Family-Friendly Lodging at Global Resort Homes

The majority of us have stayed at hotels before. We know the drill and what to expect, and it might even be our first thought when deciding on a place to stay for vacation. I’d always been that way, so I was really curious to see what it would be like staying at a vacation home. We got the chance recently on our trip down to Orlando, and we absolutely loved it. It’s the perfect option for family or large groups:

• Common areas and dining areas
• Large, full kitchens
• Separate bedrooms & bathrooms
• Private pools & spas
• Covered porches, perfect for outdoor dining & socializing
• Game rooms in many houses
• Key code for front door so everyone can have access without having to dole out keys
• Gated communities with amenities like big pools, theaters, and clubhouses

The house we stayed in was a 5-bedroom, 5-bath home with a dining area, breakfast nook and spacious kitchen open to the living area. It had a great covered porch with fans that looked out onto a gate, private pool & hot tub. The garage was converted into a game room and we even had laundry setup. I can tell you all about the great features, but you’ve got to see this house for yourself.

Another perk – parking right outside your door. No schlepping luggage across a huge parking lot with luggage in tow.

Idyllic, gated neighborhood – this is a view down the street of the house we stayed at.

The common area was great – plenty of space to move around and hang out in – and it extended out into the back yard:

And it gets better… the back porch looked out onto our private, screened-in pool and hot tub. As a parent of two small children, I also really appreciated that the pool area was gated – we could leave the sliding doors wide open and let the breeze blow in.

It was mild but slightly cool during part of our stay, but the pool was heated so we could still enjoy it. Brian and I swam once, and J loved splashing around. Oh, and of course, there’s more…

Lighting! It was really pretty at night, and since it was cooler out you could even see a little bit of steam coming off the water.

Let’s talk about the bedrooms a little bit – we had six people in our group, so we only occupied the three downstairs bedrooms. Our bedroom was large and had a view out on to the pool. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and its own television, so it was nice that everyone could retreat to their own space. Check out our digs:

The boys thought the stairs were fun, so we did go explore the upstairs area a little.

So, the house could sleep 12 comfortably, and rents for as little as $340/night, which is really reasonable. If you don’t need that much space, though, Global Resort Homes also has a selection of condos available, like this one that rents for as little as $143/night and sleeps 6 people.

Now, there are a couple of things I thought of that might be concerns for staying in a home:

• Housekeeping – in a hotel, your room is cleaned for you. We were at our vacation home for 4 days/3 nights so cleaning didn’t become an issue for us, but I wondered what it would be like if you stay in a home for a week or more. Tara from Global Resort Homes let me know that there’s a cleaning service you can have come in and clean for a small additional fee.
• Parking at Disney – you’ve got to deal with this if you’re staying off-site, but to me it’s not a big issue. For one thing, the value you get from the home compared to the cost of a Disney resort more than makes up for parking costs… but I’ve also heard from some sites about saving money at Disney, there are places you can park and avoid paying for parking.

I can’t say enough good things about our experience at Global Resort Homes. The staff was professional and quick to respond to any questions we had, and they have a huge variety of homes in different communities, all close to Disney and other fun things in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. We’ll definitely stay with them again, and I’d confidently recommend them to anyone looking for a place to stay on an Orlando vacation!

Note: We received a stay at the vacation home from Global Resort Homes. We were not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are our own.