Windsor Hills Townhome Ant Problem??

[jennobrn01]

We are staying at Windsor Hills the week after T-giving. I contacted the owner of the condo we are renting yesterday. I informed him of what was going on and sent him the link to this thread. He responded very quickly. He assured me he has had no issues with ants. He also gave me the management co. phone number after he questioned them.

Thus far, we can highly recommend our owner. He has been communicative, polite, and helpful. Thanks Alan!

Here is the website of his condo. http://www.windsorhillsvacations.com/

 

[willise]

I am also quite surprised that the owner has not gotten back to me. I didn't even ask for a refund, as I am not one for confrontation! All I did was inform him of the problem, but I never even got so much as " I'm sorry and I will look into it"

This owner has 4 well known properties at Windsor Hills, and was very quick to answer emails prior to our vacation- within hours. It has been 3 days since I sent the email to him, still no reply.

The management company, Villa Direct, kept apologizing on the phone and guaranteeing that someone would be sent out right away. But I guess they had our money and didn't feel the need to make things right for a vacationing family.

I will never rent from this owner again. Maybe I should have asked for my money back - maybe then I'd get a response!

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Unfortunatly it sounds to me like this owner just does not seem to care! I know I would be mortified if this happened! I am lucky that our Management Company lives in the same neighborhood and they are very good about cleaning and responding to our guests! Most of the time the guests tell me that by the time they hung up the phone the MC was at the door. LOL

Deb, I could not agree with you more about all you said!!!

I know the first home I rented had some ants around the sink area and we had to spray for them but the spray was in the house so we did not have to go buy it! We also did not have them all over the house! All I can say is YUCK! I would not want to stay with a bunch of ants like that!

 

[jennobrn01]

We just received this email from the owner of our condo, Alan. It is a response from the management company in regards to his inquiry about the ant issue.

Response from Palm Tree :



'Yes we are aware of this issue, but i can assure you its ONLY the townhomes that have issues. The condo association fees that you pay cover for full pest control, whereas the townhomes don't and it is up to woners to arrange..The issue is because of where the townhomes are built used to be a big plot of orange trees which is where the ants are present. One of our owners, who also lives in Windsor Hills in a townhome has the same problem and they struggle to keep on top of it, even with plenty of spraying.



We have never had a problem with your condo, and the only time we've ever had a problem with a condo and ants, is when people leave food out.'

I hope that is reassuring and/or helpful. I really appreciate our owner being right on top of this. Thanks again Alan!

willise, I hope you soon get a response from your owner! here's to hope and pixie dust.

 

[closesttodisney.com]

We are a management company, and have townhomes in Windsor Hills (not the one mentioned i might add) and we are aware of the ant problem (its actually our reply in the post above, from jennobrn01, through our owner Alan, we are Palm Tree Vacation Homes).

With where the townhomes are built it has disturbed a hugh ants nest, and it is a problem and all the spraying in the world doesn't seem to help. But we have to and try and keep on top of it as best we can.

However, as Deb says its all in how the owner/mgmt co handles each situation. We are a family run business of 3, and its our jobs, our lives, its not so much a 'business' or 'hobby' to us as it is to some mgmt co's. We depend on the happiness of a lot of people (guests and owners). Meaning we make every effort to correct situations and if that means we have to spray more often, then thats what we do.

On another point is i would welcome a review of management companies, as Brian and Karen4120 asked for in earlier posts. For us personally, it would help (positive or negative) and be away to grade ourselves so that we can keep our high standards and not lose sight of what is important, and that is you guys having a great time and an enjoyable vacation.

Thanks
Ian
Palm Tree Vacation Homes

 

[willise]

I wish we could have dealt with you. I can take pretty much anything, especially if people are upfront and honest about it. But for an owner of a townhome to say "they have never had an ant problem" and "we spray every week" to a potential client is wrong.

It's too bad that some unscrupulous management companies give the whole resort a bad reputation.

 

[jennobrn01]

Thanks Ian for dropping by! We were so encouraged when Alan sent us your response. Thank you for running your business with conscience. We are really looking forward to our time at Windsor Hills!

 

[mumzie2three]

Just wanted to add that I have PM'd Ian of Palm Tree Vacation Homes. They were the management company we dealt with during our stay at WH in May. I emailed the company immediately upon returing home and never got a response to my questions concerning what I believe were booking errors that resulted in some aggravation during the first couple of days of our stay. I posted about it at the time somewhere on the boards and so I thought it relevent to post again. We loved Windsor Hills but I can't say that I would encourage anyone to use Palm Tree based on our experience.

 

[Katies Dad]

Am so sorry to hear of the problems you have had at Windsor Hills, (I know its not nice when a few ants get into the kitchen here at home!).

We have been looking at Windsor Hills for next summer, and now I am beginning to worry, if there is an ant problem caused from the building work, then its not going to go away - spraying etc will help but I would`nt have thought resolve it. Can you tell me is it just a certain area of town houses or does it seem to affect all of them? I really like the sound of Windsor Hills and if ants are causing a problem then I think we might be best looking at a condo instead of a Town House. (we rented a villa in Spain when Katie was younger - it came with its own fleas in the beds and sofas!! since then I have always stayed in a hotel this would be our first time at a villa/condo in 8 years, so as I am a bit `paranoid` need to get it right) Thanks

 

[closesttodisney.com]

Katies Dad, no the ant problem seems to be located at the back end of the townhomes (Sir Kaufman & Maneshaw (nearest Sir Kaufman)) We also manage townhomes on Fitzclarence and the other end of Maneshaw and never had a problem with those. At least thats my experience to date, correct me if these other issue on this post are in different areas.

I still don't understand, why condo's pay association dues and have there units sprayed, and why the townhomes don't, it would be just as easy to do.

I have PM'd mumzie2three. I would like to add, that we are very sorry in your disappointment and yes it seems there was a bit of a error on our part. For all its benefits, the great thing about email is you never really no that the other person gets it, which seems to be the case here. NOT that i'm trying to pass the blame or make excuses, because we hate to hear unhappiness and would love to put things right.

 

[willise]

We satyed on Fitzclarence, on the end closest to the entrance gates, and that is where we had all the ants.

 

[Brian Noble]

This owner has 4 well known properties at Windsor Hills

This is my personal bias, but I strongly prefer to rent from individuals who own their own vacation homes, and also rent them out to help finance their vacation lifestyle, rather than people who view their rental properties strictly as a business, and don't stay in them themselves.

 

[Brian Noble]

And, I posted earlier about our own WH Townhome experience, but we had zero problems with ants in 2/06. I'm not sure if that was due to location (on Renshaw near Otterspool) or because the management company kept on top of the problem.

 

[harvey]

Well thank goodness I read this thread....I had been emailing back and forth with the owners of seethemousetownhouse all day.

Now I'm totally bummed. My dd was so excited to stay in a townhome because of the splash pool, but I'm thinking no way with the chance of ants.

PLEASE can anyone recommend owners who are trustworthy at Windsor Hills? I need 3 bedrooms/at least 2 baths for 7 people.

I've also talked to the owners of 'yourdisneyhome.com' and would love any info on that unit....still waiting to hear about 'disneydreaming' as well.

Ugh. This is becoming unpleasant fast.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

This is my personal bias, but I strongly prefer to rent from individuals who own their own vacation homes, and also rent them out to help finance their vacation lifestyle, rather than people who view their rental properties strictly as a business, and don't stay in them themselves.

I agree with Brian on this! Deal with the owners personally. I also like having a Mangement Company that is close to the home, and not a huge company that has 50 to 100 houses the service is not as personal when they are that big.

You can go to Fabvillas.com and do a search for Windsor hills and it brings up a couple of homes. You can contact the owners directly on that site. You can also search by neighborhoods. That may help you some!

 

[cdndislvr]

We rented a condo at Windsor Palms for the month of July 2004. I found the rental off the site davh.com. It is a family run management company....we personally met the couple while in Florida (they popped over for coffee and we ended up chatting for two hours) and I can't say enough good things about them and the property we rented. It was immaculate...in fact I couldn't believe it was a rental property....felt just like home! I believe they also have properties in Windsor Hills. I was a little nervous renting a property for the first time but this site is true to its word.....Jeff and Lori are exactly who they say they are and I believe very trustworthy. And should you have any problems with your rental I'm sure they would be quick to help. The washer broke down in our rental and Jeff was there to fix it the same day. Hope this helps!

 

[Jackatkc]

We just got to here this afternoon, and I have yet to see one ant in the place we are staying. We are staying in the "Penny Lane" home on Comrow, and I could not be happier. Place is perfect.

 

[willise]

Well, it has been almost two weeks without any reply whatsoever from the owner of the property with the ants everywhere. My advice would be to stay away from StoryTime 2 or get some kind of written guarantee concerning the ants. The management company, VillaDirect, did nothing but apologize over the phone and promise to bring in an exterminator but it was never done. As for the other StoryTime properties, I cannot comment. Maybe this was an isolated incident, but when you email an owner (who had previously been very eager to answer) and now all of a sudden doesn't respond, red flags start to go up.

Too bad. It was a nice property overall.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

That is too bad that they did not feel a need to respond to you. I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you will not be turned off with renting from owners in the future! Keep us posted if you hear anything from them.
Again I am sorry that they are not responding to you all owners are not like that though!

 

[isla bonita]

As an owner I would just like to say when I go on vacation I email all of my current future guest and let them know I will return any emails when I get home from vacation.

Could the owner be down for an extended period of time and maybe overlooked a guest?

Also if the man/co were called and did nothing that is a big red flag for me. When called they are to act. That is why we pay them because we as owners are unable to react on our guests behalf. Shame on both owner and man/co.

Is the problem so bad that an exterminator is called that often? Owning a home in Florida it is just a requirement to have a contracts with both and outside and an inside exterminator. Do they have both? If they have both then the problem must be extreme I would think. Will ask on my EI forum to see if anyone has any info. Will get back to you if I hear anything. Deb