots of Space, Gated Community

Guest: Scott (Jonesboro, AR)
Date of Stay: 08/05/11 Review Submitted: 08/22/11

Searched lots of different communities in the area before narrowing it down to this home. We are so glad we did! This home has sooo much going for it. The owner was great to work with and had some good tips for the area. The home is in a private gated community, and we loved the location on the end of the street. No neighbors on one side. Our son loved having the basketball court and tennis court nearby. We found the home to be very clean, and loved having the free internet. The pool was well maintained and was a welcome sight at the end of the day at the parks. Our drive was never more than 10-15 minutes to the Disney Theme Parks. When we arrived late from driving, Dad was able to go to the Wal-Mart about 1/4 mile away, and stock up, while everyone else unpacked. Having Wal-Mart nearby is always a positive! We have already recommended this house to some friends here in Arkansas that will be traveling to Orlando in the Spring of 2012, and would have no reservations referring anyone to rent this home. Thank you Ken, for a great vacation the kids will always remember!

Recommended for:People with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Needs Maintenance & a Good Clean

Guest: Chris L.
Date of Stay: 07/17/11 Review Submitted: 07/28/11

Up until arriving at the property, everything had gone very smoothly. It was when we open the front door did our holiday go from exciting to disappointment. Ok, so we arrived a little early, and found the "cleaner" still rushing around trying to get the place ready. We asked if we could leave our bags there while we went out for a few hours, giving her time to finish up. We returned at 2pm, and she was still trying to have the place cleaned. She quickly finished up and left. But this is a list of things we found in the house: * The pool was green and filthy on the bottom. It was not until we had to clean the pool and have chemicals added did the pool come right enough for swimming - 3 days later * There was pubic hairs and dirt/skin/dust on the toilet seat, and scraps of toilet paper left on the floor - obviously the cleaner didn't even go in there * there we old coffee grounds left in the coffee machine - disgusting * the air conditioning vent right near the front door was filthy dirty, and WE had to replace the filter because the a/c was not working at all * we found chip packets behind the main bed when we were making the bed the next day - how could the cleaner not see this when she was making the beds? * the microwave oven was disgusting and had not been cleaned out * the cleaner put the dishwasher on before she left, we had to unpack it * the back sliding door to the pool does not lock, and could potentially be dangerous to people with children as they can open it and get immediate access to the pool * the carpet looks like it has never been steamed cleaned - EVER. There are some parts that are so disgusting you don't even want to take your shoes off to walk around the house So we contacted the owner on the first day when we arrived, and he promised to call me back with 2 days. Nothing. I sent him 2 emails, plus photos of these things. Nothing. Verdict: Look elsewhere until the owner has had time to find a new cleaning company, plus someone to do maintenance on the property.

Owner response:Chris L. and family had an unhappy stay in my home and I have apologized. The first problem is that Chris was arriving the day another family was leaving. I notifed Chris on March 31 of this and that it would be best "if you arrive in the late afternoon." Chris' family arrived before noon and did put their luggage in the master bedroom and went shopping for two hours, returning while the cleaner was still mopping the kitchen. My cleaner said they just started moving in when they returned. The unforeseen problem, was that the departing guests were two sisters from Chicago and their six school age children and grandma. According the cleaner, the house was a mess and a very hard clean without the newly arriving guests. I have learned that cleaners do not like working with guests present and I'm sure she hurried out.....the Chris family started moving in when they returned. The pool is another issue. The motor and pump are a month old. The cleaner said the skimmer and water intake on the bottom of the pool were blocked with Wal-Mart bags. I actually called the Chicago guests and learned that one day the kids were playing "water balloons" with the plastic bags that blocked pool circulation. In the summer in Florida, if there is no water cicrualtion, the pool starts to turn green. The cleaner "shocked" the pool with chlorine, cleaned the filers and vacummed the pool, ran the pump overnihgt and came back in the a.m. and adjusted the chemicals, cleaned the filter and vacummed the pool. She also left a note for the guests with her phone number if there were any more problems. There was no way to forsee this and the pool was always safe until it finally completely cleared. I am not sure about Chris' comment about the carpet. I have no idea what the six kids did in there the week before, but we were in the home until May 26 and when we left there was not a spot on the carpet which was professionally cleaned in late March. The cleaner usually does spot clean the carpet after each rental......but I'm sure she did not do this time because Chris was there moving in. What did I learn from this very unhappy rental? When I do have another "back to back" rental I will tell the second family not to arrive before 4 p.m. or I cannot guarentee a clean home. Please see the many positive experiences in this home at my other site www.vrbo.com/193627 We love our Florida vacation pool home and I am very sorry that Chris had an unhappy stay.

Recommended for:

February 2011 vacation rental

Guest: Jim and Brandy (Michigan)
Date of Stay: 02/19/11 Review Submitted: 02/25/11

Thank you so much Ken for renting us your beautiful home. It was clean, large, and well equipped. The pool was perfect - we couldn't get our kids out of it. It was where we spent most of our time. Internet was easy and fast. We saw several alligators in the pond behind the house - which was very exciting! Thanks for letting us in early at the last minute. It worked out perfect. The walking trail by the lake was very nice along with the playground. We will back next year!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Thanks for the Memories....

Guest: Fred and Betty (West Virginia)
Date of Stay: 01/30/11 Review Submitted: 02/21/11

Ken, thank you for the use of your lovely home. It was a very pleasant experience. Close to Theme Parks, Restaurants, WalMart, and anything else you wanted to do, or just relax by the pool....great! The home was clean, internet access, plenty of room. The neighborhood is great for walking, a tennis court right behind the house, and lots of wildlife to observe... Recommended for old and young as well. Ken, it was great working with you, thanks again....

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with young children, sightseeing.

This place worked very well.

Guest: Cory (Forsyth, IL)
Date of Stay: 11/25/10 Review Submitted: 12/08/10

My family really enjoyed staying here. We had 7 people ( 4 adults and 3 kids) and it worked fine for us. The place was clean and in good condition. Disney stuff was 15 - 25 minutes door to door. Universal slightly longer. Loved the tennis court in the back yard. Nice wildlife at the pond right behind the tennis court. We saw a small alligator, an otter, a deer, and lots of different birds in the pond. There is also a larger lake nearby as well. The owner was extemely easy to work with. Instructions to get in were very easy. We would have no problems staying here again. Having a Walmart about 2 minutes away was great! The kids had fun in the pool. Thanks for everything Ken!!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Excellent rental

Guest: FromOhio (Reynoldsburg, OH)
Date of Stay: 08/07/10 Review Submitted: 09/19/10

Ken, Thank you very much for sharing your beautiful home with us. We had such a blast during our stay there. The close proximity to the parks and shopping made our vacation such a breeze. Also thank you for being so accommodating to us and answering all of our questions and concerns. We will definitely keep you in mind for any future Orlando,FL area visits and we will not hesitate to recommend your rental properties to family and friends.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children.

Had a Wonderful Stay

Guest: deep (Indiana)
Date of Stay: 06/27/10 Review Submitted: 08/01/10

We stayed here in late June/ Early July 2010. The house is very open and has plenty of natural light. Everything we needed was there and was very clean. Walmart is just 2 minutes away which is very convenient if you need anything anytime. Took us only 20-25 minutes to disney and maybe 35 minutes to universal. Owner is also very helpful and responsive. Thank you so much. Its a great house!!

Recommended for:Sightseeing

Great rental for family of 5

Guest: Ann (St. Paul, MN)
Date of Stay: 03/24/10 Review Submitted: 07/06/10

The house was beautiful and clean. Our family of 5 (kids ages 12, 9 and 7) especially enjoyed the tennis court right out the back door, and the house pool of course! Having the 4 bedrooms was great when my bother and sister-in-law joined us for a few days and they had their own bath and bedroom. The wicker furniture in the bedrooms was clean and bright. It was wonderful to come back to a spacious house after spending the day at one of the parks or other attractions, and the house was in a great location to get to all of the Disney parks. Having the house close to Wal-mart made it really easy to get supplies and food for anything we needed. We also appreciated you answering all of our questions and making sure that we were comfortable with how the process worked since this was our first rental. We will recommend your house without any hesitation to anybody that we know who is planning a trip to Orlando/DisneyWorld. And we will definitely look you up again.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Great Rental Experience!!

Guest: golfdoc (Holland, MI)
Date of Stay: 03/15/10 Review Submitted: 05/11/10

Came down for a guys "golf getaway" and had a fantastic time. The home was spacious and provided everything we needed. Very clean. Centrally located for everything. Definitely look forward to coming again!!

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway.

Great Holiday

Guest: Darlene (Goderich, Ontario Canada)
Date of Stay: 02/01/10 Review Submitted: 08/13/11

We rented this property for the month of Feb. 2010. It is a very clean and spacious house with lots of room. Our daughter visited us and we went sightseeing and swam in the heated pool almost everyday. My husband and I went walking on the grounds and felt very secure as it is a gated community. We would have no hesitation in recommending this property to anyone and if fact we have rented it for the second time coming up in March 2012. The owner even had the internet installed as we wanted to stay in touch with our other grown children by e-mail while we were there. Great place to vacation.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, sightseeing.