We’re always on the look out for ways to make life easier for our homeowners and to make our operations even more efficient. That’s why we’re excited to bring you news about a new way for you to make payments to us: Zelle.

About Zelle

Let’s run through a few quick questions and answers about Zelle, so you can get a great overview of the payment option we are introducing. If you have any further questions, please reach out to our team at any time.

What is Zelle?

Zelle is a digital payments service. It has the backing of some of America’s biggest banks. As long as you have a US bank account, you can use Zelle.

Which banks are behind Zelle?

Zelle is owned by some of America’s biggest banks, including Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo.

How does Zelle work?

Zelle is an easy to use instant payment service and mobile app. It’s a little like Venmo, but payments are typically processed faster (thanks to Zelle’s backing by America’s biggest banks).

Simply download the app and you can send and receive money for free. Zelle is also found in the banking app of hundreds of banks and credit unions nationwide. You can send money quickly and for free – even if the recipient uses a different bank or credit union.

To get started, you’ll need to register your email or cell-phone number (either though your existing banking app or through the Zelle app).

Then you can send money to people you know using their email address or cell phone number.

Why are we implementing Zelle now?

By accepting payments via Zelle, it gives our customers another choice of payment options. Because payments are so fast and easy, it means we can act faster when there’s a maintenance issue. And you can keep your escrow accounts up to date much more easily. It will help to ensure that services aren’t affected by under-agreed escrow balances.

What’s more, the service is free to use. So you can avoid the hassle and expense of writing bank cheques. Instead of waiting several days for a cheque payment to be made, payments are usually made within minutes – or seconds!

We think this is a really important benefit because it means that if you need expensive or urgent maintenance work, it won’t be held up by waiting for a bank cheque to clear.

It’s going to be especially useful for those homeowners for whom we manage the home but don’t take bookings. If we don’t have an income for which to offset services and maintenance payments, it can be a real hassle keeping your escrow amount up to date each month.

Now, with Zelle, that’s going to be a lot faster and easier for you.

Is there anything else I need to know about using Zelle?

If your bank doesn’t offer Zelle, you’re limited to sending $500 per month. However, if your bank does offer Zelle, the limits are much higher (typically between $1,000 to $5,000 per day or between $5,000 and $40,000 per month).

Because the money is transferred directly from one bank account to another, Zelle is much safer than sending cheques in the mail.

However, because it is such a fast and easy payment option, it’s really important to only use Zelle to send money to people you trust. Once sent, the money can’t be recalled – so it’s also doubly important to double check the recipient’s details before sending.
 

What are the next steps?

If you’d like to use Zelle to make payments to us and to keep your escrow account up to date, you can find our Zelle details at the bottom of your monthly homeowner statement.

If you have any questions, please get in touch for more information. We’re happy to talk you through the next steps, so you can be confident when making your payments to us using this convenient new payments platform.

Our New Linens Service from Standard Textile in Conjunction with Marriott.

It’s great to be able to share some exciting news with homeowners this month. We’ve joined a new programme on preferential terms which enables us to source hotel-quality linens quickly and competitively. We’re eligible for the special terms thanks to our partnership with Marriott.

Standard Textile has been supplying Marriott hotels with high quality bed and bath linens for many years. The long-standing relationship is based on Standard Textile’s commitment to the quality of its products and delivery of service. The textile company now supplies 30 of Marriott’s hotel brands with bedding and bath products and is a preferred partner of merit.

About Standard Textile

Standard Textile estimates that more than 100 million people sleep on its sheets each year – many as a result of the company’s partnership with Marriott. In fact, it receives many enquiries every year from people who have enjoyed sleeping on Marriott linens so much, they want to recreate that hotel quality in their own home.

What’s so exciting with this programme is that you can now offer all your guests that same hotel-style sleep experience!

Standard Textile ranges include bath and bedding products and they already qualify for best volume pricing – no matter how many or how few you order – under the Marriott scheme. Given the prestige of the brand, it’s really exciting to be able to offer you their high-quality products at these preferential rates through our partnership with Marriott.

What bath and bedding products are available?

This week I was treated to a whistle-stop tour of some of Standard Textile’s most popular products for the hospitality sector – ranging from best premium quality through mid-range and performance products to affordable options at an entry price point.

The range includes:

• 100% cotton bed sheets and pillowcases
• 100% cotton duvet covers in a range of block colours
• Blended bedding options for excellent washing performance
• Incredibly soft, shrink-resistant towels
• Specialist makeup towels to minimise the problem of stains
• Larger pool and spa towels
• Bathmats that stay in place without the need for rubber backing
• Beautiful cotton bed covers with textured surfaces that eliminate the need for ironing
• Eco-friendly duvet inserts with filling made from recycled plastic bottles
• A huge range of pillows
• Pillow pads and protectors
• Super-soft cashmere throws
• Soft, all-season and washable blankets in a range of colours

I’m especially excited by the washable duvet inserts made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s great to see a company doing what it can to close the loop on this problematic product supply chain.

What to do next

If you’d like to know more about any of the options above, please get in touch. I’m really happy to share more information about the products and/ or the ordering process.

You can also see the full range of bath and bedding products on the Standard Textile website, under the hospitality menu item.

We need your help!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Standard Textile ranges and which you’d like to see in your home.

Please browse the website and let me know which products you like or are interested in for your own property.

Thank you for your feedback. It’s always appreciated and helps us serve you better.

Happy Fourth of July! We’d like to wish all our homeowners a very happy Independence Day.

Please be aware that this year all the communities and resorts have emailed to advise that fireworks will not be permitted.

We know this is disappointing because fireworks are such a traditional part of people’s celebrations, but it is really important to ensure that the rules are followed.

Resorts are making this request because if fireworks or spent shells fall into the pool screen, it can cause a fire. This is a particular concern this year as more people will be celebrating at home due to the pandemic.

We’d like to reassure you that we have emailed all guests to ensure that they are aware that no fireworks are permitted this year. We have suggested instead that if they would like to celebrate with fireworks, they attend the firework display in Haines City.

You can find more details about this event here: https://www.hainescity.com/353/Thunder-on-the-Ridge

White Rose Villas is currently investing in some great new branding for the vehicles used by our housekeeping and maintenance teams – and we’d like you to get involved!

Could you design a new image for our housekeeping and maintenance vehicles?

If so, you could be in with a chance to win free property maintenance for a property for three months, courtesy of our team. That’s what we’re offering the one lucky winner of our new van wrap design competition.

Plus, of course, you’ll get the chance to see your design driving around your resort!

We’ve shared some suggested designs with you here on the blog. If you think you can do better, simply send us your ideas by email by no later than July 20th 2021.

If our team picks your design, we’ll credit your homeowners account with three months of property maintenance. We’ll announce the lucky winner in another blog at the end of July.

Get drawing and good luck!

Attention all homeowners! We’re currently in talks with a security company about some new, more robust pool alarms. We’re encouraging all homeowners to have them fitted. Please read on to find out why.

Earlier this month, we received extremely sad news about a drowning on the Windsor Hills resort community. While this thankfully didn’t affect any of our homeowners directly or involve any of the homes we manage, we are keen to do what we can to ensure that we never receive such sad news about one of our properties.

We want to support you to do everything you can to keep your guests safe.

To that end, we’ve been in contact with a local security company with a view to beefing up pool safety for our guests. We’re recommending that homeowners fit an integrated pool alarm on the pool access doors.

If you don’t currently have a pool alarm, or the one you do have is battery operated, please consider fitting one of these in your homes.

As well as making your property safer for guests, these pool alarms come with the added benefit that they prevent guests from leaving the pool doors open. This means that any air conditioning that’s running won’t be trying to cool down the outside areas – saving you from excessive electricity bills!

Why should I fit a pool alarm?

A pool alarm sounds an alarm whenever the pool access door is opened without first pressing the alarm button located beside the door. It is designed for guests who are travelling with young children, so they stay alert to where their kids are in the home at any one time. Simply, it means that should a young child open the door to the pool without an adult with them to press the button, the alarm will sound and the parents can swiftly get poolside.

We think its a great addition that really makes a difference for families travelling with toddlers and small children – both in terms of safety and peace of mind.

Why should I swap my battery-operated pool alarm for a hard-wired pool alarm?

The security company we are speaking with highly recommends a hard-wired design. It means that you don’t need to worry about batteries running out and the alarm not working.

Dead batteries in an alarm could make the property less safe as the unworking pool alarm would give parents have a false sense of security that they will be notified if the pool doors are opened.

Since a hard-wired alarm can’t run out of batteries, you avoid this safety issue.

You will save on any battery-related callouts, as well. If our groundcrew are called out to change the batteries in your pool alarm, you’ll be charged for a callout as well as for the batteries – just a few of these events would pay for the hard-wired alarm to be fitted!

How does the alarm work?

The alarm unit is mounted on the wall beside the pool door at adult height, so children can’t reach it to press the button.

The alarm runs to the nearest outlet/ electricity socket, where a transformer will be screwed into the outlet with a security screw so that it can’t be removed.

You’ll need an alarm for each door that accesses the pool area. You can also choose to have a unit added upstairs if you wish to ensure the alarm is heard around the property.

The alarms are designed to be very loud and screeching. It’s designed that way to ensure that it will be heard – even if you’re in the shower with an earful of water!

The security company is currently working to a two to three-week lead time because they are very busy fitting the alarms for homes at present. So the sooner you can let us know your interest, the better.

What will it cost to have the hard-wired pool alarm fitted in my home?

The first unit is charged at $295.

If you need a second unit for another pool door, this is also charged at $295.

Subsequent units (if you have more than two pool access doors) are charged at $245.

If you need power to run elsewhere (e.g. upstairs) this would incur and additional charge of $99.

Anything else I need to know?

The security company also recommends Infinite patio cal-locks for slider doors. This is a double-bolt system that requires the user to lift it up and down simultaneously to open the door. They are $69 installed and they can be installed at the same time as the pool alarms. As well as working to child-proof the access doors, these cal-locks also help prevent would-be thieves from being able to shimmy the sliding door.

What next?

If you would like to install either of these security features in your home, please reach out to our team. We’re taking bookings now, and we’re happy to answer any further questions you might have about the alarms and locks.

Yes, it’s here again: recurring on the first Wednesday in February, it’s time to get this very important message across to your guests. Tell them of the many advantages to be gained by booking direct and abandoning third-party channels e.g. Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Expedia.

Many guests (and owners) are rightly dismayed at the ever-increasing (often hidden) guest/traveller fees piled on by these platforms; how can they be justified when owners and managers are offering exactly the same properties at much more competitive rates, with a highly safe and personalised service?

What if hundreds of vacation rental providers sent out the same message on the same day explaining the benefits of booking direct? Hence, four years ago, #BookDirect Guest Education day was born. The campaign is intended to post multiple messages across social and email channels, to potential guests, promoting the many reasons to book their vacation rental direct with owners or managers. It only takes a few thousand mentions on these social channels in one day to create a ‘trend.’ Many frequent travellers will probably receive multiple similar messages from owners and managers they’ve booked with previously.

We at White Rose Villas are working with our direct partners to offer great discounted rates across our wonderful property portfolio; we’re certainly doing our best to maximise your booking opportunities!

However, it will only work if we all, owners and managers alike, post on 3rd February using the hashtag #BookDirect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. So, it’s up to you; get posting/emailing and join us to participate in a tremendously beneficial campaign to fill your homes and help make 2021 a much more successful year for us all!

We at White Rose Villas love to visit the theme parks and their ever-growing offering of exciting rides and attractions to entertain and delight the whole family. We’re also aware that costs can tend to escalate at times, so we’re always looking for free or inexpensive things to do in and around Orlando. Here, we’ll share some of our favourites and give you some fun options that won’t shrink your bank balance too much, if at all. Please remember to check each venue before you go; in these uncertain times things can change rapidly.

Kissimmee Old Town

On route 192, close to Disney, we love to take a stroll around Kissimmee Old Town, with its amusement park, great dining and shopping. This charming retro walking district is a recreation of a classic Florida town, offering a welcome break from the larger, hectic theme parks. Saturday night sees a very famous and popular classic car cruise, with free entertainment for everyone, plus the chance to see hundreds of amazing classic cars parading the streets,

Farmer’s Market at Winter Park

Also on a Saturday morning from 7 a.m. there’s a weekly Farmer’s Market at Winter Park. Held in a vintage train depot off Park Avenue, it’s your chance to check out and buy fresh local produce, including artisanal foods, plants and baked goods. It’s great to take your time and explore the fabulous range on offer; maybe bag yourself a bargain!

Orlando Brewing Company

Every weekend there’s an opportunity to learn how organic beer is brewed at Orlando’s organic beer brewery, with its giant fermenting vats. Orlando Brewing Company offers free tours plus free live entertainment on its outdoor stage. Be sure to take an Uber if you intend to sample the delicious brews on offer!

Kelly Park, Apopka & Blue Spring State Park

Ever tried tubing? Well, if you think it may ‘float your boat’ why not head to Kelly Park in Apopka, where you can float your day away on a free flowing natural spring and crystal clear creek. You’ll also find hiking trails, volleyball courts and a playground. You can take your own tubes or rent one outside the park. All this costs just $3 per vehicle with 1-2 occupants, or $5 with 3-8 people.

There are no manatees at Kelly Park but, during the Winter months, you can spot these wonderful creatures at Blue Spring State Park located West of Orange City. It’s a dedicated manatee refuge and popular tourist destination where you can also go kayaking, canoeing, hiking, fishing, swimming or wildlife spotting.

Spook Hill

Visitors come from far and wide to experience spooky goings-on at Spook Hill in Lake Wales, South of Orlando. On arrival, park your car in neutral and it appears to roll uphill without any form of propulsion! Is the hill haunted as many locals will tell you, or is it maybe an optical illusion? You’ll have to make your own mind up, but we were pretty amazed when we visited!

Tibet Butler Preserve & Ocala National Forest

If you enjoy Florida’s abundant wildlife you can visit a wildlife haven close to Disney World. Tibet Butler Preserve is free to visit and offers miles of well-maintained hiking trails for all to enjoy.

Ocala National Forest is a unique and fascinating place known for its huge areas of pine scrub forest, natural pools and canoe runs. You can explore the hundreds of trails, one of which runs past a sinkhole, and the remains of 19th century homesteads.

The Bradlee-McIntyre House

For you achitecture buffs The Bradlee-McIntyre House is well worth a visit: the only surviving Queen Anne-style cottage in Orange and Seminole Counties. Built in 1885 for noted Boston architect Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee, the 3 storey, 13 room Winter vacation home features an octagonal tower and gingerbread trim, typical of the flamboyant houses of the period.

Running for Brews

Combining fitness with fun, Running for Brews is a well-known Orlando running club meeting at Graffiti Junktion 7p.m. Wednesdays. After running a local 5km route, you’ll enjoy free craft beers to help you rehydrate! This is definitely one of the favourites for we finely-honed athletes at White Rose Villas!!

Family Friendly Vacation Rental

Finally, while not free, we’re sure you’ll be very pleasantly surprised at how affordable it is to rent a family-friendly vacation rental around Orlando. From as little as $90 per night you and any little ones can enjoy your own private pool and spa, as well as a games room and resort facilities such as huge pools, arcades, gyms, restaurants, playgrounds etc. which vary by location.

Many rentals offer themed rooms based on favourite movies or characters that kids just love! For much less than the cost of a hotel, families or groups of friends can live in extremely comfortable, safe surroundings, eat outdoors, enjoy the games room and experience the magic all around them!

Check out the fabulous range of properties available at Ellis Exclusive Villas

This year’s Black Friday falls on 27th of this month and, for many of us, it will be a very different experience compared to previous years.

At White Rose Villas we continue to proactively look to fill our homes with Black Friday travel bookers.

Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year and, while many will be staying close to home, there will be many bargain hunters looking for weekend (or longer) deals to take advantage of the fabulous shopping the Orlando area has to offer.

The current trend in vacation rentals is for either last-minute bookings (because people can’t plan far in advance in the current environment) or far-in-advance bookings (in the hope that things will be different next year, especially now we’ve had early news of a vaccination against the virus).

This means that, this year, we’re expecting Black Friday to attract lots of local travellers making plans for the end of this year. as well as more traditional vacationers making plans for later in 2021 and beyond.

We want to capitalise on both of these trends in a bid to book out your homes.

We’ll be showcasing your properties and, working closely with our travel partners, to offer attractive Black Friday deals to get your homes busy.

We feel that, with all bookings now being covered by our unrivalled Master Cancel scheme, we have a definite edge over other platforms.

This is where we really need your help: you’ll soon be seeing extensive social media campaigns. It would help enormously if you could like and share these posts.

If you haven’t already signed up to our Facebook groups, please do so here:

Facebook Group – White Rose Villas

Facebook Group – Ellis Exclusive Villas

Many thanks in advance for your help. Let’s work together so we can all get through this difficult period and emerge in good order next year!

The White Rose Villas Reservations Team has been back to school over the last few weeks!  We’ve been learning new skills in data analytics as part of the Rev Max Bootcamp.

You may be aware that we recently added the Rev Max software to our booking engine to help homeowners who are interested in using data insights to improve their results.  The Rev Max Bootcamp is an additional service which is designed to help users get the most from the data the software solution provides.

What is Rev Max Bootcamp and why are we doing it?

Rev Max Bootcamp is a twelve-week-long practical course and mentoring programme which aims to give reservation managers the skills they need to increase their bookings, occupancy rates, revenue and, ultimately, profits.

The course includes:

• an evaluation of current channel marketing
• the principles of effective pricing and length of stay strategies
• foundational data analytics
• how to ensure full utilization of system features and tools to maximum effectiveness
• advanced reporting to understand current position and measure changes
• how to target multiple market segments for the greatest revenue generation

The White Rose Villas Reservations team has already gained some great tips and insights from our work with the Rev Max team.  We’ve been learning new skills in data analytics and working with industry experts who have been coaching us on a one-to-one basis on how to use data to its best advantage.

You can find out more about the programme here:

What’s next?

While it’s fantastic that our team is adding to and enhancing their own skills, you might be wondering what’s in it for you? 

The great news is the team will be able to apply this knowledge to help all of our homeowners to use the data about their home and the local market to adapt their own marketing strategies and boost bookings and revenues.

If you are happy to be flexible on the rates you charge and the length of stays you accept, these new data insights can power some real improvements in your returns.  The Rev Max team report that the homeowners they work with typically increase revenues by 40%.

Obviously, we’re in a difficult market right now, so it might not be possible to achieve this type of improvement, but we’re really committed to giving it a go to get the best returns for our homeowners.

If you would like to work with us, and leverage the data insights available to you through the new Rev Max software, you simply need to be willing to be flexible in the rates and lengths of stays you accept.  Get in touch with us, and we can talk you through the basics.  Then we can get to work on applying the science of data to your home’s marketing.

What should I do next?

If you don’t think that data-driven pricing and marketing is for you, that’s totally fine too.  You don’t need to do anything and we will continue to market your home just like we always have and according to the criteria you have already set.

If you are aren’t sure and would like to know more before making a decision, please give our team a call and we can talk you through some further details.

If you’re super excited and definitely want to sign up to this programme of dynamic pricing and flexible booking, please send our team an email and we will get back in touch with you with more details.

We’re really excited and hope you are too!

This week on our blog, we’re absolutely delighted to bring you some thoughts from another of our homeowners.

Eric owns two fantastic family-friendly homes on Kissimmee’s Indian Point resort.  It enjoys a fabulous location, just a half mile drive from Highway 192 and close to the Orlando theme parks.

Like most of our homeowners, Eric has seen his bookings slow through the pandemic and, especially, through the various lockdowns.  As a result, he’s had to adapt some of his booking strategies.  We’re really grateful to him for sharing his tips here.

How to maximise booking revenue during the pandemic

I’m not a huge proponent of short stays but realise that the short-term rental guest base has changed with everything going on.

I am getting many rentals from local Floridians and folks from nearby states.

Guests are now booking with shorter lead time.  Many of these guests are looking for weekend family getaways and prefer to stay in a cosy private home instead of a crowded hotel.  

This trend should be good news for vacation-home owners as it could actually lead to an increase occupancy rates.  The days of staying in a 500-room hotel are over for the foreseeable future.

I’ve changed my policy on minimum stays

I chose to limit weekend stays to three night.  Three seems to be the magic number for me.

By limiting weekend stays to minimum three nights it reduces the number of party guests.  At the same time, it provides the opportunity for guests who may want to book longer stays.  By doing so, I’m also seeing bookings of 4, 5, 6 nights.

When I tried a two-day minimum on the weekends, the calendar was filled up immediately – and often with less desirable guests. However, when two-night gaps become available in the calendar I then allow two-night rentals for those specific days.  

One big pro for short stays is the opportunity to accumulate many more guest reviews.  Potential guests like to see properties with many reviews.

While we would all love to have five-night or seven-night stays, we must realise that this is a transitional period in the short-term rental marketplace.  Things are very different to how they were 12 months ago.

During this time, we must do what we need to do as owners to press forward.  This time will not last forever and better days are ahead of us.

I am already seeing more guests starting to return from other parts of the country.  This is a positive sign.  With a COVID-19 vaccine hopefully being available in the spring, occupancy rates should surely improve. 

How to book Eric’s homes

Eric owns the fab Summer Point home, which you can view here.  It’s recently been refurbished and has a lovely south-facing pool.

His other Orlando property is Lake Point, which you can view here.  This one is a great choice for families and has a fantastic lake view from the pool and lanai.

Share your thoughts!

We’d love to publish more homeowner viewpoints on our blog.  If you’d like to write for us, we’ll credit your homeowners account with $30.  If you would like to be published on this blog, please get in touch with our team in your usual way.