Just back from Westgate Lakes and Vacation Home

[Robinrs]

I'm bushed but I had to post about my great experience with Westgate and Florida Leisure Vacation Homes. I spent two days in a studio at Westgate and 5 GLORIOUS days in a 3 bedroom vacation pool home. Needless to say I had a blast. I will post more tomorrow because I had a seven hour drive home and I have two very angry cats!

Any question I will be glad to answer!

 

[BSPECIALT]

Welcome Home Robin, Glad you had a good time. Please tell me all you can about Westgate Lakes. I have reservations for 7/12-17, 2002. I don't know whether I want to stay at the Lakes or the Villas. On the boards, more people leaned for the Lakes. I toured the Villas last August, very nice. The villas are 2 story buildings and I liked that, you didn't get the feeling of being put on top of each other, but the Lakes look like they are all 6 story bldgs. Are they all 6 story bldgs? Did you eat at Fisherman's Cave, their Restaurant? If you did, how was it? Did you do any of their activities? I know you were only there for 2 days, but please go in depth about your visit their. Have you ever stayed at the Villas? If you have, which one is the best?

Thanks

 

[Robinrs]

Wow, BSPECIALT, I wish I could answer ALL of your questions, but I was only there for two day so, no I didn't take advantage of the MANY recreations Westgate offers. We were there for the 30th and 31st of December. Both days we spent at the parks mostly. I did take the infamous tour, quite painless, I must add, and got a birdseye view of most of what the resort offers.

I did stay NEAR the Westgate Villas, in fact my vacation home was right down the way from them. They looked almost identical from the outside but I've never stayed there. I think the biggest difference is the location. The Villas are much closer to the Disney parks, while the Lakes are much closer to Seaworld and Universal.

I stayed in a studio, which was fine for me and my son. It would probably be rather tight if there were more people, especially with the jacuzzi (my FAVORITE part) out in clear sight! I took a tour of the two bedroom which was awesome! Lots of space!

Hope that helps!

 

[Robinette]

Hi Robin! I would love to hear more about the home you rented from Florida Leisure. What was the name of the developement (subdivision) and how far from Disney was it? How was the condition of the house? The pool? I just started researching companies to rent from in May so any tips would be great!

 

[Robinrs]

Hi, Robinette:

First of all I'd like to say that Florida Leisure is a very professional business that does what they say and say what they mean. That is very important to me.

I stayed in a home in a subdivision named Indian Ridge Oaks. It was about 3 miles from Disney and a real easy route to WDW. It was west of Disney and I would recommend that side because the east can get pretty congested!

The subdivision was very quiet and the entrance was beautifully decorated for the holidays. My son loved it. We were across from the tennis courts and the playground.

FL has videos of their properties and let me tell you, the pictures did nothing for our house. It was very clean and very pretty and in very good condition. I particularly liked the kids room, which was decorated with Esmeralda pillows! (wonder why I liked that?)

We had a pool but didn't get a chance to use it because of the unbelievably cold weather! BRRRRR! But we did take advantage of the jacuzzi in the master bath! After a day in the parks there was nothing like a long massage in that jacuzzi. The master bath was as big as a bedroom! My sister made a joke that we could put a bed in there and rent it out!

The house had a 2 car garage and a full size washer and dryer, which is a plus I never knew I'd need or use so much. My car is not used to the elements (spoiled) so it was great to have it in the garage, especially in that cold weather.

To make a long story short, my son and I were looking for another house to rent when he gets out of school in May! We've narrowed our selections down to two already!

Hope that helps!

 

[nhrenee]

I'm glad you enjoyed your vacation home. You had a jacuzzi in your bedroom!!! Wow!!! We never used our pool when we went in Feb either, too cold.

Looking forward to you tr!

 

[msr709]

Glad to hear you had such a good time Robinrs! Could you please tell me how you got into contact with this vacation home agent? Is there a phone no or link? I'm asking because my niece, her husband, two small children, father-in-law and her mother want to go down for May and this sounds like a perfect solution to their problem! They were thinking of getting two standard rooms or a suite but this sounds much better, is it cheaper to go with the house? Any info is greatly appreciated. In case its not allowed to give me the information I need by way of these boards, you can email me at msr709@yahoo.com. Thanks!

 

[Robinrs]

No problem, msr709. The website is www.floridaleisure.com.

I am also booking for May because since my Mom saw the video she wants to come! Sooo we're booking a 4 bedroom for May for my Mom, my sister, my son and I. I'm really looking forward to it! My Mom hasn't been on vacation in years and all she wants to do is relax and this is the way to go!

Let me know what you decide!

 

[Robinette]

Robinrs, Just thought I'd let you know I ended up booking with Florida Leisure. They had a great rate and Tracy ( the agent we talk to) was very nice. Also, I liked how we were able to see pictures of the house before we booked it. Thanks for sharing your experiences with them. I'll report back after our May vacation!

 

[msr709]

Thanks for the link Robinrs! I went into the site and saw some of the houses! I WANNA GO WITH THEM NOW!!!!! I'll let you know how it went.

 

[Robinrs]

Awesome, Robinette!

I just got off the phone with Tracy myself trying to settle up May! She is your lifeline while you're in the home and she will take care of you! I think I just about drove her crazy!

msr709, isn't it great how they have videos of the homes? I found this info out right here during a search of the boards. Instead of just guessing where everything is you get a ringside view!

Hope everything turns out fine for you all!

 

[msr709]

I took a more in depth look, all I can say is WOW! Now its just a matter of picking a house and hoping its available. Thanks again for the info, now I have to sit and wait for the others to make up their minds on how we are going to do this!! One thing about traveling with family is that you have to have a lot of PATIENCE!! LOL!! Thanks again.