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

It’s a big day….my new book “What You Must Know About Buying Your Vacation Home” has just made it to Amazon. The book took some time to produce and I redrafted it several times as I was keen to make it as concise as possible.

The initial draft was lengthy and after much thought I decided to do away with large sections of it in order to make it a quick and easy read. The book is 52 pages long and you shouldn’t fear I have left anything really valuable out… I haven’t…I’ve just made sure that there are no long ramblings from me!

In the book you will find extremely valuable information on

• Why Vacation Homes Are Still Great Investments
• Financial Leverage and Tax Advantages
• Renting Short Term v Long Term
• Maintaining Your Home
• Marketing Your Home For Rentals

There’s also a ton more and plenty of helpful tips on buying and owning a vacation home. Even if I say so myself, it’s a must read if you ever are planning on purchasing a vacation home in the future.

The book is available from Amazon.com and is priced at $12.95. The link to it is http://amzn.to/9arkqd

Orlando Wedding’s & Honeymoon Vacations

By Nigel G. Worrall

Getting married to the one you love is everyone’s lifelong dream. Having found the perfect partner to spend the rest of your life with, making sure the union is a memorable and special event is very important.

There are many choices before you and deciding what to do can be a nightmare. To start with there is the choice of church or no church. You can decide to walk down the aisle in a place of worship or you can decide to go more informal and head to a great destination to get wed.

Either way, the choice is enormous and it’s no wonder that so many people end up confused and decide to get away.  The number of couples opting for an Orlando wedding and honeymoon vacation has seen a huge increase in the past few years. Thanks to its round the year soothing climate and innumerable wedding venues, it is becoming the most preferred city for destination weddings.

Whether the wedding is a private affair for just the closest families or a huge get together of friends and family, the list of venues for the ceremony are excellent. With beaches along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Ocean, not to mention the possibilities of a magical Walt Disney World wedding, you have plenty of exciting options at your disposal.

There are other great venues as well; surrounded by 250 acres of botanical gardens the Bok Tower in Lake Wales forms a romantic and natural setting for a great outdoor wedding. It also houses a 60-bell carillon that can play soothing, beautiful music while the ceremony is in progress. With native trees, wetland plants and beautiful, rare flowers the location is indefinably picturesque.

A combination of history and nature offers a truly mesmerizing opportunity at the Hollis Garden & Homeland Heritage Park. This 1.2 acre botanical garden in the historic Lake Mirror Park has a romantic Tuscan inspired gazebo on the lakeshore and is a favorite Lakeland wedding site. The reception dinner can be hosted at the Homeland Heritage Park, which adds to the old-world charm of the wedding.

That fairytale wedding complete with fireworks and horse drawn carriages can be hosted at Walt Disney World, Orlando. A ceremony here can captivate the hearts and minds of everyone alike and leave you with memories to cherish for a lifetime and more. Special packages are available depending upon the size and budget of the wedding.

Other great venues to select from in Orlando are SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove, Gaylord Palms Hotel, Portofino Bay Hotel, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and Omni Resort at Champions Gate.

Once your families have left and you are alone with your spouse, there are innumerable things you can do, to bond and have fun together while on an Orlando honeymoon vacation. Of course, you can spend all your time at Disney World, Universal Orlando or SeaWorld but why not do something different like take a stroll at the Kraft Azalea Gardens – one of the most romantic places in Orlando with a scenic backdrop? Alternatively, get romantic with a cruise on the St. John’s River on the Rivership Romance. You will fall in love once again over the great cuisine, entertainment and dancing under the starry sky of Orlando. If it’s total relaxation you want, then book a couples spa treatment at the Grand Floridian Spa & Health Club, in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the candlelit rooms and in room treatments here are the perfect place to spend that early morning on your honeymoon.

Another option open to you and one that many couples are now experiencing are the Orlando honeymoon vacation packages that include a stay at a luxurious vacation rental home. Choosing to stay in a vacation home provides you with many of the things a hotel simply cannot offer.  Privacy comes top of the list as you don’t have to worry about the people in the rooms next to you. Although a few hotels do go all out to make honeymoons a memorable experience for newlyweds, there’s no getting away from the fact that even the best honeymoon suite just isn’t luxurious enough. Vacation homes are fully equipped and well furnished to provide all the amenities which any 5 star hotel or resort has to offer but they also have other unique features that make things really special. For a start most vacation homes have their own privately attached swimming pools for that early morning splash. Some homes even have hot tubs and jacuzzi’s and nothing beats a nice soothing retreat at the end of a great day. Most Orlando Vacation homes are located near to the word class Orlando attractions and close to many golf courses, tennis facilities and other sporting venues. Fine dining and great shopping are just a short drive away and if you fancy a day of simply relaxing and doing next to nothing then the games room, the large screen Plasma television with DVD library and the fully stocked pantry and full size kitchen, are just some of the features that will keep you entertained.

Your wedding and your honeymoon should be special and a vacation rental home is the perfect choice as not only is it more economical than staying in a hotel but you’re sure to create memories to cherish forever.

Nigel Worrall, CEO of Florida Leisure Vacation Homes, was recently inducted into the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ for the performance of his latest book, “Big Idea’s For Your Business.”

Orlando, Fla. – February 2, 2010 – Nigel Worrall, CEO of Florida Leisure Vacation Homes, was recently inducted into The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ after releasing the book, Big Ideas For Your Business:  America’s PremierExperts® Show You How to Make Your Business More Fun & More Profitable. The book was written in collaboration with America’s PremierExperts®, a group of America’s leading experts in various fields of business.  They are celebrity experts who are dedicated to spreading knowledge and awareness in their field of expertise and making significant contributions to their industry and the marketplace as a whole.

Big Ideas For Your Business was released on July 23rd, 2009.  On the day of release, the book reached the best-seller list in two categories, the Management and Leadership – Systems and Planning category, and the Business Management category.

Nigel Worrall authored a chapter in the book titled, “Customers: The Lifeblood of Any Company.” Nigel was chosen as one of America’s PremierExperts® based on his expertise and success in the real estate and vacation home industry.

The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ was founded by two attorneys, JW Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nation, Esq. who are also best selling authors and represent authors and experts nationwide.  Both of the attorneys are members of multiple organizations, associations and academies that recognize and honor the best in the business, and they thought a similar organization should be created for Best Selling authors who don’t always get recognition for their accomplishment.  Authors themselves, they recognized that only a very limited number of books made the major New York Times Best Seller list and just like the awards shows put on by the entertainment-based organizations, they wanted to have more categories for authors to be accepted and recognized for their accomplishment. The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ now honors authors from many of the leading independent best-seller lists.

To order your copy of Big Ideas For Your Business please visit http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-Your-Business-Nick-Nanton/dp/1599321076

For more information on Nigel Worrall and Florida Leisure Homes, please visit http://www.floridaleisure.com.

To find out more about The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ visit http://www.academyofauthors.org/

About Nigel Worrall:

Nigel Worrall is President / CEO of Florida Leisure Vacation Homes & Total Real Estate Solutions. He is regularly sought by the media as a vacation home and real estate expert and has featured on NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS. He has also featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, Newsweek, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, Orlando Sentinel, Orlando Business Journal and several other publications. Nigel is also the best selling author of “Big Ideas For Your Business” (Advantage Media)

Nigel serves many clients around the world as a Realtor®, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Investor, Mortgage Broker and Real Estate Trainer. Nigel has been heavily involved with helping the local chapter of the Investors Resource Center of America in Orlando and has recently been appointed as a National Real Estate Investment Coach with Real Mentor™.

Florida Leisure Vacation Homes is the leading vacation home company in the Orlando, Fla. – Disney area, offering 3-7 bedroom private vacation homes near to all the Orlando area attractions. Each home has it’s own fully equipped kitchen, 3-7 bedrooms, lounge, dining room, laundry, 2 car garage and best of all, private swimming pool.

For more information, please visit http://www.floridaleisure.com

The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™:

The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ was founded by two attorneys, JW Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nation, Esq. who are also best selling authors and represent authors and experts nationwide.  Both of the attorneys are members of multiple organizations, associations and academies that recognize and honor the best in the business, and they thought a similar organization should be created for Best Selling authors who don’t always get recognition for their accomplishment. Authors themselves, they recognized that only a very limited number of books made the major New York Times Best Seller list and just like the awards shows put on by the entertainment-based organizations, they wanted to have more categories for authors to be accepted and recognized for their accomplishment. The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ now honors authors from many of the leading independent best-seller lists.

To find out more about The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ visit http://www.academyofauthors.org/

Vacation home secret #6 explains how you can ensure that you have a fabulous vacation in Orlando. Planning a vacation is always time consuming and stressful work…this short video gives you a few tips of how to handle your trip and vacation planning.

No-one has claimed the New York book prize (see my previous blogs) for a 4 night stay in one of our vacation homes in Orlando yet so I’m going to offer another prize.

Here’s the deal:

Once I get 5,000 followers on Twitter, I will do a draw and some lucky person will win a 4 night vacation in a Florida Leisure vacation home in Orlando. Make sure you tell your friends.

I just came across a great article by Jim Wang giving 7 reasons why you should skip staying at hotels and rent a vacation home instead. At the end of the article Jim mentions two things you need to be aware of but we’ll talk about them once you’ve read the article:

Bankrate had an article recently in which they recommended renting a home or condo to trim vacation costs. While I very much value the opinion of the fine folks at Bankrate, that’s good advice that’s about decades overdue.

At the very least, it’s five years overdue, because my friends and I have been doing this for at least that long. In fact, it was the topic of discussion one day at Meals on Wheels and when one of the other volunteers remarked that they had been renting vacation homes for decades.

1.It’s cheaper. It’s exceptionally cheap when you go during the off-season, usually almost 50% off the peak rates. The vacation homes are usually very large so when you finally calculate the cost per person, it’s quite affordable.
2.It’s negotiable. Hotels are not very good at negotiation, unless you’re a savvy customer or use something like Priceline, the price is whatever you can get through a travel search site. Demand for vacation homes, especially in this recession, is down and you can use it to your advantage.
3.You have kitchens and grills to cook yourself. Most hotels, unless it’s suites, won’t have any type of kitchen or even a microwave. You can continue to save money on your vacation if you take advantage of the kitchen and the grills usually made available in vacation homes.
4.A pool of your own! If you’re in a vacation home usually frequented in the summer, chances are it has a pool that you can use all to yourself.
5.Plenty of communal space. If you want to play board games or yard games, it’s pretty much impossible in a hotel. With your own vacation home, you have living rooms and other communal spaces you can take advantage of.
6.Parking aplenty. If you go to a hotel in a resorty area, usually you can park one or two cars a room in the hotel parking lot. With a vacation home, no one is monitoring so you can pack in as many as you want.
7.Free Wi-Fi. The last home we stayed in had free Wi-fi, which was a great perk. While paying $9 a day at a hotel isn’t horrible, I don’t plan on being tethered to a computer so $9 to check my email is a bit much (I know there are lots of hotels with free Wi-Fi, but many still charge!). 8.More likely to be pet friendly. A vacation home is more likely to be pet-friendly, which means you can save on kenneling costs. Hotels? Forget about it, you have no chance.
It is not without negatives though. First, you’ll usually have to rent the vacation home or condo for an entire week, even if you’re only staying for a long weekend. My recommendation is that you split the cost evenly across the number of people, rather than the number of days people are staying.

Second, you’ll need a lot of people to fill the beds in a house to make it worthwhile. When we went to the Outer Banks, there were close to fifteen beds. We had enough people and the cost of the home was ridiculously cheap, but if you don’t know enough people then it may not be worth it.

Despite the two negatives, which are potential deal-breakers, renting a vacation home beats a hotel in my book.

Jim, I’ve got news for you… i) you don’t need to rent for a week with us…we’re very happy to look after you for a day or two and ii) rates for our VIP members can mean you stay for less than $16.00 per person per night! I challenge you to find a better deal anywhere in Orlando than that!

Also, you make a great point in your bonus to the list…vacation homes are very likely to be pet friendly. We have a dozen such homes ourselves and we are trying to bring more online such is the demand.

So Jim, if ever you’re in Orlando…look us up

Forbes Traveler.com has just announced their top 15 vacation destinations and coming out right at number 1 is ORLANDO. Those of us who live and work here aren’t surprised by this news and part of the reason is the enormous diversity of the area.

We have some great attraction parks such as Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal but we’re also only an hour away from either the Atlantic Coast or the Gulf Coast. This makes us perfectly situated and when you consider the range of accommodation available to guests, there really is nowhere that can compete.

The hidden gem is the vacation home. Once guests discover vacation homes very rarely do they go back to staying at hotels. The attraction of a private swimming pool at the end of an enjoyable day out at the theme parks is one attraction but so is the ability to save money by housing all the family in one place rather than in multiple rooms. There’s also the fact you can save a small fortune by utilizing the fully equipped kitchen rather than going to expensive restaurants each mealtime.

Orlando also has some other hidden gems; if you fancy some great shopping then Mall of Millenia or Florida Mall will delight you, Orlando Science Center is a great find and promises a gentler pace for the all the family and if you really fancy something special, why not take a flight in a hot air balloon and oversee the whole Central Florida area?

Of course, we also have some fabulous restaurants if you enjoy fine dining or if you are a golfer, you’ll enjoy teeing it off at some of the best courses the US has to offer. Orlando is the place things happen..the rich and the famous live here…people like Tiger Woods, so you’ll never know who you’ll bump into!

So now it’s official…isn’t it time for you to visit us and have a great time?

One of the nice things about providing magical memories for our guests is that we occasionally get to experience things ourselves. Over the last month some of our staff has been fortunate enough to visit both Busch Gardens and Sea World to see what’s going on and find out what’s new.

Busch Gardens in Tampa has long been a favorite park of mine simply because it blends wild rides and wildlife so perfectly together so I made sure I did that trip along with Annette, Kim and Rebecca!

There are over 2,500 exotic and endangered animals for you to visit as well as more record breaking roller coasters than any destination in Florida! There’s absolutely something fun and something educational to see and do for every member of the family no matter their age.

In addition there are some great VIP tours such as the Elite Adventure Tour that includes a private tour guide, front-of-the-line access to all the major roller coasters and water rides, including Gwazi, Montu, Kumba, SheiKra, Congo River Rapids and Tanganyika Tidal Wave (front row is included), reserved seating at the KaTonga show, lunch at the Crown Colony Restaurant, and a one-of-a-kind experience hand-feeding giraffes on the Serengeti Safari tour.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do the whole Elite Adventure Tour but we did manage the Serengeti Safari Tour where we all discovered first-hand just how long a giraffe’s tongue is while giving them a leafy snack! As you can see from the picture above, I got to enjoy some lettuce with one of the giraffe’s!

I have to say that the tour was simply fabulous and it’s something I would recommend that you and your family do when you visit us next time. Busch Gardens is just over an hour away from most of our vacation homes and its well worth the trip as you will become immersed in the Serengeti experience as your tour guide shares a lot of intriguing information and some interesting personal stories about the amazing wildlife.

On this trip you can unlock the mystery to the eland antelope’s mysterious clicking, discover the naturalistic beauty of the Serengeti Plain, and experience the thrill of feeding antelopes and giraffes. This Adventure creates memories that will last a lifetime and you’ll also enjoy some amazing photo opportunities such as the one I created up above.

Busch Gardens has a whole host of things going on for wild life buffs; Jungala features Bengal tigers, the Rhino Rally sees you hop aboard a wild jeep tour (see Rebecca, our concierge navigating the jeep in the above video…it’s a hoot!), see majestic Clydesdale horses, Edge of Africa features hippos, lions, meerkats, lemurs, crocodiles and hyenas and Myombe Reserve gets you up close and personal with gorillas and chimpanzees.

Of course, everyone loves a good thrill ride and Busch simply has some of the best around; from SheiKra and it’s 200 foot drop to Gwazi (one of the fastest wooden double roller coasters on the planet, Montu (7 insane inversions), Kumba (voted one of the world’s top coasters) and the Scorpion (3 G’s of force). But there’s even more and if you love getting wet then Congo River Rapids, Stanley Falls and Tanganyika Tidal Wave will be sure to keep you cool on a hot Florida day.

Busch Gardens has a lot of other stuff going on as well but you’ll just have to explore that for yourself but you can take a look here for more pictures.

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