Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

It’s been really interesting over the last three months to see how many people are bringing their dogs with them on vacation. Demand is extremely high for vacation rental homes that will allow vacationers to bring their beloved pet with them.

Of course, a vacation home is just such a good choice because it’s really like being at home. All our Disney area vacation homes are in neighborhoods where it is really easy to take the dog for a walk. No more wondering about the area you are staying in like when you stay in a hotel. Also, providing food and water is easy too.

You can get pet food locally and then bring it back to the home and not have to worry about storage space like you might do in the average size hotel room. Further, it’s fun to lounge pool side with “Fido” by your side and while your reading a book, he or she can simply wander around as if they were at home. Now try doing that at a resort or hotel swimming pool!

If you’d like to see the vacation homes we have that are pet friendly, just go to FloridaLeisure.com

I came across this article by Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner of FullyBookedRentals.com:

Is it bait-and-switch? Not exactly. The quoted room rate is what the traveler will pay. But many travelers will be surprised and probably angered when they see the final bill.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, some hotels, feeling pressured to lower their advertised room rates in order to compete effectively, are trying to make up the difference by charging extra for things that used to be included in the nightly rate. Needless to say, many guests check out mumbling “Fool me once…” and “I’ll never stay here again.”

All of which adds up to a golden opportunity for owners to present their no-hidden-fees VR properties as a welcome alternative. Please click here for more details:

And as Joyce Copeland of Beach Vacation Rental Blog says, the hotels only have themselves to blame. Here are 5 things you are unlikely to pay for when you rent a vacation home (at least in my experience):

1. Internet/Wi-Fi

2. Parking

3. Local telephone calls

4. Laundry (most rentals have a washer a dryer)

5. Gobs of Gratuities (for the valet, the bellman, the maid, the guy who brings you room service)

Here at Florida Leisure Vacation Homes all of that list is FREE . Every home has a washer and a dryer, you can pull right up on the driveway outside your home (no dragging bags down endless hotel corridors) and most homes do have free internet hook up. All local calls are free of charge and gratuities are not expected because we pay our staff extremely well!

Also, we don’t have “resort fees” as your own private heated swimming pool is right outside your back door and is included in your rental fee!

I received some advance copies of my new book yesterday and even if I say so myself, it looks pretty good. The book launch is scheduled for Times Square, New York next month so I’m pretty excited about that!

The book will be available on Amazon on 23rd July so watch out …and do keep checking this blog as I’ll be announcing a couple of competitions shortly and the winners will get an advanced copy… and if you’re really lucky, I might even sign them. LOL

Hot on the heels of the news of Farrah Fawcett’s death today, we have now learned that pop icon Michael Jackson has passed away. Here’s a screen capture of the LA Times web site a few minutes ago.

Sad news…Farrah Fawcett died today at St. John’s Health Center in Los Angeles at 9.28am Pacific Time after a courageous and lengthy battle with anal cancer. She was 62. Longtime love Ryan O’Neal and best friend Alana Stewart were by her side while her son Redmond, who is serving time for drug offenses, was not. Only a month ago I wrote about Farrah’s valiant fight against her cancer at http://www.floridaleisureblog.com/?p=635 and it seems that time has passed by so quickly.

The “Charlie’s Angels” icon was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 2, 1947 and attended the University of Texas at Austin.

Her first break on the small screen came in the late 1960s, when she appeared in commercials. She went on to guest star on such classic TV shows such as “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Flying Nun” and “The Partridge Family.” She also appeared on several episodes of “The Six Million Dollar Man,” starring husband Lee Majors. The couple married in 1973 but separated in 1979, divorcing in 1982.

Afterwards, Farrah began an on-and-off relationship with O’Neal, and the pair had Redmond in 1985.

O’Neal issued a statement saying, “After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away. Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world.”

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations to support cancer research be made to The Farrah Fawcett Foundation c/o P.O. Box 6478, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Our thoughts are with her family.

Just spent a few minutes reading a report on the best destinations for value. It’s somewhat interesting :

Domestic:

1. Las Vegas

2. Orlando

3. Fort Lauderdale

4. New York

5. Los Angeles

Have to laugh when I read that…obviously there’s some political influence taking place here…I mean how can New York and LA ever be considered places of value with their overpriced hotels, shops, restaurants, etc. Maybe it’s a sign of the times and “recession pricing” is seeing some bargains after all.

Further, the people who did this have never been to Orlando and stayed in a vacation home. If they had, then Orlando would outpull Vegas. Vegas doesn’t have a product that can sleep 8 to 16 people in a 2000 sq ft to 3000 sq ft home for around $16 per person per night as far as I’m aware, but that’s exactly what we have in Central Florida.

Add in the fact that guests get their own fully equipped kitchen so they can save money by eating in instead of going out to expensive restaurants and that the real winner is their own private swimming pool, I’d say Orlando easily outranks Las Vegas in the “VALUE” stakes.

On the International front the top five were:

1. Rome

2. London

3. Paris

4. Madrid

5. Prague

I absolutely fail to understand what the hell London, Paris and Rome are doing in that list. They are all horrendously expensive places and value is practically impossible to find compared to places like Lisbon, Dublin and Amsterdam.

Let us know what you think. Where are the best value destinations in your opinion?

Kobe Bryant carried the Los Angeles Lakers to their 15th title with a 99-86 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 last night and it has to be said they were much the better team in this best of seven series.

The Lakers won their 15th world championship – and 10th since the team moved to Southern California in 1960 from Minneapolis and also assured their coach, Phil Jackson, of finally pulling ahead of the Boston Celtics’ Red Auerbach as being the only one ever to have 10 NBA titles on his resume.

It was a comprehensive victory as they finished off the Magic in style after a slow first period in which at one stretch they trailed by nine points (19-10) but they went on a frenzied 16-0 spurt in the second to take a 56-46 half time edge and they widened the gap during the final 24 minutes in which they never were seriously threatened.

As always, it was Kobe Bryant artfully orchestrating the proceedings with his scoring (30 points) passing (five assists), defense (two steals, four blocks, six rebounds), not to mention relentlessly cajoling teammates to keep playing hard and not to let themselves down.

The series was keenly fought and at times extremely close but overall the Lakers had the one man who was the vital difference and they emerged the worthy winners.

I love getting letters, pictures & video from our guests as it helps motivate me to keep on improving what we do for our guests. Further, it’s a great motivator for the staff at Florida Leisure as they can truly see the results of their efforts.

OK, getting paid is important to any employee but I’ve found that most really enjoy their work when their efforts are really appreciated by those they serve. That’s why the photographs and videos we recently got from the Peter’s family and friends, from Alabama, who recently stayed with us in three of our homes is so treasured.

The Peter’s family had a great time and here’s a couple of videos of them telling us all what a great time they had.
 

Here it is…last night I talked about paying it forward and having heard Ben Bernanke – Chairman of the Federal Reserve on 60 minutes saying the banks are not going to be allowed to fail and effectively argue that “we cannot allow money to contract so we’ll continue to print more”, I’m even more convinced that all the small business people, the entrepreneurs and the creators on the planet need to “Pay It Forward” as it’s quite clear that those in certain jobs have very little idea of what goes on in the real world.

I mean, does anyone seriously believe that the Government and the people in the banking world can get us out of this mess? You know the one that they created.

So who’s left? Who else is going to get us out of this?

My answer: The people who got the country out of the mess it was in after the Great Depression. Us.

President Roosevelt poured billions into the economy during the Great Depression…all we got was 25% unemployment and more misery until people started to slowly learn about giving other people value. They started asking the question: How can I serve other people? A completely new attitude formed and slowly but surely things started to turn around.

John D. Rockefeller said that “There are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again.” It did.

If we are to learn from the past we have to understand that the people who got us in to trouble cannot get us out of trouble. We have to take action ourselves.

So here’s what I’m going to do to help our economy… I’m going to offer a few lucky folks a FREE 4 day / 3 night vacation in one of our vacation homes.

Am I crazy? You may be asking yourself “How can giving people a free vacation help the economy?”

It’s a good question but here’s how I look at it;  By doing this, this will then allow the lucky winners to spend the money they would have spent on their vacation in other places… thus helping others in business and those who work for businesses. Further, vacations also help people recharge and come back refreshed so this will allow them to clear their minds and to feel that they can also contribute. They will be able to ask themselves “Now, how can I pay it forward…how can I serve others?”

So yes, that’s why I’m doing this and a FREE 4 day / 3 night vacation in Orlando is my way of contributing. All you have to do to stand a chance of winning is to go to http://twitter.com/FloridaLeisure and press “Follow” and you’ll immediately be entered in a draw that could win you a luxurious vacation in one of our fantastic homes.

For every 5,000 followers we get, we will draw one lucky winner and they’ll get to stay in one of our 3 bedroom / 2 bathroom homes with a private swimming pool where they’ll feel like a King or Queen on vacation.

But better still…a three bedroom home will sleep six people so they can bring who they like with them. This will mean that more people will have money to spend in other areas!

For those that have never stayed in a vacation home before, it’s really just like having your own “home away from home” when on vacation. Our homes each have a fully equipped kitchen and a comfortable lounge or sitting area with some homes even having two or three such areas so everyone has their own space if they want it. The homes all have completely separate bedrooms and each has a television so adults and kids can watch their own programs without fighting over the TV set. Some of our homes even have a games room which can have a pool table, table tennis (ping pong), air hockey, fuss ball, etc.

Best of all, our guests really love the private swimming pool that each home has. It’s just so much better than having to share a pool with other people and having to trek down long hotel corridors to reach it…because it’s right outside the living area…no more than a few paces away! Also, in some homes we have Jacuzzi’s or hot tub’s and there’s really nothing better at the end of a long day trekking around a theme park than coming home and climbing into the warm hot tub to relax with a nice beverage.

So here’s your chance to win… just visit us at http://twitter.com/FloridaLeisure and press “Follow” and you could be a lucky winner. We hope you are so that between us we can help jump start the economy again.

Here’s a quick reminder of the rules:

1. To register go to http://twitter.com/FloridaLeisure and press the “Follow” button.
2. You will then be entered in our prize draw.
3. For every 5,000 “followers” we get, we will draw one winner who will win a 4 day / 3 night vacation in a Florida Leisure Vacation Home.
4. The prize draw will last for 3 months initially so it will close on 30^th September.

Go there right now and “follow” us … it won’t take you more than a few seconds and before you know it, you could be on the way to sunny Orlando. Hope to see you soon.

Have a great day!

Nigel