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There are many great reasons to stay at Dolphin Song Villa, as you will discover as you surf our web site, but perhaps the three most important reasons are the high standard of luxury accommodation, the incredible value for money that you will receive and it's excellent location with regards to all the main Florida theme parks and attractions. Plus, you will be following in the footsteps of many hundreds of happy and satisfied guests who have already experienced our special brand of warmth and hospitality. [Top] How Close Are You To The Theme Parks ? Dolphin Song Villa is just 10 minutes away from all the magic and excitement of Walt Disney World Resort®, and even has a secret short cut which avoids the busier roads, to make your journey even easier. Sea World is approximately 20 minutes away, and Universal Studios & Universal Islands of Adventure are approximately 25 minutes away. [Top] Is Dolphin Song Villa State Approved ? Yes. Dolphin Song Villa is fully licensed and approved by the State of Florida as a Short Term Rental property. [Top] Which Is Best …Hotel Or Villa ? Undoubtedly, there are many hotels in the Disney area, but try to picture the scenario of you and your entire family, including the children, and possibly even grandparents all crammed into a cramped single hotel room with just one bathroom. Clearly, privacy is a huge issue, and the confines and inconvenience of such accommodations have often been known to turn what was hoped to be a dream vacation, into a holiday from hell ! For the discerning guest, a villa is the only sensible option. [Top] Yes. Dolphin Song Villa has been fully inspected by a Government Code Enforcement Officer, to ensure that it complies with all the currently required safety regulations. In addition to being fully licensed and approved by the State of Florida, the villa is also fitted throughout with smoke alarms, 2 pool alert alarms (to prevent toddlers straying unnoticed into the pool area), 2 fire extinguishers, one located on each level of the property and a fully monitored alarm system. [Top] Is This A Self Catering Villa ? Yes. Your vacation staying at Dolphin Song Villa is classed as a Self Catering Vacation. [Top] What Happens If I Have A Problem Whilst Staying At The Villa ? In the unlikely event that there is a problem during your stay at the villa, or you are unsure of how to operate any equipment, our local property manager is on hand 24/7 to assist you in any way she can. [Top] Is Smoking Allowed In The Villa ? No. Florida State Law dictates that smoking is prohibited in Short Term Rental properties, such as Dolphin Song Villa. You may however smoke outside on the pool deck or in the garden areas. [Top] Do You Allow Pets And Other Animals ? No. Dolphin Song Villa has a strict "No Pets or Animals" policy, to ensure the comfort and safety of any future guests who may suffer with animal related allergies. [Top] How Often Is The Villa Cleaned ? Our local property manager ensures that the villa is professionally cleaned and sanitised and that freshly laundered bed linens and towels are installed at the end of each rental period, in preparation for our next set of guests. Optional mid stay cleans are available upon request, but do incur a small additional charge. In addition, the villa is deep cleaned, including carpet and upholstery cleaning, twice a year. [Top] Is The Villa Air Conditioned ? Yes. Dolphin Song Villa is fully air conditioned throughout, and has additional ceiling fans to ensure that you and your party can relax and take a refreshing cool break from the glorious Florida sunshine. [Top] How Often Is The Pool Serviced ? Our pool is serviced and cleaned every week by a fully qualified and licensed pool technician, to ensure that you enjoy the best possible swimming environment. [Top] How Old Do I Have To Be To Rent The Villa ? Due to insurance restrictions and Florida State Laws, the minimum rental age for a party or group leader is 21 years of age* *Other Terms & Conditions also apply. [Top] Which Should I Book First… The Villa Or The Flights ? We always recommend potential guests to book their accommodation first. Remember that there is only one Dolphin Song Villa, but literally hundreds of travel options to get you to it. [Top] Dolphin Song Villa is one of the most popular villas in the Disney area, and books up fast ! We are fortunate to have a large number of repeat guests, who have already experienced our beautiful villa. Many guests re-book immediately upon their return home, to guarantee the dates that they require for their next vacation. We usually accept bookings up to two years in advance, upon payment of a small deposit and if you are seeking popular dates such as Easter, half term holidays, school summer holidays, Christmas and New Years, then there is no time like the present, as these dates go like hot cakes. [Top] How Do I Make An Availability Enquiry ? Simple ! Visit our "Availability & Booking" page, and fill out the no obligation request form. We will contact you by return, either confirming availability and the price for the dates that you have chosen, or if unavailable, offering the closest set of dates to your original request. [Top] Do You Require A Booking Deposit ? Yes. Like all owners, we require a non refundable Booking Deposit to be returned with your Booking Forms and documentation, before we can formally confirm your booking. At this time you will also be sent a "schedule of payment" which sets out your remaining balance, and the date by which this balance must be paid. [Top] Why Do You Charge A Security Deposit / Bond ? Security Deposits are charged by all legitimate villa owners. Be very wary of villas that do not charge a security deposit. This is not the norm and should set alarm bells ringing. If you find a villa that does not charge a security deposit, ask yourself why. Generally speaking, the reason is that the property itself and it's contents will be worn and dated, and as such do not have the same value of money tied up in them that top of the range villas such as Dolphin Song would have. In layman's terms, if an owner's house and contents don't contain anything of particular value, what is the point of such owners charging a security deposit to protect their tired property or it's run down and worn contents ? Clearly renting a vacation home or villa from an owner you have never met is a matter of trust. But this same concern applies to the villa owner too, who are in effect entrusting you with their beautiful homes, which are worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Add to this the value all the upgraded items and electronic equipment installed for your pleasure and convenience, and hopefully you will appreciate that the villa owner has a great deal more at stake than the renter, in terms of overall risk. The security deposit, whilst not equalising this element of risk, is intended to gently focus the mind of the renter, in order that they treat the property and it's contents with due care and respect, and in many cases is also a requirement of the owner's insurances which allow them to rent out their properties in the first place. The security deposit a villa owner takes is exactly the same as the security deposit taken by any hotel you may visit, but with hotels, their methods are a little more secretive. Think back, and you'll remember that you are always asked for a credit card at the front desk of any hotel when you check in. This credit card "swipe" enables the hotel to automatically charge you for any damage or missing items once you vacate your room. When you "sign in" or "register", you will effectively be agreeing to the hotel's right to do so ~ although nine times out of ten, this is never explained to you. At Dolphin Song Villa we are up front, and happy to explain the reasons behind our business strategy. So, as you can see, there is no difference between the way a hotel runs it's business and the way in which we, as individual villa owners run ours. Indeed, legitimate registered and state approved villas such as Dolphin Song Villa are actually licensed by the Florida Department of Hotels. The fact is that if you treat Dolphin Song Villa and it's contents with care and respect, you will receive your full security deposit back following your departure. [Top] How Do I Know I Will Get My Security Deposit Back ? As the owners of Dolphin Song Villa we run a very open, friendly and professional business. Our aim is to assist you in every way possible to ensure that your stay with us is the best vacation you have ever experienced. As a result, we have many regular repeat visitors. Why ? Because we treat each and every guest with respect and in the fairest way possible. Repeat visitors, and the personal recommendations they give to their friends and family are the lifeblood of our business. Clearly therefore, it would be stupid beyond belief to make false claims against a guest in order to retain either part or whole of their security deposit. It would simply be uneconomic in business terms to do so. The good will and recommendations we would lose as a result of such actions would far outweigh the value of any money we retained. So
rest assured that if you treat our villa with care and respect, as you would expect
from any visitor in your own home, you will receive your security deposit back
following your departure. [Top] Will My Security Deposit / Bond Be Deposited Into The Bank Or Will You Just Retain It And Return It At The End Of My Occupancy ? All security deposits / bonds (due at the time of your final balance payment) will be deposited. Our reason for doing so is simple. It ensures that there is money available in the unlikely event that we need to repair or replace items which may have been damaged during your occupation of the villa. If we did not deposit our guest's security deposit cheque / check and they subsequently caused damaged to our property, the chances are (unfortunately) that in order to avoid paying for any damage or missing items, guests would also cancel the security deposit cheque / check before we could cash it at the bank in order to recoup any losses we may have suffered. Rest assured however, that once our property manager inspects the villa on the day of your departure and confirms everything to be in good order, a new cheque / check in the currency that was originally used will be mailed out to you as quickly as possible ~ usually with 7 days. [Top] How Long Do I Have Before The Final Rental Balance Is Due ? The balance of your total rental cost, including pool heating (if requested) and your Security Deposit / Bond is required 10 weeks prior to your arrival at the villa. If your booking is less than 10 weeks prior to arrival date, we will require the full balance to accompany your Booking Forms and other documentation. [Top] Do You Accept Credit Or Debit Card Payments ? Unfortunately at this time, we are unable to accept payments by credit or debit card. This is due to the tremendously high set up and processing charges made by UK banks for this facility, which would result in us having to pass these costs onto our guests in increased rental charges. We therefore choose to take payments by cheque / check, bank draft or traveller's cheques / checks, in order to keep our rental rates at the lowest possible level for our guests. [Top] Do You Accept Wire Transfers Into Your USA Bank Account ? Yes. We are happy to accept wire transfers into our USA bank account, but do so on the condition that any subsequent charges made by our bank to receive and process this method of payment are the responsibility of the guest. Any such charges are therefore either added to your final balance payment, or deducted from your returned security deposit / bond. [Top] Are Your Quoted Rental Prices Negotiable ? No. We believe that our prices reflect both excellent value for money and also help to ensure the high standard of accommodation and the multitude of additional luxury extras that we provide to you as standard. [Top] Do You Ever Have Special Offers ? Yes ! Occasionally we will announce a limited offer or late deal (usually due to an unforeseen cancellation), which can be seen on our "Special Offers & Late Availability" page. There is a link on this page to bookmark our web site in order that you can visit us again to check if there are any deals currently on offer. [Top] I Have Been Offered Another Villa At A Cheaper Rate ~ Does This Mean Your Prices Are Expensive ? No, not at all. Remember that when you compare Florida villas that many other properties will not even come close to the high standards of Dolphin Song Villa, in terms of cleanliness, location, size and amenities. Running a villa in Florida is a massively expensive undertaking, due to extremely high utility and servicing costs, and more often than not you will find that the "bargain basement" villas or "allocation on arrival" villa packages available through travel agents charge extremely low rates because they have cut corners with the villa upkeep, it's amenities and it's infrastructure in order to do so. With Dolphin Song Villa you get a beautifully maintained property, packed to the gunnels with luxury extras, for an extremely competitive rental price. [Top] Is The Swimming Pool At Dolphin Song Villa Private ? Yes. Our oversized 30 foot swimming pool, located at the rear of the villa, is entirely at your disposal during your occupancy, and is not shared by anyone else. The pool is surrounded by a large mesh screen cage, which keeps out any troublesome insects, and the water can be heated in the "cooler" months for a small additional charge if required. [Top] Which Direction Does Your Swimming Pool Face ? Our pool is completely South facing, which means that you get the benefit of the gorgeous Florida sunshine from the moment it rises until the moment it sets. If you love to tan, you can simply relax on the luxury poolside furniture and catch the rays in this spectacular sun trap. Our natural wood fencing and lush tropical planting around the garden area adds to your privacy and creates a stunning backdrop to the sun drenched pool deck. [Top] What Entertainment Is provided At The Villa ? Well in truth, you really will be spoilt for choice. In addition to the 5 cable TV's, the 5 DVD / MP3 players, the 5 VHS players, the multi function CD / Radio / Hi Fi system and the dual control Play Station 2 (with games), there is also a huge movie library on both DVD and VHS of over 120 titles, a slection of music CDs, a large selection of books and magazines, and a great choice of good old fashioned family games and puzzles, not to mention the pool, pool inflatables and the high speed wireless internet pc of course ! [Top] Does The Villa Have A Computer & High Speed Wireless Internet Access I Can Use ? Yes. Always mindful of the fact that some folks need to be in touch with friends, family or maybe even the office whilst they are away on vacation, we have provided a desk top computer system with a FREE high speed wireless internet connection. So whether you choose to use our villa PC system, or take your own laptop (must have wireless connectivity) and surf the web whilst you laze at the poolside, you can keep up to date with everything that's happening anywhere in the world !!! [Top] Does The Villa PC Have A Guest Email Address I Can Use ? No. For reasons of security and privacy, we must insist that guests wishing to send or receive emails whilst at the villa, do so via their own web based email account, such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Web Mail etc. [Top] Do You Provide Baby Equipment ? Yes ! We provide a cot (crib), 2 high chairs, 2 strollers (prams) and a safety gate, to ensure our tiny guests are well catered for. Please note however, that for health and safety reasons, we do not provide bed linen for babies. [Top] Do You Provide A Safe For Guest Use ? Yes, of course ! [Top] Is There A Telephone At The Villa ? Yes… in fact there are three ! All local calls are FREE of charge. Calls further afield or to a mobile (cell) phone, or international calls, will require the use of a Calling Card, which you can purchase from as little as $5.00 from any local store or supermarket. [Top] Is There An Outdoor BBQ Grill For Guests To Use ? Yes. If you feel the urge for a little al fresco cooking, you can BBQ to your heart's delight on our stunning family sized Kenmoore gas BBQ grill. A small flat rate fee is charged for it's use, but this includes the provision of the grill and cooking utensils, an initial tank of gas, and any additional grill cleaning that is required upon your departure. [Top] Yes. To get the most out of your Florida vacation, we always recommend that guests hire a car for the duration of their stay. [Top] I
am worried about driving in the USA and the possibility of getting lost ~ Can
you help ? Absolutely ! Many people are nervous about
driving in the USA, but there is really no cause for concern. The road networks
are well laid out, with clear easy to read signs, and generally, the pace of traffic
is a lot slower than in Europe. [Top] Can You Save Me Money On USA Car Rental ? Yes ! Thanks to a referral arrangement with a very reputable British based company, we are able to offer some of the lowest USA car hire rates currently available. Simply click our "Discount Car Hire" link for an instant, no obligation quote. [Top] How Old Do I Need To Be To Hire A Car In The USA ? You need to be at least 21 years of age, although most car hire companies will not rent to under 25's without requiring an additional daily premium. [Top] Can You Save Me Money On Theme Park & Attraction Tickets ? Yes ! Again, thanks to a reciprocal agreement with a British based company, we can offer you some of the keenest prices currently available for all your theme park and attraction tickets. You can even arrange to have them delivered direct to your door, before you even leave for your vacation. Simply click on our "Discount Theme Park Tickets" link for a no obligation quote. [Top] What Essentials Do I Need To Bring With Me ? Basically, a toothbrush ! Well almost…. Because at Dolphin Song Villa, we provide you with all the comforts and amenities of a real home from home, you can keep your packing to a minimum, and save room to take back all those great cut price Florida bargains. Check out our list of included items on our "Villa Amenities & Luxury Extras" page. [Top] Yes. Within minutes of the villa there are two huge Publix supermarkets, offering all your daily essentials. Slightly further away (5 minutes) is a brand new WalMart Super Center, which is open 24/7, and is an Aladdin's Cave of great value bargains and Special Offers. Other nearby stores include Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Sub Way, a video store, gas (petrol) stations, gift shops, a hair salon, a 7-11 store, a post office… in fact everything you need is pretty much right on your doorstep ! [Top] When Is The Best Time To Visit Florida ? Any time ! Florida is known as the Sunshine State for one very good reason ~ it's sunny ! Obviously there are some low season "winter" months which will not be quite as warm as others, but generally speaking, it's a t-shirt and shorts kind of place ! [Top] This is always a tricky issue, as it really does come down to personal choice. Generally speaking however, we recommend that you take advantage of the pool heating option during the slightly "cooler" months of October to April, to ensure a comfortable swimming experience, especially if you have small children in your party who may find an unheated pool a little uncomfortable. [Top] Do You Have A Email List I Can Join To Keep Me Up To Date With Everything At Dolphin Song Villa ? Of course ! Simply CLICK HERE to join our Email List. You will then receive periodic updates regarding the villa, special news and events, Florida travel advice and information, top tips, theme park information, special offers and a whole lot more besides. (You may opt out at any time. Your details will never be passed on or sold to any 3rd party). [Top] Copyright © Dolphin Song Villa 2003 ~ 2009 |
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