Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Which is the best-a hotel or Florida villas?

The question is often asked whether staying in a hotel or a villa is better for those planning a vacation in Florida. The answer whether you should opt to stay at a Florida villa or hotel room depends on a variety of factors.

First, you must decide on the duration of your stay. If you plan to travel for a night or two, staying at a hotel will be lot more convenient and you can avoid the extra expense of things like housekeeping. But if you plan a long vacation, then it will be more cost-effective to stay in a Florida villa. In fact, if you and your family truly want to enjoy a Florida vacation, you will have to necessarily plan for a longer vacation as the sightseeing spots in Florida are galore.

If you intend traveling with your family and the size of your family is large or you are traveling as a large group, then a Florida villa will be more ideal as you will have a lot of living space including multiple bedrooms, kitchen, dining space, living rooms etc. Again if you are a large group and plan splitting the expenses among several families or a group of friends, then it will be more economical to opt for a Florida villa than occupying multiple hotel rooms.

There is a distinct advantage to Florida villas as opposed to hotel rooms. Most villas in Florida offer you fully stocked kitchens and you save a lot of money by preparing your own meals instead of dining out every time. 

But if you are the one who wants flexibility in travel arrangements, then Florida villas can be disadvantageous. Ordinarily, if you book Florida villas, you will be forced into paying for them, unless you cancel thirty days in advance. Even if you do cancel well in time, they may still charge you some cancellation fees. Most hotels, on the other hand, will let you to cancel up to the day before you travel without charging you.

Another disadvantage to a Florida villas may be the onus is on you to keep the place clean. Whereas hotels have housekeeping and daily maid service, and you may appreciate a clean room when you come back from a tiring day of sightseeing. It must therefore be said that if you do not wish to cook during your vacation nor attend to cleaning work, a Florida villa may not suit you.

Families or groups of friends looking for cozy accommodation should consider Florida Villas as they offer more flexibility, commodious space, greater degree of privacy and opportunities for better bonding. Besides, the Florida villas provide a real ‘home from home’ experience and you can assuredly spend quality time with your loved ones.

There are villas and hotels galore in Florida and there is accommodation for all types of tourists in Florida and in all price ranges. If you are planning for a Florida vacation, selecting where to stay is one of the important decisions you have to make. There are lots of sources wherefrom you can know about Florida villas and Florida hotels. You are bound to find the perfect holiday accommodation when in Florida and a bit of forward planning is all that is needed.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

An overview on vacation rentals

To those who may not be familiar, vacation rentals means renting out a fully furnished house or apartment for a prescribed period of time – a few days or weeks - to tourists who may wish not to stay in hotels. Vacation rentals are quirt commonplace in USA, certain parts of Europe including UK and Canada. Of course this facility is now becoming increasingly popular across the world.

Of course, there are some criticisms that the vocational rentals are becoming a threat to the hotel industry as most tourists – particularly the ones traveling with families – opt foe vacation rentals.

A vacation rental is of many kinds - a cottage, condominium, apartment, single-family-style home called as villas – but all of them well furnished. The tourist avails the property on rental basis for an agreed number of days or weeks. The owners usually charge on nightly basis like the way the hotel rooms are charged – though there are some who opt for weekly rentals. 

Legally speaking, a vacation rental property is not for sale to the tourist or any other hirer and the owner of the vacation rental only lets the property on rent for a limited period of time.

The fact is vacation rentals are preferred by many over hotel accommodation for a variety of reasons like cost savings, bigger space compared to hotel rooms, greater privacy, no need to pay tips, taxes or service charges. The family members and kids, instead of being confined in a small congested space in hotels, may feel be more comfortable with lot of space to roam in a vacation rental. Most vacation villas are conveniently located - on the beachfront, city centers and close to shopping arcades and restaurants.

Furthermore, villa and many vacation rentals have kitchens for cooking so that you can avoid costly food in restaurants. There are spacious living rooms for family members to spend quality time together. In fact, many vacation rentals offer lot of floor space including multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, fully equipped kitchens and separate dining area. Besides they also provide amenities like fireplaces, private hot tubs, television etc.

The perceived demerit of vacation rentals are lack of on-site service staff, standards of cleanliness etc. But vacation rentals are now becoming more and more occupant-friendly. There are agencies that manage vacation properties for the owners and they offer services similar to hotels - front desk check-in, 24-hour maintenance, house housekeeping, concierge service etc. 

Of course, the traveler has to check on vacation rental terms before finalizing. Some vacation rentals may separately charge cleaning fee, parking fee, security deposit etc. Some vacation rentals may not allow pets, disallow smoking, impose harsh cancellation fees etc. In the final analysis, however, the advantages of vacation rentals far outweigh the couple of negatives and vacation rentals are increasingly fancied by tourists.

But, if you are traveling singly and you plan to stay only for a couple of days, you may as well opt for hotel rooms instead of a vacation rental. Again, you are a happy-go-lucky person the does not want to cook on your vacation, and leaving place in disorder, a vacation rental may not be an ideal choice for you.

Vacation rentals can range from simple apartments affordable by all to expensive luxurious private villas - some costing thousands of dollars per night.

Florida vacation rentals: Better choice

Florida is considered “Sunshine State”, with over 1200 miles of coastline and 700 miles of beach, is a vacation spot for Northeastern and Midwestern US residents. It also provides theme parks, like Disney parks located in Orlando and Tampa Busch Gardens, Kennedy Space center on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.

Travel plans:

If a person plans a vacation to Florida with his family, he can book airline tickets.  International airports like Miami, Orlando and Tampa are some of the busiest airports and provide airfare to Florida.

Why chose vacation homes over hotels?

Less expensive:
One major advantage is whole family can stay in one vacation home instead of three hotel rooms. Holiday homes provide more space for less money, more freedom and flexibility and privacy. In addition, savings provided by having the choice to prepare your own meals can save significant amount of money when compared to eating in restaurants every meal of your trip.

Room:
If 10 to 15 people are on vacation to Florida, then vacation villas are considered best compared to hotels.  As there are so many people they may require 2 to 3 hotel rooms to stay while all the people can stay in one place in vacation rental homes.  In such a way they can save money and enjoy the vacation.

Food:
When people from Canada, Spain, China and India etc visit Florida they are not comfortable eating outside.  When they stay in a Hotel they can eat only food that is available in the Hotel. If they want to make something on their own they cannot do that in Hotel. In such a scenario, vacation rental is the best solution.  Many Indians are vegetarians they cannot eat non-veg. If they stay in holiday home they can cook in the kitchen. This will not only save money but also help them eat food of their choice.

Amenities:
Vacation rentals provide many amenities than majority of hotels do. Vacation rentals tend to give full kitchens and multiple bedrooms. Many vacation rentals (holiday homes or villa) also allow pets. Pet owners can bring their pets for vacation which can make their trip more enjoyable. Do ensure that you check on the place’s pet policy before hand, though, since each owner sets his or her own rules.
Other amenities provided by vacation rentals are as follows:

  •  Telephone
  •  Air conditioning/Heating
  •  Fully screened pools
  •  Separate TV lounge
  •  TV
  •  Music center
  •  Microwave
  •  Dishwasher
  •  Dryer
  •  Washer
  •  Iron & Board
  •  Clock/Radios
  •  Coffee Maker
  •  Laundry Room
  •  Broadband Internet
  •  Community clubhouse
  •  Stunning furnishings
  •  Beautiful Kitchen
  •  Game room
By now you would have known that vacation rental is a much better place to stay than Hotels.

View this site: Vacation rentals