Come on in, grab a coffee, and I’ll be your tour guide for a wander around the villa.
I’ll give you the inside view on some of the things we do differently. I’ll give you some back-story. I’ll do my best to give you a few things to think about when you come to choose your perfect place to stay. All you have to do is read along and imagine yourself there.
Before that though, this is the ‘wordy’ view of the villa. If you just want the quick facts and features they are here.
You ready? Great! Let’s start with the most important place of all. I mean, you don’t come to Florida to spend time inside, do you?
The Pool and Deck
Whether you prefer being in the sun all day long or, like me, retreating to the shade, there’s a place on the deck for you.
The pool faces south, which if you know your P.O.S.H. (Port Out and Starboard Home) is the ideal direction to catch the sunshine all day long.
If you are an early bird you can watch the first rays of sunlight catch the deck early in the morning. It’s a joy to be out there with that first cup of coffee before the rest of the world comes to life. You see the dew on the golf course before the sun burns it away. You see the first few golfers aiming to beat the heat. You get to watch the light chase away the shadows and you know you’re in for another wonderful day.
Whether you are out in the sunshine or under the shade of the lanai it won’t be too long before the sunlight shimmering on the water beckons you in for your first swim. Although swim is such an energetic word don’t you think? Far better to grab one of the spring-form pool floats and simply float around. It’s like being cradled by one of the fluffy white clouds that drift slowly across the sky.
Feeling more energetic? Get the whole tribe in the water for a game of volleyball or better still the sport that didn’t quite make it into the Olympics; Alligator Racing. Beware the ‘Deep End Turn’ where Alistair the Alligator takes no prisoners. Who would have thought that something so simple could have you doubled over in tears of laughter.
While we are in the pool, let’s take a moment to talk about water quality.
If you are thinking of spending the whole morning, or even the whole day in the water, but are worried about red eyes from the chlorine, read on because what follows is your dream come true. We run the most up-to-date, technically advanced saline pool system available to give you the best possible water quality there is. This isn’t simply a good spin on a normal chlorine pool system done properly; this is a completely different approach to maintaining the best water quality. It’s modern. It’s automatic. It uses the latest and greatest water technology available. What you experience is the softest, most beautiful water quality you can get. Forget that harsh, itchy eye, water you might have had in the past. This is water that feels like a clear mountain stream. The longer you want to spend in the water the more important it is to have the best water quality available. To the best of my knowledge there is no better system than the one we run for you.
When it’s time to eat we’ve got just the spot for you in an 8-place outdoor cast aluminium dining table. Your whole family fits easily with no need for waifs and strays having to eat by themselves. It doesn’t matter if you are splitting a sandwich, eating yesterday’s leftovers, or sitting down to a five course banquet. You can dine with a timeless elegance while watching the activity on the golf course or spotting squirrels in the trees. If you’re lucky you might even have a visit from the family of Sand Hill Cranes who occasionally wander by to say Hello.
If the sun gets really fierce, stay in the shade for a while. Break out the Trivial Pursuit or Articulate (we have a whole bunch of games for you) and have a happy hour challenging each other. Make it children vs. adults because adults – you won’t stand a chance! Have an hour or two where you enjoy some special family time with no phones, no iPads, and no laptops. Memories like these are golden. They stay with you for the rest of your life.
Afternoons were made for drifting around on a float catching up on a bit of reading.
Life doesn’t get much better. The circulating water drifts you from one end of the pool to another. Your own personal little lazy river. The slow turns are perfect for your all-over tan. The warm breeze wafts you with the odd scent of pine from the trees. It’s gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.
Can it be any better? Our pool still has one last trick up its sleeve to enthral and enchant you. It saves the best ’til last.
Late in the afternoon as the sun starts to sink towards the horizon, click the switch and bring the pool’s mood lighting system to life. From the corner of your eye you start to notice that the bubbles have become coloured. Subtly coloured. Pink, then blue, a brilliant white, maroon, blue, pink again. Always changing.
The further the sun sets, the more the ambient light fades, the more vivid the colours in the pool become. Their constant fade from one colour to another is enchanting. You tell yourself that you’ll sit and watch it for a few minutes longer. Then a few minutes more. And a few minutes more. It’s hypnotic. You can’t tear yourself away.
It feels like your day has lasted forever. It started so long ago with that first cup of coffee and now draws to an end with your own private light show.
The perfect day!
If you want to know more we have even more details about the pool and deck.
The Living Room
When you are inside and want to spend time together as a family, this is the place to be.
Let’s start with the sofas, because there are sofas and then there are sofas, aren’t there? With three big sofas there is space for everyone. They’re big enough for you to stretch out on and sink into. What’s more, they all have that wonderful squishability factor that makes them as comfortable as your favourite armchair.
Relax, chill, and then take turns summoning up the energy to bob to the fridge to get something nice and cold to drink. Or if you are feeling energetic, dig out the cocktail shaker, find the ingredients you bought earlier, get some ice from the icemaker, and put them all to good use.
If you want to watch something on the TV we run a full digital cable package. There are hundreds of channels and unlike free-to-air TV you’ll always find something good to watch. Sports, movies, news, and if there’s a big event on pay-per-view that you really want to catch we can organise an access code for you. The same goes for the PPV movies. If you find one you all missed, we can organise that for you too. Get the popcorn popping, fire up the cinema system, dim the lights, and you’ve got your very own movie night.
This is all part of our approach to how we run the place. We don’t try to lock everything down. We want you to enjoy the place the way that we do.
When we’re lucky enough to spend time here we take an iPad full of TV shows that we haven’t had time to watch. With a couple of swipes we send them to the Apple TV and there they are on the big screen. Catching up a bit of TV watching with a nice gin and tonic makes a relaxing end to a great day.
The Cocktail Lounge
It’s not really a cocktail lounge. This is the name given to it by some of our guests and over time it’s stuck.
It’s a great description of a place more peaceful, more tranquil. A great place for a quiet moment to catch up with a bit of reading. Or watch the pool’s light show. Or just sit and chat while sipping something nice to drink and spotting the details in the original artwork.
Master Bedroom #1
N.B. We have complete remodelled Master Bedroom #1 since the above photo was taken. What follows is the new design, with a photo to follow soon.
Let’s start with the basics. Sleep! Because if the basics aren’t there, everything else is for naught isn’t it?
Orlando is a full-on place and you’ll need a mountain of energy to tackle it. A great day out starts with a great night’s sleep, a great night’s sleep starts with a great bed, and a great bed starts with a great mattress. That’s why you’ll be sleeping on a thousand pocket springs of pillow-topped luxury lovliness. It’s the sleep that dreams are made of.
The room is themed around Miami Beach with a Twist. The elegance and timeless art deco styling reflecting the South Beach architecture. A contemporary colour palette keeps things simple with an original piece of art adding a slight zing of Miami Beach neon.
The other pieces of original art offer the tranquility of Monet and the energy of Jackson Pollock because, well, bedrooms aren’t just for sleeping are they?
They’re a place for your first cup of coffee and last cup of tea of the day. A place to catch-up with the news, watch the TV shows that you’ve brought with you that you’ve been meaning to watch for months, or listen to some music while drifting away in your own private oasis.
Master Bedroom #2
Leave Manhattan on a late summer Friday evening and join the select group of millionaires heading for Long Island. You pass through The Hamptons; Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, and East Hampton as the soft evening light highlights the pastel colours where the ocean meets the beach. It was the setting for the TV show The Affair, and those beautiful pastel visuals are the design inspiration for this room.
The pastel blues of the sky and the sea. Top-quality furniture with a timeless beachlike feel. And a piece of original art that captures the special moment as the setting sun dips below the horizon and turns the ocean to liquid gold.
You’ll sleep on a pillow-topped mattress that is so comfortable it’s like sleeping on a cloud.
The mood lighting feels like your evening walk to your favourite beachfront restaurant and the view from the window looks straight out over the golf course. Catch those early shafts of sunlight darting through the pine trees and you know it’s going to be a fabulous day.
The Twin Rooms
Just because our twin rooms are designed for the younger members of your family doesn’t mean they are any less comfortable. Solid furniture and pocket-sprung pillow-topped mattresses mean you get a great night’s sleep whether you’re 3 year’s old, or 103 year’s old.
The Disney artwork is subtle and understated making our twin rooms just as suitable for adults as they are for children. Quality linens and bedding comes as standard; but on request we can switch it out to give you a more full-on Disney experience. For the golfers amongst you, forget the challenge that the worst shot of the day buys the beers. Change it up a little. Ask us for the pink Disney re-skin and the first one in a bunker sleeps with the princesses.
There’s ample USB power for keeping phones charged, wall-mount TVs, games consoles, and mood lighting for that perfect theatre-like ambiance; perfect for catching up with The Cartoon Network.
Bedroom 5
All villas have a smallest room and this one is ours. But just because it’s the smallest doesn’t mean it’s any less comfortable. We’ve made it our most versatile room; perfect for young or old, singles or doubles. We can configure it differently depending on your needs. As standard it’s a single with a safari feel, because let’s face it, who doesn’t love giraffes?
On request we can convert it to a twin if that’s better for your family. Or we can take it yet further and convert from a twin to another king.
I makes a brilliant room for your toddlers. They feel safe and secure knowing you aren’t far away and at the same time they have their own space; as do you.
The Kitchen
Let’s face it, you aren’t coming to Orlando to spend a lot of time in the kitchen are you? But if you do want to knock up the odd meal you’ll find everything you need right at hand and easy to use. Let’s talk about more fun things though shall we?
The oven gives you a precise temperature, which is great because it means you don’t burn the bake-yourself Nestle cookies that you bought from Publix only an hour earlier.
Two coffee machines means you can either brew a full pot for everyone, or just a couple of cups with the Keurig. It’s perfect for when you want that quick fix without any faff.
Want something cold? The refrigerator has chilled, filtered water on tap. And ice. Cubed ice for your drinks and crushed ice for when the clock ticks to margarita time.
Or how about a milkshake or two? Throw some ice, milk and any leftover fruit into the Magic Bullet and blend yourself a lovely smoothie. Or how about some ice, some banana, chocolate ice-cream, chocolate milk, and a squirt of chocolate syrup to give the complete chocolate milkshake overload. Then take it out by the pool and enjoy every delicious second of it.
The best bit? The most crazy gadget ever invented. The kitchen roll holder with USB power. It might sound bonkers but it’s so handy you’ll wonder why every house doesn’t have one.
The Games Room
The big plus about the games room is that it’s inside the villa.
It’s worth taking a step back to talk about this for a moment. Heaps of villas have their games rooms in their garage. Garages that aren’t insulated, aren’t air conditioned, and because they are external to the main part of the villa are more accessible to Florida’s creepy crawlies. The big deal is the lack of air conditioning. Through the summer it’s easy for a garage to sit way over 100 degrees with a relative humidity also approaching 100%. It makes garage based games room to all intents and purposes unusable.
Knowing this you can take no worries with you about whether you’ll be able to get in the odd game of pool or snooker. We have a professionally installed, professionally lit 8′ Old World slate bed pool table with matching pockets, Aztec fabric, and full size pool balls. Forget anything rickety. This is a solid table, perfectly level, that’s a joy to play on.
If you want a longer game we also have a matching set of snooker balls. Grab a beer, put some sport on the wall mounted TV, and enjoy yourself.