Frequently asked questions from our guests

VillaDirect vacation rentals are rented fully furnished and have most of the equipment and amenities that your family will need to have a great vacation.

The items that we recommend that you should bring with you for your stay include:

• Light clothes.
• At least one sweater per person (sometimes it gets cold at night).
• Comfortable shoes (you'll "eat up" the miles at the theme parks)!
• Swim wear - you can buy it here if you forget.
• Brushes, make-up.
• Kids favorite toy (you can't let them leave it at home!).
• A book to read.

Either bring with you or buy on arrival:

• Toiletry items (e.g. personal soap, shampoo, conditioner).
• Prescription medicines.
• Household goods (e.g. trash liners, bathroom tissue, dish soap, etc).

Amenities and features in every home vary slightly, but all will have:

• Air conditioning.
• Bed linens and pillows.
• Private and optionally heated pool (pool homes).
• Private and optionally heated plunge/spa pool on some town-homes.
• A resort/community pool on all condominiums.
• Cable or satellite TV.
• Phone with either FREE local and long distance or FREECALL service.
• Data Port.
• Hair dryer.
• Washer/Dryer.
• Garage and/or off road parking (pool homes and town homes).
• All linens/towels.
• Arrival soaps and tissues.
• Well equipped kitchen.
• There may be other features and amenities provided.

Optional items you can order for your vacation home and stay:

• Groceries on arrival.
• MiFi high speed internet anywhere service.
• Gas BBQ grills (pool homes and town homes only).
• Baby equipment - cribs, strollers, high chairs, etc.
• Medical equipment - motorized scooters, wheelchairs, oxygen, nebulizers, etc.

And of course ...


• Theme park tickets
• Car rental for your stay

Unlike many other rental agencies, VillaDirect helps you to choose the exact villa that matches your vacation needs from our extensive portfolio of homes that we manage. To find out exactly what amenities are provided in the vacation home of your choice, simply go to the description page for that specific vacation home and there will be a list of the amenities provided.

While we can't guarantee exactly what the weather will be like when you stay at a VillaDirect rental home, we do have a pretty clear idea of how the weather will be for the period that you stay, based on the monthly averages kindly provided by the weather channel.

Month	Low (°F)	High (°F)	Rain (inches)	Snow (inches)
January	49	72	2.1	0
February	49	75	2.83	0
March	57	80	3.2	0
April	58	86	2.19	0
May	63	90	3.96	0
June	69	91	7.39	0
July	73	92	7.78	0
August	73	92	6.32	0
September	70	91	5.62	0
October	61	87	2.82	0
November	54	76	1.78	0
December	51	75	1.83	0

Please note that, because of the sub-tropical nature of Florida's climate, rain storms can be sudden and heavy. So in the peak months of rainfall (June through September), rain typically falls daily in the afternoon for a short period before clearing to give superb weather.

VillaDirect uses a star rating system to grade the homes that we manage. This gives a simple and easily recognized method of determining which home you want to stay in.

Our lowest grade, 3 star vacation homes are equivalent to most 4 star vacation rentals. Our Diamond grade homes are simply unequaled and all offer incredible quality at affordable prices.

In addition, each of our homes gets graded by guests like you. Every time a guest stays in one of our properties, they get an invite to write an independently verified review by FLIPKEY (a company owned by TripAdvisor). You get to answer questions about our service, quality, the standard of the home and put comments against the home you stayed at.

Quality, quality, quality. Unlike other management companies, some travel agents and tour operators, VillaDirect allows and encourages guests to select the vacation home that perfectly matches your needs and budget. Because we allow you to select the villa of your choice, VillaDirect has to be certain that you'll be happy and satisfied with the property that you stay in every time.

We thoroughly clean and inspect the villas after every stay, and our owners agree to our maintaining their homes in the peak of condition at all times, so they accept the additional costs involved. Quite simply, we don't use 'stock' homes that have problems like other companies.

We recommend that pool heat is chosen between October and May. Pool heat is preset. All properties that have pool heat as an option show the charge on the pricing grid on the property description page. Many of the VillaDirect property owners opt to include the cost of pool heat within their rental charges - so you don't have to pay a separate fee.

Many of the properties that are offered also feature spa pools, and this additional amenity is identified in the description. Guests should note that a spa pool (or raised spa) is not a hot-tub. The temperature of a spa pool is typically set at the same level as the main pool. Guests should not expect hot-tub like temperatures to be available on spa pools.

Please note that, in extreme weather conditions (below 55°F), electrically heated pools will not operate. While we take every precaution to ensure that pools are heated as specified, weather conditions may (rarely) affect the temperature of the pool. Please see the Terms and Conditions page for more details concerning Pool Heat charges.

Most of the pool homes offered through VillaDirect have an in-ground spa pool (spa). A spa is a small raised pool area with seating that overflows in to the main pool. Spas have air jets which create bubbles. Spas are a common feature on many Florida pools. Spas will only heat when pool heat is requested and paid for. Spas will only heat to the temperate of the pool (i.e. between 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit).

A hot tub is a stand alone, above deck unit that will heat to approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit and also has jets. VillaDirect does offer some limited properties with hot tubs, and these are specifically advertised as hot-tubs.

Please be specific when booking your vacation pool home regarding the amenity you are looking for.

VillaDirect properties are rented to guests on a "self-catering" basis. Each and every VillaDirect property is cleaned on departure of every guest party, and inspected prior to your arrival. For your convenience and hygiene, each home is provided with a dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, mop, vacuum, brush and pan for maintaining the property cleanliness during your stay. All homes are treated regularly for insects, and the pools are treated to maintain their cleanliness.

Some guests request a mid-term clean, which can be arranged in advance through our office for a standard fee.

In brief, your deposit payment is due at the time of booking, to confirm and hold the reservation. Final payment of all rentals, options, and taxes are due 60 days prior to the arrival date. The Accidental Damage Waiver is due at the time of your final payment. Payment for tickets, car rental, groceries, and/or baby equipment hire is due at the time of purchase.

You can also choose to pay with our flexible pay option. The Lay-Away-And-Stay payment option allows you to spread the cost of your whole vacation over whatever period you wish.

A full set of VillaDirect terms and conditions of rental can be found on the General Info tab home page menu.

To help you decide which of our fabulous properties is right for your family vacation, VillaDirect vacation homes provides information about the proximity of your property to the major attractions in Kissimmee and Florida. On the property description page, that you reach from the search results page, you will find a description of the property and its location, miles to Walt Disney World® Resort or nearest attraction center. You'll also find a link button to show the location of the property on Google Maps.

VillaDirect has selected a fixed point on Walt Disney World® Resort property to help us to accurately calculate the number of miles to all vacation homes consistently. The actual mileage to your specific home may differ slightly, owing to the direction taken to reach that point.

All VillaDirect properties are equipped with at least one phone for outgoing and incoming calls. Our Arrival Guide provides the telephone number of the property that you are staying at for your use. Many of our 4 star and Diamond homes also offer an answer-phone as standard in the property.

Telephones in our properties offer either the FREECALL system or FREE local and long distance calling plans. The FREECALL system allows you to make local, long-distance, and international calls AT NO CHARGE during your stay. Don't worry about how long your teenager is on the phone - we'll "pick up the tab"! The FREECALL telephone service provides free international calls to over 170 countries, but is not available to all countries, especially those where telecoms fraud is prevalent. The small list of international countries that are excluded can be provided to you by requesting the list in writing before your stay. If you dial an international number which is not included on the available list during your stay, then the call will not go through, and you may receive a message, or an operator may come on the line. You will not be charged for a call to an excluded country, unless you call the operator and place a credit card call.

The main telephone in each home also provides a speed dial system for services and products regularly used by our guests, like, pizza delivery, dry cleaning, taxi services, calls to our office, etc. The main telephone at each property also has a data port on the side. Please note that dial-up connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) must be made through this port in order for FREECALL to apply. If you try to connect to an ISP directly through the wall outlet, your connection will not work.

The Better Business Bureau is an organization in the USA that assesses companies for their reliability and monitors them for the customer service, reliability and security. In order to achieve the BBB On-line Reliability logo displayed on our pages, VillaDirect has met a number of criteria, including the following:

• We are a member of the local Better Business Bureau in Orlando.
  
• We have provided BBB with and they have verified information regarding our company ownership, management, address and telephone numbers where we do business.
  
• We have been in business for more than three years. We have a satisfactory, published complaint handling methodology and record with the local BBB.
  
• We have agreed to participate in the advertising standards of the BBB, and agree to withdraw on-line advertising when challenged by the BBB and found not to be substantiated or not in compliance with their advertising guidelines (general and children's).
  
• We respond promptly to any and all complaints, whether on-line, by phone or in person. We actively seek to exceed the standards set out by the Better Business Bureau for complaint handling procedures and rectification of customer complaints. VillaDirect has had a "zero complaint resolution" record for the last 5 years.
  
• VillaDirect agrees to abide by the BBB dispute resolution program, for unresolved disputes involving customer products or services advertised and /or promoted on-line.
  

This independent assessment of our reliability is just one of the ways that our guests can be assured that they will receive a high quality of service and that our promises shown on these web sites are validated.

Please see the "Helpful booking tips - How to Book" article on the front page menu. The article guides you through the on-line telephone booking process to get your family a great vacation home for your next trip to Orlando.

Very easily! Just click on the directions you need on the "Directions to VillaDirect office" page that can be reached from the menu on General Info home page. We've got really easy directions available - together with a Google Map Link and PDF directions sheets for each route.

A New Community Discount is offered by VillaDirect against each property where there is current building work in progress within 300 feet (91.44 meters) of the property (in any direction) that may possibly affect your stay.

The discount is shown and deducted automatically from the on-line quotation, or will be explained verbally when making a telephone reservation.

The company has sole discretion as to the dates when this discount will be applied, and the extent of the construction, i.e., the company will determine if the discount applies. Guests who choose to book this property will receive the The New Community Discount as the sole compensation for any inconvenience caused. No further compensation, moves to different properties, or other remedies will be offered to the guest. In many cases, the construction works nearby will not effect your vacation stay at the property, but the VillaDirect policy is designed to advise guests prior to arrival of such potential for inconvenience.

Accidental Damage Waiver is designed to reduce the amount of money that you have to pay when staying at a vacation home. In the past, guests were asked to make a "security" deposit, leaving a large sum of money with the managing agent in case of damage to the property during their stay. In many cases, guests complained to us that (when they had booked with other companies) they had to wait until weeks after their departure before they got their security deposit back.

VillaDirect was one of the first companies to offer Accidental Damage Waiver (ADW) to be a nominal amount of money that the guest only has to pay once - and that covers the majority of potential damages that occur during their stay. For full details of Accidental Damage Waiver - please click on the link.

VillaDirect books over 8,000 reservations each year with guests from all around the USA and other parts of the world. Each month, we receive calls from guests who have booked their vacation - only to find that some family emergency or work-related commitment means that they unexpectedly have to change their vacation plans and cancel.

If that guest purchased the VillaDirect Cancellation Protection (VCP), then such a cancellation is only covered under the terms of the VillaDirect Cancellation Protection plan.

If the guest has not purchased VCP as a part of their reservation, then the risk losing their deposit or other moneys paid under the terms details in our general terms and conditions of rental.

Vacation homes are not the same as hotels. Once you have made a booking and commitment, the booking blocks that specific home from other guests booking it - so if you cancel, the owner of the home will make a loss, which is why the cancellation terms are more demanding.

VillaDirect strongly recommends that all guests include the VCP option in their purchase to protect them against such unforeseen cancellations.