February 7 is Book Direct Day!
Today, we celebrate and encourage the savvy vacationer’s practice of booking direct.
In a world of big booking platforms, dominated by the likes of Vrbo, AirBnB and Booking.com, its easy to think that these technology giants offer the best way to book a vacation.
However, that’s simply not the case! There are many powerful reasons why you should book a vacation direct with the vacation company. The best deals and the most unusual and treasured experiences are often only accessible when you book direct.
Here’s our top eight reasons why you should always book your vacation home direct.
#1. Save money
Often, the best prices are only available when you book direct. They won’t be found on the booking platforms because these booking platforms charge additional fees which are added into the overall price.
Vacation rental property management companies can offer much better prices when they don’t have a factor in these additional fees and charges. So you get the best price when you book direct.
#2. Get extra rewards
Many vacation rental businesses, including Ellis Exclusive Villas, offer special discounts for repeat bookings. This way, you can save even more money every time you book direct. Your loyalty is rewarded directly.
#3. Support the local economy
Most vacation rental businesses are small businesses and an important part of the local economy. By booking direct, you keep the revenue directly in the local economy, helping to support the places you visit. It’s great to be part of a more sustainable and local approach to booking your vacation.
#4. Personalised service and local travel tips
When you book direct, you will be in touch with the people responsible for managing the property in which you stay. They’ll be able to tell you all about the property and the local area. For example, you can find lots of tips for Florida events and attractions, including making the most of your time in the theme parks, on the Ellis Exclusive Villas Blog.
Plus, you can talk to our team direct to ask for advice. We’re always happy to answer your questions, share our tips and tricks so you can benefit from our experience and local knowledge to get the most from your vacation.
#5. Faster and better responses
Because you are dealing directly with the team responsible for managing the property in which you stay, you are going to get better and faster responses to any queries or complaints.
Instead of sending messages to bots, you can reach a real person on the ground where you are staying. You won’t have to wrangle with rigid processes or annoying technology. We’re here to help directly.
#6. More opportunity for custom packages
When you book direct, you can talk to us about your needs and we can build a package especially for you. For example, if you have accessibility needs we can direct you to the properties that would be most suited to your needs.
If you want to arrange multiple stays or longer stays, for example, booking direct enables to offer the most flexibility and the most competitive pricing.
#7. Your data stays with us
Your personal information and browsing history isn’t going to be sold and shared with multiple platforms, boosting your data privacy.
#8. Feel like a VIP
When you book direct, the personalised service you receive is a step up from the generic, automated messages of the big platforms. You’ll enjoy a much more memorable, personalised and authentic stay.
Ready to book?
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Ellis Exclusive Villas has always worked hard to ensure our homes are pristine, well maintained and spotlessly clean. It’s a vital part of our commitment to ensure guest comfort.
With the travel industry still reeling from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, we know that restoring people’s faith in travel is going to take careful and sustained effort. We believe that rebuilding this trust must be based on safeguarding our guests in the best possible way.
For this reason, we have decided to introduce further enhanced cleaning regimes for all our properties to ensure our practices meet the latest recommendations for guest protection.
The new SafeHome scheme for vacation rental properties
We’ve decided to follow the guidelines of the SafeHome initiative. This is a new scheme designed to ensure safe cleaning standards in response to the pandemic which has been launched by the two vacation industry associations: the Vacaton Rental Housekeeping Professionals (VRHP) and the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA).
Our enhanced cleaning measures include:
- Providing our staff with personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves
- Asking staff to stay at home if they have any signs of symptoms, as stated in official guidance
- All surfaces will be cleaned with hospital-grade EPA-approved disinfectants
- Special care will be paid to high touch areas, such as light switches and door handles and TV controllers, etc.
- Dining tables and breakfast bars will no longer be set, all dishes will be washed and put away
- Throws and cushions will be washed and put away in closets
- Staff will wear new gloves when handling disinfected items
- Strict waste removal processes
- Handwash and extra soap will be left for each guest arrival
- Cleaning spray and cloths will also be left in the property for guest use
- All our staff will enact strict social distancing rules
We have introduced a new cleaning checklist to help our staff adjust to the new cleaning procedures and embed the new practices. We are happy to share this with you on request.
Our pre-arrival home inspections are continuing, so you can be sure that your vacation property meets your expectations. These will be conducted by staff wearing the appropriate PPE and sanitising door handles, light switches, etc. as they go.
New virtual processes for safe, socially distanced contact with our team
In addition to the new cleaning regime, we have also made some changes to the way we communicate with our guests.
We have now switched to a virtual meet and greet process. You simply need to schedule a welcome call with our team at a post-arrival time to suit you and we will talk you through all the great features of your rental home over a virtual team meeting.
We’re also shifting all first responses to maintenance issues to a virtual system. This means we can troubleshoot issues with you over a virtual video call, rather than coming out to the property. Many issues will be resolved over this video chat.
For those issues that do require a visit to your vacation home to resolve, our staff will be enforcing strict social distancing rules. We ask that you help them to do this and remain at least two metres (six feet) away from them at all times.
While there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread through pools or hot tubs, our staff will use clean gloves whenever they are conducting maintenance in these areas.
Please help us to keep you safe
Please respect our staff if they do need to visit your property and remain the safe distance away at all times.
It is important that you also strictly adhere to the standard check out time of 10am. Prompt guest checkouts are vital if we are going to maintain these higher cleaning standards for all our guests. They also play an important role in enabling us to ensure a 72-hour vacant period before check-in for our guests.
If you know that you are likely to want a late checkout, this must be booked and paid for in advance. Please show consideration to our team and the guests that follow you by checking out promptly.
Thank you for consideration. We look forward to hosting you in Florida soon.
As Hurricane Dorian makes its way closer to Florida’s coastline, you may be feeling somewhat nervous. This is especially the case should you be coming from a country that doesn’t experience hurricanes or tropical storms.
Your first concern will be the airline. Confirm if your flight has been cancelled, delayed or scheduled to be diverted to another airport. Airlines will hold off providing any information until the last minute. Keep on top of your airline to ensure that you are made aware of any changes to your flight plans. This will enable you to prepare before you set off.
If you are staying in a hotel, the staff are well trained and will be prepared for what’s to come. Thereby keeping you informed and ensuring that all their guests staying in the hotel are well looked after and safe.
If you are staying in a vacation home you may be feeling slightly out of your depths. Don’t worry. Your Vacation Home Property Management team are at hand to ensure that the home is made secure and that all guests staying in the homes are well informed on the precautions they need to take.
Here are some points to highlight should you be staying in a Vacation Home:
Stay Informed – Follows instructions issued by the local authorities, including evacuation orders should it come to it.
Prepare before the Storm – Stock up on the following items: Water (usually 1 gallon per person). Non-perishable foods. Medicine and first aid kit (kept dry in a zip-lock bag). Batteries and flashlights. Cash (US currency – as post storm some stores may only be able to accept cash due to disruption in power). Emergency bag (packed with pillows, blankets, change of clothes, cash, passports and toiletries). Games and puzzles to keep the family occupied during the storm (try not to use mobile phones or tablets as you will want to keep the batteries to these devices fully charged in case of an emergency). Fill your car up with gas/petrol.
Prepare the home – With regards to the home itself, the Property Management team will be out preparing the home for the storm. They will remove all outdoor furniture, BBQ’s, plant pots etc and place them inside the home or garage. Please remember that they are doing this for everyone’s protection as all these items can become flying debris. Do not start to unpack the items. The Property Management team will be back once it is safe to do so and replace all items to their original positions.
Take Shelter – Your safest place during the storm is in your vacation home. Find a safe room in the centre-most part of the building on the ground floor with as may walls between you and the storm as possible. Approximately 2 hours before the storm is due to hit your area, start making your way to your designated safe space in the Vacation Home along with pillows, blankets, food, water, first aid kits, emergency bags along with games and puzzles.
During the Storm – Don’t be tempted to go outside during the storm in order to get “the most epic hurricane video of your life”. This is only putting yourself in danger and can result in very serious consequences.
Now, the most important thing of all is once everything has calmed down and you think that the storm is over, DO NOT venture outside. As you are aware the eye of the storm can bring calm conditions and can trick everyone into thinking that the storm has past over. This is not the case, the worse is yet to come as the next part of the storm moves in with winds now circulating in the opposite direction usually causing more damage then the initial part. Stay indoors until you have been given the “all clear” by the local authorities.
After the Storm – There is a possibility that electricity and water supplies will be disrupted. Flooding may occur due to the storm surge and heavy rainfall. Asses the home and notify the Property Manager of any damage you may notice. Be aware of debris and fallen trees in the roads causing road closures. Should you need to get out and about listen to the local traffic advice.
Stay and keep informed on every aspect of the storm and ensure you are prepared. Keep safe!
November is usually a quiet month for us in Orlando.
Yet it can be a wonderful month to visit. Depending which end of November you visit, you could catch the tail end of Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival or the very start of the parks’ Christmas festivities.
Either way, temperatures in the 70s are very pleasant for exploring beyond the parks and the opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping in Orlando’s malls make November a great month to visit.
Here’s the Ellis Exclusive Villas guide to getting the most out of your Orlando vacation when you stay with us in November.
The Theme Parks
Epcot’s fantastic annual event, its International Food and Wine festival, continues for the first half of the month, so during this period the crowds at Epcot may be a little busy.
However, the Halloween festivities have finished and most of the parks are quiet, making preparations for their Christmas events; the majority of which will start towards the end of November.
The first to open is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, which opens on November 11 and runs until December 22.
Epcot opens its doors to visitors at Holidays Around the World at Epcot on November 25 at the Epcot Center, Disney World and it runs until December 31, Epcot Center, Disney World.
Towards the end of the month, the parks will start getting busy again as the Holidays events start drawing in the crowds, particularly around Thanksgiving weekend.
If you are visiting around Thanksgiving weekend then be prepared for long lines and large crowds. The usual strategies for dealing with crowds apply: get to the parks early, keep a close eye on children, invest in FastPasses and, if it is your first time to the parks it is well worth thinking about using the services of a tour guide.
You can book Orlando theme park tickets through Ellis Exclusive Villas. We guarantee you won’t get a better price.
Get some advice from our professional ticket partner to make sure you get the best prices on all your excursion and park tickets. As well as guaranteeing you won’t find tickets cheaper (and offering a money-back guarantee), their advice can also help you to work out what the best deal will be and the best days to go.
The Weather
In Orlando during November you can expect high temperatures of 78°F (25˚C) with lows reaching 57°F (14˚C) – so it is still very pleasant and warm. For Brits, and others from similarly cold climes, this definitely counts as winter sun!
What’s more, the humidity also drops around time of year so you can enjoy getting out and about a bit and exploring without getting too hot. For example, the weather during our Fall trip to Mount Dora (just north of Orlando) was very pleasant, whereas it can be very hot and sticky there in the summer months.
You can expect a pleasant eight hours of sunshine per day in November.
And, while there may always the possibility of rain in Florida, the chances of it are at their lowest in November. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pack a lightweight poncho or raincoat into your daypack anyway just in case – these will come in handy on rides like Splash Mountain anyway!
Wider Central Florida
Many other attractions outside the park will begin their holiday festivities around the middle of November/ Thanksgiving weekend. One highlight is Orlando Museum of Art’s annual Festival of Trees which runs mid-month.
Check out our events list for some more ideas of things to do in the Orlando area.
Since we’re rapidly approaching Christmas, you might find the urge to visit a shopping mall or two and Orlando is well blessed for shopping malls. Whether you are into bargain hunting or designer labels, a visit to one of Orlando’s numerous shopping malls can make a really diverting excursion.
With the still warm but slightly lower temperatures, reduced humidity (and fewer bugs!) November is also a great time to explore a bit of the wider Central Florida area. It is the perfect weather for enjoying a round or two of golf at some of Orlando’s many championship golf courses.
And, if you can schedule a few days of your vacation to experience “wild Florida”, this state’s beautiful natural parks and waterways are well worth exploring. Our ticket partner, Kissimmee Guest Services, can help you with tickets for airboat rides, hot air ballooning, or off-roading trips – for slightly more unusual ways to see the State.
Your vacation home
If you are staying at an Ellis Exclusive Villas in November and you want to use its private pool you will need to book and pay for pool heat.
Let us know before you go so that the pool is warm from the beginning of your stay. It can take a few days to heat up – so don’t leave it until you get there. Please be aware that pool heat won’t heat the swimming pool (or the integrated spa pool, if you have one) up to the temperature of a warm bath. However, what it will do is take the chill off the water.
If you have paid for pool heat and your home has a pool blanket, we strongly recommend you use it for keeping the warmth in overnight. The standard pool heaters that are fitted in most of our vacation homes are only designed to run eight hours a day – so the pool blanket does help significantly in retaining some of the heat you’ve paid for.
By November we are reaching the tail end of the stormy season so you shouldn’t experience too much rain; the average rainfall for the month is considerably lower than the UK.
However, if you do experience an occasional downpour, it can sometimes affect the Wi-Fi and cable services to your vacation home. If your vacation home’s internet service is disrupted following a storm, please refer to the house manual where you will find instructions for resetting the Wi-Fi router.
Finally, if you have any questions then please contact us on the usual numbers. And, most of all, enjoy your vacation!