The Incredible Breezy Oak Villas Website – Articles and Pages Index

The Incredible Breezy Oak Villas Website – Articles and Pages Index

We’ve worked very hard to put together the most comprehensive and helpful individual Vacation Rental Website on the internet! It is a wealth of information and help, but with over 300 pages and growing, it can be overwhelming as well. (And for us too!) Do you need to read all

Optional Items and Extra Charges at Breezy Oak Villas

Optional Items and Extra Charges at Breezy Oak Villas

Rob, why do you make things optional and charge extra for them? We often see them included for free at vacation rentals! Thanks for your question. I’m happy to share with you details why we charge for optional items as we do. In a business, nothing is ever free. When

Why Rental Rates are so Cheap in Orlando, and why YOU should care

Why Rental Rates are so Cheap in Orlando, and why YOU should care

This is Part II of a two-part series. Part I discusses Setting a Budget for an Orlando Vacation Rental. Here in Part II we discuss Orlando’s cheap rental rates, how they affect your budget, and why you should care. A great friend of mine in the Orlando Vacation Rental business

Your Budget (And why you might want to revise it.)

Your Budget (And why you might want to revise it.)

Every once in a while, I will get a guest reply back to me in response to a quote that I have provided, saying that our rates are more than their budget. This always leaves me wondering… “How did you set your budget?” This is Part I of a two-part

Self-Catering

Like almost all vacation rental homes, our home is ‘self-catering’. This means that you must take care of your own day-to-day needs while staying at the home, as staff are not available to cater to your needs. This means specifically that you are responsible for providing your own food, along

Villa Cleaning

Villa Cleaning

The villa should be suitably clean and ready for your arrival. If not, please let me know immediately so that I can get it tended to, but please also keep in mind that our cleaners have only three to four hours in between guests to get the house ready. That

It’s a vacation villa, not your home!

It’s a vacation villa, not your home!

After distorted expectations, or forgetting that the villa won’t look just like it did in its online pictures, here’s the next most common mistake a few odd guests make. They forget where they are! A vacation rental villa is not their home. Nor is it the equivalent of it. It

Must I clean when I leave?

Must I clean when I leave?

It has become fashionable in recent years to complain about having to ‘clean up’ when leaving a vacation rental. The typical comment is “I’ve paid a cleaning fee as part of my rental, why do I have to clean the place before I leave?” First of all, you don’t. But you

Comprehensive Guide to What to See and Do in Orlando, Florida

Comprehensive Guide to What to See and Do in Orlando, Florida

Let’s face it… There’s so much to see and do in Orlando, you just may be gripped by FOMO when deciding what to do. That’s the Fear Of Missing Out for those not in the know. Well, to ensure that you don’t miss out on anything, we present the Breezy

Hey! Where’s my Security Deposit Refund?

Hey! Where’s my Security Deposit Refund?

Hi Robert. I’m just wondering when my security deposit will be refunded. I haven’t seen it on my credit card statement… Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, you are sort of catching us in the midst of some long-term policy changes and the process of updating our information for guests, so

Disney’s dirty secret!

Disney’s dirty secret!

Keeping Disney in Perspective… When thinking about all things Disney, including a Walt Disney World Vacation, it’s important to keep in mind what the Disney Magic runs on! It’s kind of Disney’s dirty secret! And no, it’s not imagination, although there is certainly plenty of that employed in the Disney

Visiting Disney World? Many families (and especially Travel Writers) are doing it wrong!

Visiting Disney World? Many families (and especially Travel Writers) are doing it wrong!

Travelling to experience Walt Disney World in Florida? Families (and especially Travel Writers) are doing it all wrong! I understand that many travel writers get free stays and other perks to come to Walt Disney World and write about a trip to the theme park capital of the world. But

AAA or Military Discounts – Why we don’t offer them

AAA or Military Discounts – Why we don’t offer them

Do you provide AAA discounts or anything like that? What is the best price we can get? Our two vacation homes are privately owned, and self-managed. We don’t provide AAA or ‘military’ discounts because we give everyone the best price that we can. For a hotel to be able to

Differences in Rates Explained

Differences in Rates Explained

I’m trying to decide between your properties, and it appears that they rent for similar rates, but my quotes show a big discrepancy for the same dates at different homes. I thought one was bigger and nicer than the other? Why the difference in price? While what you say is

BBQ Rentals at Breezy Oak Villas

BBQ Rentals at Breezy Oak Villas

Rob, what’s included with your BBQ rentals? (We often see them included for free at vacation rentals!) Thanks for your question. I’m happy to share with you details of exactly what we provide and why we charge for it. This is an update of an article written years ago about

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #8

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #8

Tip #8 The biggest way to save on a Disney World trip is how, where and what you eat! The simplest way to do this is to avoid all of the tourist traps for food… like food in the parks and the hundreds of restaurants in the area, and to

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #7

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #7

Tip #7 Take a Rain Poncho! Take folded rain ponchos with you to the theme parks. In the summer, you will need them for the frequent but short downpours which happen every day in Central Florida. In the winter, you can use them to keep from getting drenched on many

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #6

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #6

Tip #6 Save your Feet! This one is simple. Disney World is not the place to be fashionable! Wear good quality, well broken-in running shoes for a day in the theme parks. You will be walking, on average, at least five miles. Bring two pairs from home. You may very

Is the villa close to the Orlando airport?

Is the villa close to the Orlando airport?

I received an inquiry, from someone asking if the villas are ‘close’ to the Orlando airport. This is one of those situations where the correct answer is “it depends”. Whether or not you consider the villa to be close to the Orlando airport depends upon how you define ‘close’ and

How to Spot Good (& Bad) Properties on Vacation Rental Listing Sites

How to Spot Good (& Bad) Properties on Vacation Rental Listing Sites

How to find a Great Vacation Rental in the Orlando Area When looking for a vacation rental property on an online vacation rental listing site, the number of choices can be dizzying and confusing. How do you know which is a good property and which isn’t? Most operators in Orlando

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #5

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #5

Tip #5 WalMart for Souvenirs! Almost all of the unique theme park merchandise and souvenirs are available at The World of Disney Store talked about in tip #4 and there are some really terrific offerings, but like all things Disney, they are pricey. If you want to save on Disney branded

Do we Accept Foreign Currencies in Payment for the Villas?

Do we Accept Foreign Currencies in Payment for the Villas?

We occasionally get asked about accepting payment in Canadian Dollars or Great Britain Pounds. All of our transactions are conducted in US$ funds. It really makes no sense for us to accept anything else, as all of our villa expenses and operating costs are of course paid in US dollars.

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #4

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #4

Tip #4 Don’t Waste Theme Park Time Shopping! Don’t waste expensive theme park time shopping for stuff in stores inside the park (food that you’ll consume immediately, and a few unique demonstration stores are another matter). While this is very tempting, practically everything sold in the parks is available at

How soon in advance should I book my Florida Vacation Rental?

As you think about your Florida trip, you may be wondering ‘How soon in advance should I book my villa?’ This really depends upon what season during the year you are planning to come and stay with us. We use information from Disney in reviewing and planning our rate seasons

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #3

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #3

Tip #3 Take food with you to Disney Parks! Disney allows outside food into the parks in soft-shell containers (not coolers). Freeze plastic water bottles the night before (the soft sided collapsible ones work great because they take less space as they empty), and take snacks (and even lunch), like

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #2

My Best Tips and Tricks as a Disney Expert #2

Tip #2 Don’t leave the parks mid-day!! Ignore the advice of the vast majority of travel writers who write about a trip to Disney World using information fed to them by Disney, especially when they recommend leaving the parks mid-day to go back to your hotel for a nap or

TV Streaming at the Villas

TV Streaming at the Villas

To our beloved guests! In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic Our Cable Television Provider declared Bankruptcy!! And what this meant for us and guests of our Florida properties, is NO TV cable service as of July 2020. Welcome to the Digital Age! We are completing our transition to Streaming

Our Smoking Policy

Our Smoking Policy

We ask those guests who simply must smoke to please do so off the villa property. Here’s why… We have a pretty strict non-smoking policy, and we are aware that it presents a challenge for some guests. We get asked questions about it periodically, so here are some details of

The Plum Guide – How would THEY rank? – Part 3

The Plum Guide – How would THEY rank? – Part 3

If you’re not familiar with Plum Guide, before you devour this information, please go back to the beginning and read the article that is the first part of this series. In the first article of this series, we took a look at the Plum Guide and introduced the concept. In

The Plum Guide – How would we rank? – Part 2

The Plum Guide – How would we rank? – Part 2

If you’re not familiar with Plum Guide*, before you devour this information, please go back to the beginning and read the article that is the first part of this series. Before we get into things in detail, know that the Plum Guide is very AirBnB centric; some of their expectations