Last Minute Villas

Author Dave Leonhardt outlines his top ten list of why a family should pick a vacation rental (and specifically a vacation rental home):

1. Not toiling to find ideal, adjoining rooms.

2. Everybody gets privacy, without having to worry about where the kids are.

3. In private vacation rentals, you don’t have to share the common area with strangers, but you can still lounge around together.

4. More than one bathroom. Need I say more?

5. Lots and lots and lots of more room. This is usually the main selling feature.

6. Florida vacation rentals include a private pool, in most cases. “Great to swim with the sound of insects….fortunately outside the ‘cage’”, wrote one visitor in the guestbook of Our Dream Villa.

7. Usually cost less than hotels. Florida vacation rentals often cost less than motels on the Kissimmee strip, for example.

8. Store cold drinks, ice creams, fresh fruit or any other snacks you fancy, which is a huge cost saver, suggests Florida Golf and Disney Villa owner Christine Creasy. And a great convenience, too.

9. Barbecue any time you want. You can still eat out, but you don’t HAVE to.

10. You don’t have to take home several weeks’ supply of dirty laundry.

Read the complete article here

Private villas and bed and breakfasts are top choices for business travelers, according to Dave Leonhardt who notes in his article that

Private vacation homes, known also as holiday homes or villas are essentially houses that rent on a weekly basis. They are not much help for fly-in meetings. For those, only an airport hotel will do.

But if you plan to be in town for the better part of the week, there is nothing like kicking back in your own private home – a rental home, of course. “Hotel rooms are cramped; a villa is spacious with room to walk about. Hotel rooms have a TV and desk in the bedroom; a villa has surround sound TV and stereo with comfortable couches and chairs in various parts of the home. A hotel has a public pool; a villa has a private pool,” says Florida vacation villas rental agent Stewart Granville. “It’s private. It’s comfortable. It’s like a home away from home.”

Mr. Granville notes that a vacation home rental also serves as an office away from home, with one room dedicated to the office. “In a villa, you don’t have to sit on your bed when you type those memos. And what a great way to entertain business contacts.”

Mr. Granville specializes in renting America’s vacation heartland: Orlando, Florida, vacation homes. Business travelers often bring their family along to enjoy Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and other famous theme parks. The family plays while the business traveler works. When the meetings are over, they all head for Disney together, perhaps for another week. With family in tow, a private rental home makes much more sense than a crowded hotel room.

Read the rest of the article Alternatives for Business Travelers