Sharing an Orlando villa with friends or relatives can be a great way to enjoy a Florida holiday. A larger home gives everyone space to stay together, children can enjoy the pool and games facilities, and many of the accommodation and living costs can be shared.
But 2 families who get along perfectly at home can discover that spending 2 weeks under the same roof requires a little more planning than expected.
The key is to discuss the practical details before booking – particularly bedrooms, bathrooms, money, transport and how each family expects to spend the holiday.
Don’t Choose a Villa by Maximum Occupancy Alone
A villa advertised as sleeping 10 people doesn’t necessarily mean it will suit every group of 10 equally well.
Look at the actual bedroom configuration.
For example, a home might have 2 king bedrooms, 1 queen bedroom and 2 twin bedrooms. That could work perfectly for 2 couples with children.
A different group consisting of several adults may find the same layout less suitable.
Rather than starting with:
“Will this villa sleep all of us?”
ask:
“Where will each person actually sleep?”
When comparing accommodation through Debbies Villas, families can view individual villa details and photographs, making it easier to look beyond maximum occupancy and consider whether the bedroom configuration suits their particular group.
Think About Privacy
When 2 families share accommodation, having some personal space can make a big difference.
Ideally, both sets of parents may want their own larger bedroom rather than one couple discovering that the other has automatically claimed the main suite.
The location of bedrooms can matter too.
Parents with younger children might prefer bedrooms close together, while families travelling with teenagers may appreciate having rooms in a different part of the villa.
If grandparents are joining the holiday, a downstairs bedroom may be preferable to climbing stairs several times a day.
Discuss these things before booking rather than deciding who sleeps where when everyone arrives tired after a transatlantic flight.
Count the Bathrooms
Bedrooms usually receive most of the attention when choosing a villa, but bathrooms can be almost as important.
Imagine 2 families trying to get ready for an early theme park start at the same time.
A villa with several bathrooms or en-suites can make mornings considerably easier.
Look at which bedrooms have their own bathroom and which share.
If one family gets a main bedroom with an en-suite while the other family shares a bathroom with several children, decide whether everyone is happy with that arrangement.
There’s no requirement for everything to be perfectly equal – it simply needs to be agreed beforehand.
Decide How You’ll Divide the Cost
The simplest arrangement is often to divide the villa cost equally between the 2 families.
But that isn’t always necessarily the fairest solution.
One family might have 2 adults and 1 child while the other has 2 adults and 4 children. One might occupy considerably more bedrooms than the other.
Alternatively, one family may have the larger main suite while the other has a smaller bedroom.
Decide what feels reasonable to everyone before money changes hands.
The same applies to optional villa extras. If you want pool heating, for example, establish whether that cost will be divided equally.
When booking through Debbie’s Villas or another villa provider, check which facilities and extras are included with the particular home so both families understand the total accommodation cost.
Agree How Groceries Will Work
Sharing supermarket shopping sounds straightforward until one family fills the trolley with items the other family doesn’t eat.
There are several ways to handle groceries.
You could have a communal fund covering essentials such as milk, bread, breakfast foods, drinks and household products.
Each family could then purchase its own additional food, snacks and drinks.
Alternatively, if you know each other well and have similar habits, simply split the entire supermarket bill.
Think about alcohol separately too. If one family doesn’t drink and the other buys a substantial amount, splitting every grocery bill 50/50 probably won’t feel particularly fair.
The objective isn’t to account for every cent. It’s to prevent small financial irritations building up during the holiday.
One Hire Car or Two?
This is one of the most important decisions 2 families should make.
Hiring 1 sufficiently large vehicle can reduce costs. You’ll share fuel, tolls and potentially theme park parking charges.
But you’ll also have to agree where you’re going every day.
Two cars cost more but provide considerably greater independence.
One family might want an early start at Disney while the other prefers a slower morning.
Someone may want to spend the afternoon shopping while everyone else stays beside the villa pool.
One family may want to leave a theme park after dinner while the other wants to stay for the evening fireworks.
With separate cars, none of this is a problem.
Before booking 2 vehicles, however, check the parking arrangements at your chosen villa and community. Don’t simply assume that because a villa accommodates a large number of guests, an unlimited number of cars can be parked there.
Talk About Morning Routines
One family might naturally wake at 6am.
The other may regard 9am as an early start.
That difference becomes considerably more noticeable when you’re sharing a home.
If you’re planning early theme park days, agree the night before what time everyone intends to leave.
If one family wants to sleep later, those getting up early should be considerate about noise in communal areas.
The beauty of a villa is that separate bedrooms and living spaces provide more freedom than everyone sharing hotel accommodation, but you’re still living together.
A little consideration goes a long way.
Think About Bedtimes Too
The same principle applies in the evening.
Families with younger children may want quiet bedrooms relatively early.
Teenagers might be playing games or watching television much later.
Adults may want to sit outside talking after the children have gone to bed.
Look at the villa layout before booking. If the games room or main living area is immediately beside a bedroom intended for a young child, think about whether that arrangement will work for your group.
Again, there isn’t a correct answer.
You simply want a villa layout that matches the way your families live.
Agree the Pool Rules
A private swimming pool is likely to be one of the highlights of an Orlando villa holiday, particularly for children.
But don’t allow 2 families being present to create confusion over who is supervising.
If young children are using the pool, an adult should be clearly responsible for watching them.
Never assume:
“There are plenty of adults around, so someone must be keeping an eye on them.”
Both families should agree that pool supervision is an active responsibility.
Parents should also familiarise themselves with any pool safety features at the villa, including door alarms or safety barriers where provided.
You Don’t Have to Spend Every Day Together
This is perhaps one of the most useful things to agree before the holiday.
Sharing a villa doesn’t mean sharing every minute of the holiday.
One family may love rollercoasters while the other doesn’t.
Someone might want to visit a theme park for a second time while everyone else would prefer a villa day.
Some may want to shop while others play golf.
Allowing each family to occasionally do its own thing can make the time you spend together more enjoyable.
This is another reason why 2 hire cars can sometimes be worth the additional expense.
Have the Conversation Before You Book
Before confirming an Orlando villa with another family, sit down together and discuss a few simple questions:
- Which bedrooms will each family use?
- Does everyone have enough bathroom space?
- How will the villa cost be divided?
- Which optional extras do we want?
- Will we share groceries or shop separately?
- Do we need 1 hire car or 2?
- Are there enough parking spaces for our vehicles?
- How many theme park days will we spend together?
- What time does each family normally wake up and go to bed?
- Who will supervise children around the pool?
- Are we happy to occasionally spend days apart?
- What facilities are particularly important to each family?
None of these conversations needs to be complicated.
Having them before booking simply makes sure everyone has the same expectations.
Choose a Villa That Works for the Group
Sharing an Orlando villa can provide some of the best moments of a family holiday: children playing together in the pool, evenings around the dining table and everyone having space to relax after a long theme park day.
The biggest villa isn’t necessarily the best choice.
Look instead for the home with the right combination of bedrooms, bathrooms, living areas and facilities for the people actually travelling.
Whether you’re searching through Debbie’s Villas or another Orlando accommodation provider, choose the property as 2 families rather than having one family make all the decisions.
Get the practical conversations out of the way before you travel, and you can concentrate on the much more enjoyable part once you arrive – having a fantastic Orlando holiday together.
Leave a Reply