Ditch the hotel for a villa or vacation home
Whether in Orlando or Budapest, private vacation home rentals are
tops!
By David Leonhardt
Two visits to Budapest. Two apartments, walking distance from
downtown. I did not even set foot in the Hilton. My mother and
I saw Budapest like only someone who stays away from the
Americanized hotels can. We stayed with the locals. We came to
feel the city, not just see it.
Several years later, I returned to Europe on my honeymoon (this
time, without my mother). The first two nights in a little
village near Schaffhausen, Switzerland, we stayed in the European
version of a vacation villa rental: our own unit in a private
home, our own balcony overlooking the scenic village, comfort,
privacy and peace.
Three weeks of touring brought us to one or two hotels, several
bed and breakfasts, and a couple "gasthauses" in Austria and
Liechtenstein that felt more like private homes.
"There is no way to compare the comfort and privacy of a private
villa with squeezing everybody into an impersonal hotel room,"
says Stewart Granville, CEO of Last Minute Villas (
http://www.lastminutevillas.net ), a booking site for Florida
villas and vacation rental homes. "You have your own space - and
lots of it - and you don't have to worry about noise of peeping
eyes. Usually you have a private pool, spa, sound system and
other luxuries."
Last Minute Villas books some vacation rentals on Florida's Gulf
Coast, but mostly in the Orlando area. Typically, theme park
visitors stay in the motel strip in Kissimmee. Those with deeper
pockets might stay at the Disney World Hotel. Few people realize
that a Vacation home near Disney World or in nearby Orlando is
even an option.
Fewer still realize how cheap it is. One Florida villa owner
describes how he had just checked his guests in to his own
Kissimmee/Orlando area villa. Drew was heading out of town, but
he missed his flight. With ten people staying in his rental
home, there really was no place for him. He checked into a very
basic motel, typical of the Kissimmee strip, and realized he
would be paying over $200 per night for ten people - or about
$1500 per week - for uncomfortably basic motel rooms typical of
Orlando and other vacation mecas.
"They stayed in my house for $900 - and they got their own
private pool, ensuite bedrooms, laundry facilities, refrigerator
and all the things you now take for granted in villas," Drew
says. "It really opened my eyes to just what a sweet deal my
visitors are getting - and how little motel visitors get for
their money, too."
Two years ago, my brother and I rented a private cottage in the
Laurentians. We had four bedrooms, enough to accommodate both
our young families. We could see two of the neighboring houses,
which would be useful in case of an emergency.
We had the television, the stereo, the fire place, fresh
raspberries right off the bushes around the house (some
blueberries, too!), a screened patio with a private table/bench
swing, and a nice big fridge to keep juice, milk and beer cool.
We had plenty of space to spread out and a table just perfect for
a relaxing evening of cards.
Last summer, we rented a private villa in the Laurentians again,
this time overlooking a small lake, and a canoe was supplied.
Why would anybody want to crowd their family into a hotel room?
Or even two? I've been spoiled. From Orlando, Florida to
Budapest, Hungary, travel in style by staying in a private
vacation rental home, no matter where you go.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer, and an online and offline
publicity specialist. Contact him at:
mailto:
info@...or visit his website at:
http://www.thehappyguy.comFor Florida vacation villa rentals:
http://www.lastminutevillas.netFor Orlando vacation home rentals:
http://www.orlandovillaowners.comABOUT THE AUTHOR (in HTML)
info@...>David Leonhardt is a
freelance writer, and an online and offline publicity specialist.
Visit his
http://www.thehappyguy.com>happiness
website. Try your own
href=http://www.lastminutevillas.net>Florida vacation villa
rental or http://www.orlandovillaowners.com>Orlando
vacation home rental.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Leonhardt
The Happy Guy
Info@...
