Best price? No… We’re out to provide the best value!

Every once in a while, I get asked about our rates… because, well… frankly, we’re not the cheapest vacation rentals in the Orlando area. We’re also not the most expensive either.  Frankly, what others charge is of little importance to us. We’re out to provide the best value in a quality vacation rental.  That’s a tricky balancing act.

Let’s face it. There are some owners willing to let their property go at such low rates that they must have little confidence in what they have to offer, combined with a good dash of desperation to get bookings, no matter how much they have to lose to do it!

We do not set our rates to try and compete with what other owners are either desperate or foolish enough to let their properties go for.  Instead, we charge a rate necessary to allow us to provide a quality vacation rental experience of which we can be proud, and would be happy to have our own friends and family enjoy and report back to ourselves and others about the quality of our properties, our service, and our value.

Of course, vacation rentals are a form of real estate, which means that location and convenience play a significant factor in establishing value. Even though our homes are very safe, quiet and relaxing, and surrounded by beautiful conservation lands and a natural lake (not just a dugout) our guests can still reach the Magic Kingdom at the far North end of the Disney World property in under 15 minutes. Guests also place a premium on the privacy of our properties, preferring as one recent inquirer described it “to not be in the fishbowl” of typical vacation rental pool homes built right on top of each other. While some vacation rentals have no rear neighbours, few also have no pool area side neighbours, like at Breezy Oak Villa. And even if a villa has side neighbors, it is rare to find one where they are as far away as they are at Pleasant Oak Villa.

With our rates, our properties are typically booked 45 out of 52 weeks per year. Few of the lower priced properties achieve as a high a rate of occupancy as we do, so obviously price is not the primary factor for most people when choosing a vacation rental. When an average single hotel room in the Orlando area costs $165 per night (averaged over the entire year), it is clear that most guests have no interest in risking the quality of their vacation on a bargain priced vacation rental, and recognize the value we provide.

We will soon be celebrating our 7th anniversary of vacation rental ownership and business. In that time we have watched many inexperienced or unknowing owners purchase properties and then have to sell out or be foreclosed upon because they don’t know how to operate in a business like manner. (The typical cycle from purchase to sell-out is three years.) Unfortunately we have also seen a number of guests who have had their vacations negatively impacted as a result.

In almost all cases, the start of the guest’s troubles can be traced back to shopping for a vacation rental based on price.  Don’t do it!  Look for value – what you get for what you pay – pay attention to past guest’s comments on the value that they received.

It is our objective to attract customers who can appreciate the quality of what we offer, and afford to pay a fair price for it. I’m sure that our guests appreciate that it makes no sense for us to subsidize other people’s vacations, yet that is what some owners do when they offer their properties below the cost of owning and operating them. Our rates and our hard work are what allow us to have accumulated nearly 40 5-Star recommendations and testimonials on VRBO/HomeAway in just three years, plus 60 more in our own files!  Frankly, it costs money to accomplish that!

We’ll continue to update and renew our properties as we go along.  We want to have in-demand properties 25 years from now, just as we do now.  Many properties start out great, but get driven into the ground over time, as their owners are not prepared (or can’t afford) to renovate and renew them over time.  We want our guests to always be able to trust in the quality of what we provide.

Bargain basement?  Nope.  We’re shooting for quality and value.  That’s what our guests pay for, what they expect, and what we deliver.  There are no short cuts when you want to do things right!