Taking the Plunge with Florida Villas Direct
It was with a degree of trepidation that we booked a Florida holiday through Just Florida Direct this summer. Our three sons, aged twelve, nine and six, had never been on a plane before, never mind abroad! However, for the first time, we did not have a pre-schooler in tow, with all the anxiety and paraphernalia attached to that particular age group (other parents of pre-schoolers will know exactly what I mean!)
We started off from Glasgow Airport and had a wonderful, trouble-free flight to Orlando, Sanford. Although this airport is further from the Orlando attraction area, it has the benefit of being much smaller. Transit-time from the aircraft, through passport control, luggage retrieval and customs is therefore much shorter. We picked up our hire car, pre-booked with Florida Car Rentals, but upgraded locally to a people-carrier, and set off to our Florida villa in Burford Circle, West Haven.
The travel directions provided by Just Florida Direct were faultless and our journey, which took around one hour, was easy and relaxed. We made our way through the community gate and drew up at our villa. We were all hungry, thirsty and by now, quite tired. I must admit that the thought of dropping off our luggage and going back out again to find a supermarket was beginning to weigh heavily on my shoulders!
However, I had underestimated the degree of care provided by Just Florida Direct. The wonderful sight of a pizzeria delivery menu greeted us at the door! We phoned our order through, including four 2-litre bottles of Diet Pepsi (are you sure, ma’am? FOUR 2-litre bottles?) It arrived within forty minutes. We took our food out onto the covered lanai, dragged the boys out of the pool (yes – already!) and settled down to our first meal “Stateside”.
Our Florida villa was simply superb. No detail had been forgotten. The boys had a room with ensuite each and we had a fabulous master suite with a huge shower enclosure, Roman tub and Jack & Jill basins. Piles of fluffy towels were available for our use in the bathrooms and at the pool. Even non-breakable plates and tumblers for outside use (and inside for the six-year-old!) were provided. I cannot over-emphasise how well-equipped our property was – internet access, a walk-in air-conditioned larder, super-efficient washing machine and dryer, TV in each bedroom, huge walk-in wardrobes (sorry – closets!), weekly visit from “the pool man” who cleaned the pool and tested the chlorine levels, twice-weekly refuse collections – this list goes on! I know it all sounds a bit Martha Stewart but it really was that fantastic!
The pool was really the main focus of Florida villa life. We were lucky to have an H-shaped villa, which meant that three sided of the pool were sheltered by the villa walls and the rear of the property looked out onto lush greenery, so we enjoyed complete privacy the whole time.
With great regret, we left for home after three wonderful weeks. However, five days after our return, we could wait no longer and promptly booked exactly the same Florida holiday and the same Florida villa next year though Just Florida Direct of course! In fact, we are beginning to look seriously at the possibility of moving out there, although I imagine that most people must feel the same. Never say never – watch this space!!