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

Hotels vs. Vacation Home Rentals

By Nigel G. Worrall

America is a nation of hotel lovers. When we’re planning a trip the first thing that comes to mind is “Where are we going to stay?” Usually we want somewhere comfortable, somewhere clean and somewhere where all the family can relax. We imagine the perfect vacation or business trip and hope that the hotel can provide us with a nice room and a quick and easy check in / check out process.

Reality is though, that it rarely happens that way. Even when staying at the top hotels in the country something always seems to go wrong whether it be with the hotel itself or with the accommodation. Relaxing it isn’t. Stressful it is. From the time you arrive there is always potential for disaster. From lengthy lines at check in, to actually arriving at your room and finding things not as you planned. It might even be something else around the hotel, like a restaurant, fitness center or the swimming pool being understaffed or worse, closed.

Imagine this scenario; you’re having a large family reunion in Orlando and you’ve tried several hotels in the hope of accommodating you all. You eventually find a hotel that can provide accommodation but you arrive to find that you are spread out all over the place as the hotel couldn’t guarantee to locate you in the same part of the hotel complex let alone on the same floor. It’s a mess and getting everyone together proves impossible.

Traveling as a small family can be just as bad, as many hotels only offer a choice of a room with two Queen sized beds or one King. If you’re taking the kids that means there’s not much privacy for Mom & Pop and then there’s always the constant fights as everyone gets to argue about what to watch on television. It’s even worse when it comes to bedtime as some folks want to sleep and others want to catch the late night movie. In the end someone ends up being frustrated or annoyed.

There is a stress free option though and one that more and more families are finding out about and coming to enjoy experiencing; vacation home rentals.

For around the same money that you would pay at a hotel, you can actually rent a luxurious vacation home that comes equipped with everything you need to make you feel at home. Homes are typically available with anywhere from three to seven separate bedrooms meaning everyone gets their own space to do as they want.  Some homes, particularly in the warmer climates, even have a private heated swimming pool while some homes may have a hot tub or Jacuzzi as well.

Many vacation homes have other great amenities such as large screen TV’s, Xbox or PS2 gaming consoles and even dedicated games rooms with pool, foosball or ping pong tables. All of this means that after a fun filled day out, you can actually enjoy returning home to rest and relax while the kids find plenty to do.

Another major advantage of a vacation rental home is the fact they all come equipped with a full size kitchen. No longer are you dependent on when the restaurant is open or what is on the menu, now you get to pick what you want to eat and when you want to eat it. On occasion dining out is  a nice treat but not everyone wants to go out every meal time and a vacation home gives the option to have a quiet night in and enjoy some home cooking as well as save some cash.

Maybe it’s time to try something different on your next vacation? Vacation rentals are great value and once you’ve stayed in one, you’ll think twice about staying in a hotel again.

As I write today’s blog I feel like a two tennis players that have played an epic 5 sets…the Isner / Mahut match finally ended when Isner hit a backhand up the line to win the last of the match’s 980 points by the way! In doing so the longest match, by some distance, ended as Isner defeated Mahut in the fifth set by an amazing 70 games to 68!

This first round marathon took 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days and lasted so long that play had to be suspended two nights in a row due to darkness. Play resumed yesterday at 59 games all and and took just over an hour to finish as the players battled out a further 20 games.

So here are the records that the match set:

Longest match, 11 hours, 5 minutes.

Longest set, 8 hours 11 minutes

Most games in a match, 183

Longest games in a set, 138

Most points in a match, 980

Most points in a set, 711

Most aces by both players, 215 (Isner 112, Mahut 103) and by one player, Isner

Most service games held by both players, 180 of 183

Most consecutive service games held by both players, 168 and by one player, 84 each.

And one final record…longest final set … 8 hours 11 minutes which was almost two hours longer than the previous longest match of 6 hours 33 minutes!

So why do I feel almost as tired as these two guys…simple…I’m doing College tours as my youngest daughter prepares for next year! Anyone who’s ever walked around campus after campus will tell you it’s exhausting and here in North Carolina where the heat is touching 95 degrees, it’s no exception.

Of course, thousands of students and parents are making these trips this Summer and it seems this is one area of the economy that seems recession proof. Yesterday I made three visit to colleges in the North Carolina area and it was an interesting study in how the college business attracts its customers.

An early morning flight from Orlando saw us touch down in Greensborough at around 8.30am and from there we drove straight to Elon. Elon University is an historic 575 acre campus which has been designated a botanical garden and features oak trees, brick sidewalks, fountains and lakes. It’s a hugely impressive place of study not to mention steeped in history.

In 1889, the North Carolina legislature issued a charter for Elon College. William S. Long was the founder and the first president. The original student body consisted of 76 students. In 1923, a fire destroyed most of the campus, including school records, classrooms, the library and the chapel. The Board of Trustees voted to rebuild immediately. Many of the buildings that were erected in the years following the disastrous fire still stand today and make up the bedrock of Elon’s campus.

Many prominent figures have visited and spoken at Elon, including Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with  former U.S. Secretaries of State General Colin L. Powell and Madeleine Albright.  British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak,  Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and astronaut John Glenn have also visited.

From there, we then went to the remarkable High Point University run by an even more remarkable man, Dr. Nido Qubein. Qubein came to the United States, with just $50 in his pocket, when he was just 18 years old and attended Mount Olive College and High Point University. At the time he spoke very little English and learned the language by writing down 50 words a day on a card and by memorizing those words.  Nido then went onto start a bank in 1986 and now serves on the board and executive committee of a Fortune 500 financial corporation with $135 billion in assets and 35,000 employees. He is chairman of the Great Harvest Bread Company with 218 stores in 42 states and serves on the board of BB&T and La-Z-Boy Corporation, one of the world’s most recognized furniture brands. He is also a superb speaker and if you ever get the chance to hear him, you should grasp it with both hands.

The transformation at High Point since Qubein became its President has been amazing. From a respected but rather sleepy University town, High Point is now much talked about all over America. Since taking over as President in 2005, Qubein has largely been responsible for raising over $350 million that has been invested in the campus and facilities.

Several new residential and educational buildings have been added and these additions include the notable Norton Hall, the Blessing Residential Hall, The Village Residential Complex, the Slane Student Life and Wellness Center, and the Jerry and Kitty Steele Sports Center. A large number of fountains have also been installed throughout the university commons with plans to add even more. In 2009 several new buildings opened that included the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication, the Plato S. Wilson Family School of Commerce, and the crown jewel of student life, the $50 million University Center (formerly called the Multiplex). The University Center houses 600 students in 300 upscale apartment-like facilities, a virtual bowling alley, fully-functional movie theater, a steakhouse, a sandwich shop, and a two story gaming-and-restaurant concept. It’s simply amazing!

With the campus renovations at High Point University breaching $300 million in August 2009, President Nido Qubein wasn’t finished there. He then announced several other additions to the campus and these include a new dormitory parallel to the University Center, and a Greek Village. The Greek Village will consist of roughly 14 houses aimed at housing 200 total students. The $10 million Greek Village is scheduled for a fall 2011 completion.

Overall, it’s an amazing place and the student experience is pretty much unparalleled. More later…

My second book of the year is now out on Amazon.com and at other leading book stores. It’s called “Florida Vacation Home Owners – 5 Big Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Property Management Company” and it’s targeted at those folks who own a vacation home in Florida.

The vacation rental management business in Central Florida is a $4.1 Billion business that hardly anyone has heard of but once found, vacation rentals are THE only way to go when staying in Orlando. Unfortunately, as in all industries, there are a few bad eggs and the quickest way for a vacation to go wrong is when a home owner appoints the wrong property manager.

When that happens, guests are usually left to fend for themselves and that’s why I wrote this short book, so that owners have more information when selecting a new property manager. It’s full of hints and tips as a result of over 15 years of experience I have within this industry.

When you consider that most property managers leave or go out of business within three years, then it’s important for owners to know their property is being properly looked after and that their guests are enjoying the vacation of a lifetime.  The book is deliberately priced at a very affordable $9.95 because I wanted to ensure as many homeowners took advantage of it as possible.

My first book of the year was released in April and has been doing well. It’s called “What You Must Know About Buying Your Vacation Home” and is available at Amazon .com for $12.95.

In honor of Memorial Day we have set up a very special offer for those brave men and women who serve and who have served us with pride and honor.

Go to www.FloridaLeisure.com/Military for more details.

Over the last few days I’ve been following an interesting article about Napa County changing a ban on vacation rentals. The full article by Dan Verel is here but the basic gist is that the Board of Supervisors in Napa County are seriously considering over turning the restrictions that exist on renting out vacation homes.

For me, I’ve never understood the people who want to do this. Seems crazy to me that property owners are prevented from a basic right of ownership and that is to rent out their property. Sure, I understand some of the people who are concerned about noise, trash and the comings and goings of transient vacationers but having been involved in this business for a long time the evidence just doesn’t stack up for banning vacation rentals.

Having being President of the local vacation property manager’s association (CFVRMA) not so long ago, I know only too well what our industry contributes to the local economy. For a start there’s thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly supporting the industry and then there’s the small matter of the tax dollars collected by the local government that far outweighs any other argument as far as I can see.

In Central Florida, vacation rentals are a $4.1 Billion business. In Polk county alone we contribute over half of the sales tax revenue and we surely can’t be far away from that in Osceola county where the number of rental units is similar. So that’s the monetary side…what about the environment and the “feelgood” factor.

Well, in addressing that, I have to say that most owners are absentee owners and that means they have to choose a professional property management company to look after their property. From the evidence I have seen all over Central Florida, vacation rental property is indeed far better looked after than residential property on the whole. A quick ride around the neighborhood will show that lawns are being kept in good condition, that houses are painted regularly and general maintenance is being attended to. Compare that with the average residential unit and it’s not uncommon to see long grass, awful looking homes and maintenance on the deferred list.

Sure, the chances of getting a bad neighbor are there but usually that neighbor is only there for a week or so and then they are gone. Now, what can you do about the bad neighbor who is a full time resident?

In Napa they are saying there are around 300 illegal vacation rentals currently in operation. Well, in Central Florida our number is nearer 20,000 and frankly, we contribute more to the economy than most people in high up positions like to acknowledge. Napa say that by legalizing these rentals that hotel tax revenue could increase by up to $1.45 million… go figure… I guess some folks need time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Vacation rentals are a win-win-win scenario. First of all the guests renting them win because they love staying in this type of property, second the homeowner wins because he can offset some of the running costs and over time have a decent investment and then thirdly, the local economy wins by the collection of taxes and spin offs for local business.

To me it’s crazy that bans like this are in place. All this does is cause ill feeling and ultimately it keeps property values down as you restrict the market to whom you can sell. It’s time to move out of the dark ages Napa. People who own vacation properties are not your enemy… they are the people trying to spur interest in your area and to bring people there to enjoy a great vacation.

Napa is a great place and one day I’d love to rent a home there so I can enjoy the great food and wine. In fact, I tell you what… any of you who still have any lingering doubts about vacation rentals…why not pop over to Orlando and see how we do it… it would be my pleasure to show you around.

Well tonight’s the night we celebrate some ground breaking technology, career capping performances and the biggest Best Picture race we’ve ever seen. Yes, it’s Oscar night and there’s quite no other night like it.

In our household we put on the pre-show with the Countdown to the Red Carpet and then we stay glued to all the evenings events…managing to cook and eat dinner with crepes suzette to round it all off.

So let’s take a look at this year’s super-sized Best Picture. In the past academy members were asked to simply mark off the movie they liked the most. This year, however, we break with tradition as 10 movies are nominated and academy members have to rank the contenders from 1 through 10.

What happens next is that when all first place voting forms are counted the film with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and those voters second choices will count instead. This process will then continue until one move gains more than 50% of the vote. It is therefore entirely possible that the film with the most No. 1s won’t necessarily win!

So who are the nominees:

Avatar, Inglorious Basterds and The Hurt Locker are the early favorites with Up In The Air, Precious, An Education and District 9 all following closely. It’s highly thought that A Serious Man and The Blind Side will be most likely to be eliminated first of all.  Our pick: The Hurt Locker

In the Best Actor category we see Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart, George Clooney -  Up In The Air,  Colin Firth – A Single Man,  Morgan Freeman – Invictus and Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker are the nominees. Our Pick: Jeff Bridges

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side, Gabourey Sidibe – Precious, Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia, Helen Mirren – The Last Station and Carey Mulligan – An Education all contend. This one will be a close race between Bullock and Streep. Our pick: Sandra Bullock

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds, Woody Harrelson – The Messenger, Stanley Tucci – Inglourious Basterds, Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones and Matt Damon – Invictus. No problem on this one… a clear cut Our Pick: Christoph Waltz.

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique – Precious, Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart, Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air, Penelope Cruz – Nine and Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air. Our Pick: Mo’Nique.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker, James Cameron – Avatar, Lee Daniels – Precious, Jason Reitman – Up In The Air and Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds. Our Pick: Kathryn Bigelow.

So that’s all the awards we really care about isn’t it? Sure there’s another hundred categories such as Best Animated Feature (Our pick: Up), Best Foreign Language Film (who cares?), Best Documentary (The Cove), Best Make Up, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Editing / Mixing etc., but all we really care about are the top six categories… am I wrong?

Let me know what you think…who’s going to walk away with this year’s Oscar’s?

Enjoy you’re evening…

Another great night to be in Central Florida as a Delta IV Rocket launched at 6.57pm tonight. That said, the weather is pretty cold and I’m just about done with Winter… when is the warmer weather going to return? Anyway, here’s a short video I did of the launch…

I’m all excited today… my tickets for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Bay Hill PGA event arrived yesterday. I’m going to the practice pro-am on Wednesday 24th March and then I’m going to try out the Wine and Dine on 9 on Friday 26th during the main tournament.

The special event pass is sold separately and will entitle me to try out appetizer and wine samples from such great local restaurants as Morton’s, Flemings, Timpano’s and The Capital Grille.  It’s a great idea and I’m sure it will be a great success!

Although it’s unlikely Tiger Woods will be there, player commitments for the Palmer Invitational continue to roll in. As of this date, player commitments include Retief Goosen, local resident Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Kenny Perry, Vijah Singh, Bubba Watson and rising star Brandt Snedeker. Daily player pairings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational are announced on the event website. Tournament proceeds benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

If you’re planning a trip to Orlando then this is a great event for all golf enthusiasts. The event starts on Monday 22 March with a pro-am tournament and youth day, meaning all those under 17 can get in free of charge. Tuesday is a practice day for the pros and then Wednesday sees the main Pro-Am before the main event begins on Thursday 25th running through four intense days of competition ending on Sunday 28 March.

If you are also looking to play a little golf in Orlando during the tournament, then check out our golf page on the main Florida Leisure web site or do a search on “golf” this blog using the the “search” button at the top right.  You’ll find lots of information on local courses and where to play.  Also, it’s important to note that all of our vacation home communities are located just 20-25 minutes away from the Palmer PGA tour event.

Hit them well.

Well, today’s the day that the 21st Winter Olympics begin and they run all the way through to 28 February. The Winter Olympics feature many winter sports held on snow or ice, such as alpine sking, cross country skiing, figure skating, bobsledding and ice hockey.  Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating have been competed at every Winter Olympics since 1924. Other athletic events have been added as the Games have progressed. Some of these events, such as luge, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme. Others, like speed skiing, bandy and skijoring  have been demonstration sports  but never incorporated officially as an Olympic sport.

With a population of more than 2.5 million people, Vancouver will be the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games. Vancouver is a beautiful low-altitude, seaport city with a perfect climate to host the games. Most of the venues will be located in the Vancouver metropolitan area, with the exception of the alpine, Nordic, and sliding events, which will be held in Whistler…a truly wonderful place. 

The big news ahead of the events is the news that American ski star Lindsey Vonn is injured and may not compete in the  first test of the women’s downhill run.

Vonn, who stunned fans and media alike by announcing she had picked up a shin injury during training in Austria last week, was left grimacing in agony after pulling her ski boots on for the first time in days.

The 25-year-old two-time World Cup champion had harboured hopes of winning at least one, and at most three gold medals here in Whistler.

However, after gingerly walking past onlookers as her coach carried her skis to the lift, a dejected looking Vonn looked a million miles away from the top step of the Olympic podium.

Vonn was set to start the first downhill training run for her first scheduled race, the super-combined on Sunday, with bib number 16. Let’s hope she recovers…the world deserves to see the best compete.

Injuries also seem to be dominating the world of men’s ice hockey as well.

The list of Olympic walking wounded grew this week with Canadian forward Ryan Getzlaf going down with an injured left ankle while playing for the Anaheim Ducks in the National Hockey League.

Canadian general manager Steve Yzerman announced that Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeff Carter was put on standby in case Getzlaf can’t play in Canada’s first game against Norway next Tuesday.

“I talked to Ryan and his condition is improving. He will try to play this weekend. He needs to skate and see what he can tolerate. Healing is a slow process,” Yzerman said.

Doctors carried out a medical scan on Getzlaf Tuesday which revealled no broken bones.

Injuries are not just limited to Canada with defending champions Sweden also suffering.

Forward Tomas Holmstrom is listed as day-to-day with a leg injury and defenceman Niklas Kronwall is out with a knee injury.

Sweden was given a scare last month when Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson separated his shoulder and ended up missing 11 NHL games before making his return to the Senators line-up.

The United States is one of the hardest hit teams by injuries in the weeks leading up to the Games.

Team USA lost defenceman Mike Komisarek due to a season-ending shoulder injury that will need surgery while they are also without defenceman Paul Martin of the New Jersey Devils with a broken arm.

Ryan Whitney of Anaheim and Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes were named as replacements by American general manager Brian Burke.

Finnish goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been battling a sore back but he is expected to return to the Minnesota Wild lineup this week.

Forward Teemu Selanne also vows to be ready for Vancouver despite breaking his jaw in a January 13 game against Boston.

He will wear a protective face guard over the jaw area.

It was the second serious injury this season for the Ducks star Selanne, who will be competing in his fifth Olympic Games, after missing 17 games earlier this season with a badly broken hand.

Slovakia is still waiting word on the status of superstar forward Marian Gaborik who is out of the New York Rangers’ lineup after suffering a thigh laceration in practice on Tuesday.

The injury occurred when Gaborik collided with Swedish Olympic goaltender and Rangers’ teammate Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist’s skate sliced into Gaborik’s thigh causing a deep gash that required stitches.

Here’s a link to the schedule for the 16 day event and a video preview:

Just had some great pictures in from some members of our team who were lucky enough to get tickets to this years Super Bowl in Miami so I thought I’d share them with you.

And here’s the opening ceremony video…

More video’s will follow later…