FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

The villa is located on the Hampton Lakes resort which is 3 miles south of US-192 on US-27. Once you have fully paid for your booking and approximately 3 weeks prior to arrival we will provide you with a 17 page 'Welcome guide' containing lots of useful information including the villa's address, directions to it from your arriving airport and how to access the property, plus full details on all the facilities the villa has to offer.

A visa is not normally required for citizens of most EU countries or Australia and New Zealand, however, the United States government frequently reviews and updates the entry requirements. To check that you and your party all meet the current criteria and have the correct passports please visit the web site of the US Department of State. If your are eligible to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) then the I-94W forms will be issued to you by the flight attendants on the outward flight to the USA.

Smoking is not permitted in any part of the villa with the exception of the pool deck area. Smoking in rental villas and almost all other public or commercial indoor spaces is prohibited under the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act. Please read our Terms & Conditions for further details.

With the exception of guide dogs, and only then by prior approval, no pets of any description are allowed to stay at the villa. Please read our Terms & Conditions for further details.

We recommend that you do rent a car as our villa is on a private community and is not served by any public transportation routes. We always book our rental car with Dollar through Airline Network as they are one of only a few companies to have on-airport pick up at Orlando International and we always receive a good service from Dollar.
If you have children of 5 years of age or younger the use of child safety seats is compulsory and the car rental company may not release the car to you without having the appropriate seats for your children fitted. The rental charges for these seats can range from $10 to $15 per day so may wish to consider bringing your own seats. Please visit the Florida Highway Patrol web site for further information.

English Rose Homes & Management Inc. who are a well established professional management company, who ensure the villa is maintained to the highest standards. Their services include housekeeping, weekly pool care, and general maintenance of the villa. They are also on-hand from their office just 2 minutes away to assist you during your stay in the unlikely event that you have a problem at our villa.

It is fully air-conditioned and climate controlled with the exception of the garage area. In addition the family room, master and second bedroom suites all have ceiling fans.

It has two telephone lines with one of them having free unlimited local and long distance calling to anywhere in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and selected European countries including the UK, Ireland, Italy, France and Spain* using a VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone, it works just like a standard telephone and is crystal clear. From the other line free local calls can be made, and we will provide you with both telephone numbers before you go so that you can give them to family and friends (should you wish to).

*Please note that calls made on the VoIP telephone to European numbers excludes calls to cell/mobile phone numbers or to special services numbers such as toll-free or caller-paid information services or 900 numbers all of which are chargeable. Please check our Terms & Conditions for further details.

In the family room is a large television with full 80+ channel cable service, multi-region DVD player with card reader for digital photo playback, multi CD Hifi system (it can also play mp3 CDs) and Microsoft Xbox with several games. In addition all four bedrooms have televisions connected to the cable network and clock/radio alarms, with one also having a DVD player and portable CD/radio stereo. A selection of children's board games and paperback books are available to you. The villa is also equipped with a PC and high-speed wireless internet access.

It does not but you will see many other villas advertised with a 'games room' as a key feature, however, these rooms are almost always just the garage of the property which has been turned into a makeshift room with no air conditioning or windows and perhaps just a couple of fans to keep you cool! With so many other fantastic things to do plus an endless supply of sunshine it is a mystery to us why anyone would take a vacation to Florida and then spend it in a very hot garage playing pool or darts! More importantly though should there be an accident while using such a facility the owner's liability insurance and your own travel insurance may not cover you. The conversion of a garage into a habitable room requires the approval of the local county to ensure that it complies with the Florida Building Code, but many villa owners who create these 'games rooms' disregard this and so their conversions are not approved and potentially do not meet health and safety legislation.

The villa has high speed wireless (WiFi) DSL (broadband) access, so you if you have a laptop PC then bring it along you can connect to our network for free. If you do not a have a notebook PC, then you can use the villa's desktop computer which features a 19" LCD screen, 13 in 1 media card reader, CD rewriter, MS Office and audio conferencing via Skype or MSN messenger. There are no usage or download limits on the service so you can use it to copy your digital photos to CD, keep in touch with family and friends or perhaps check information on the local attractions.

Just yourself and your clothes, our villa is fully equipped to be like a home from home and has all the bed linen and towels you will need. The housekeeper will also leave toilet tissue and soap in each bathroom plus a complimentary tea & coffee pack in the kitchen. You will just need to bring your own beach towels for when you use the pool.

These are available by prior arrangement with either a standard or luxury one available, and can be nice to have after a long journey and will save you a trip to the grocery store on arrival. Please indicate your requirements on your booking form.

A Publix grocery store is just 1 mile north at Berry Town Center on US-27, and is open everyday from 8am to 10pm. A Wal-Mart Super center is located a further 4 miles north on US-27, and is open 24 hours a day and stocks everything from milk to car tires.

Please visit our Dining & nightlife page which has lots of information and links dedicated to this subject.

It has a fully equipped utility room with a (large if you are from the UK) washing machine and tumble dryer, plus an iron and ironing board. You just need to supply your own washing detergent.

Hampton Lakes is a very peaceful and quiet location, however, for your added peace of mind the villa has a Brinks 24/7 monitored home security system from which you can instantly call the police, fire or medical services should you require them simply by pressing a button on one of the keypads. In addition to this the villa has a security safe to store your valuables. Hampton Lakes is also regularly patrolled during the day by the local Sheriff's department.

Only gas powered barbeques are permitted to be used in rental properties and these can be hired for $35/£21/€30 per week through our management company. Please indicate your requirements on the booking form.

The villa's pool and deck area is fitted with two safety features:

• Safety fence – a 4 ft high mesh fence runs the entire width of the deck between the pool and patio door to protect children from accessing the pool. If you do not wish to use this safety device then at your own and your party’s risk you are permitted to roll it back to each side of the deck area.
• Exit door alarm – is fitted to the slider door that leads to the pool area and is installed for your children's safety. The alarm will sound within a few seconds of the door being opened unless a reset button situated at high level is pressed.

Please note these devices are not a substitute to ensuring that all young children and non–swimmers are supervised at all times. Remember that it is safer to swim with someone else rather than alone.

During the summer months the pool and spa will be warm enough for most people without the need for supplementary heating. However, it has an electric heating system which is available at an additional cost and should be requested at the time of booking so that it is switched on in advance of your arrival to allow the water warm up to around 31°C/88°F. Please note that if the outside temperature falls below 7°C/45°F the heating system will shut down, please read our Terms & Conditions for further details. The pool also has a roll away solar cover, and is used in conjunction with the heating system during the cooler winter months to help maintain the pool's temperature at night and when not in use.

The screen is made from a fine mesh and is there to stop insects, debris and the Florida wildlife from reaching you and the pool. The enclosure also helps by blocking some of the sun's direct heat while letting the breeze blow through making it cooler and more comfortable.

A high-chair, stroller and crib are available in the villa at no extra charge. If you need more than just one of each then they can be hired from our management company please contact us for further information.
If you require a babysitting service then please contact Sunshine babysitting service which has a comprehensive register of sitters and offer guests access to a fully checked babysitter at any time of year within as little as 2 hours notice. Call Cheryl at the following numbers (24 hrs): 321-228-5849 or 407-421-6505.

If you have children of 5 years of age or younger the use of child safety seats is compulsory and the car rental company may not release the car to you without having the appropriate seats for your children fitted. The rental charges for these seats can range from $10 to $15 per day so may wish to consider bringing your own seats. Please visit the Florida Highway Patrol web site for further information.

This can be provided by local arrangement with our management company, the cost of a daily maid service is $35/£21/€30 per day. You are of course expected to keep the villa clean and tidy during your stay as you would your own home.

This is available through our management company and can be helpful after a long flight or if this is your first trip to Orlando. Please notify us in advance should wish to have this service.

Orlando is in a sub-tropical zone and has all-year round sunshine. January is the coldest month in Orlando, if you consider a low of 10°C (50°F) and a high around 22°C (72°F) cold. July and August are very hot and humid, with highs around 33°C (91°F), 95% humidity and frequent but short afternoon downpours.

A good UK based web site to visit is Airline Network as it will check all the airline and car rental companies for the best rates. You will usually find that the cheapest flights from the UK and Europe are non-direct ones with a US carrier (i.e. via another airport in the USA). This option can have an additional advantage as you will avoid the often long immigration queues at Orlando International offsetting the time saved by a direct flight.
If you traveling from the UK another option is fly into Sanford airport, as it is used by many of the budget airlines who offer some very good fares. The downside to doing this is that Sanford airport is about 75 minutes from the villa, but Orlando International is just 35 minutes away.

You can of course wait until you arrive and buy your tickets at the parks, but you will probably get a better deal by purchasing them ahead of time, and there are many licensed ticket agents on the internet. If you are visitor from the UK then there are special ticket packages available, and a good web site to visit is Theme Park Tickets Direct as they offer 7, 14 or 21 day Walt Disney World Resort passes. These give you unlimited access to all the main parks plus the water parks, Pleasure Island, Disney Quest etc. and are very good value. They also have ticket packages for the other parks in Orlando.

Aside from renting our villa we also use it as our vacation home too, and so unlike many other villas you will see which are never used or cared for by their owners we invest time and effort into ensuring our villa is presented to the very best standard with the best facilities. So before booking your vacation at another villa please consider these points first:

• Our villa is located at Hampton Lakes which is one the best maintained and most sort after subdivisions (resorts) for villa rentals in the Disney area.
• We manage all of our bookings personally giving you an individual service matched to your requirements and are happy to answer any query you might have about the villa or Florida, from our near 20 years experience of traveling across the USA. If you book through a large rental or package holiday company their staff do not have the time or knowledge to offer this service, despite their claims.
• If you book a villa through a vacation or package tour operator your accommodation is normally allocated on arrival so you could be placed in a property anywhere in the Orlando area with no guarantee that it will be close to the attractions or that you will be staying at a fabulous villa like ours
• The photographs shown on this web site are only of our villa and were all recently taken by us, some other villas advertised on the internet can have photographs of the property from when it was new or even generic photographs of another villa all together.
• We only rent our villa to private individuals and never to holiday or rental companies and by doing so it enables us not only to maintain the property to a very high standard but also offer the best rates by booking directly with us.

And don't just take our word for it please check our Testimonials page to see what our guests have to say about the villa and our service, and find out a little more about us too.

Buying a second property potentially in another country several thousand miles from home is a big commitment and should be carefully researched and considered. Remember spending 2 weeks on vacation at a villa such as ours is a whole lot different to owning and running one throughout the year, but the fun and enjoyment from having your own place in the sun is a fantastic.
So if you decide that it is right for you then the first step is to find a licensed Realtor who will act on your behalf and in your best interests. There are many such Realtors to choose from but Moe and Rod Doyle of Moe Doyle Realty Inc. helped us buy our home, and we have no hesitation in recommending that you contact Moe and Rod to assist you in buying your dream home in Orlando.