Terms and Conditions

Check In and Check Out

Check in time is 4:00 pm. (unless early check in has been purchased.)
Check out time is 10:00 am. (unless late check out has been purchased.)

Hospitality Center Hours: 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. Closed Sunday.

Once you have made final payment for your home and filled out the online registration form, you will be sent an email giving you the secure, keyless access code to your home. This individualized code will only work from 4pm on your check in day (10am if you purchased an early check in) and it will stop working at 10am on your check out day (4pm if you purchased a late check out.) During your stay, you can lock the front door by turning the knob (when you are inside the home) or pressing the * key (when you are outside the home.) To avoid a late check out fee, on your final departure you must input the special departure code listed in the email. This alerts our Hospitality Team that the home has been vacated.

Unlike small hotel rooms, it takes a full day to professionally clean and sanitize a vacation home. If you require an early check in or late check out, these can be secured with payment in advance of 1/2 of one night's rental (if available.) Early check in begins at 10:00 am and a late check out is up to 4:00 pm. Please remember to use the departure code when you leave the home for the last time the morning of your departure.

Reservation and Payment Terms

A non-refundable 20% deposit is required to place a reservation. The balance of your account is due 60 days prior to your scheduled arrival. Unless you have made other arrangements, the same payment method you used to place your reservation will be used to automatically make your final payment 60 days prior to arrival. If we are unable to process your final payment, your home will be offered to other renters until payment is made. Any money already paid is non-refundable. Every reservation also has an additional booking fee applied.

Cancelation Policy

If you cancel your reservation more than 60 days prior to your scheduled arrival, you forfeit your deposit and any other money already paid. We regret we are unable to refund trips paid in full for any reason. Therefore we highly recommend guests purchase travel insurance. (See "Travel Insurance" below.)

Changing Your Reservation

Up to 60 days prior to arrival, you may change your reservation dates or property by paying an $89 change fee. Within 60 days of arrival, dates and property are locked in and cannot be changed or refunded for any reason. Please remember that our homes have private owners who have reserved and blocked off their home for your use. Potential bookings may have been turned away. It would be unfair to our homeowners to deny them the rental money for their home, should a guest be permitted to simply cancel at the last minute.

Travel Insurance

Because vacations can be disrupted for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to) emergencies, death, illness, job loss, etc, we highly recommend you purchase travel insurance. There are several travel insurance companies offering a variety of coverages and pricing. Simply do a Google search and select the company/policy that best fits your needs and budget.

Your Rental Home/Special Requests

We will make every effort to house you in the exact home you've chosen. If unforeseeable circumstances make that impossible, we will substitute a home of equal or greater quality with an equal or greater number of bedrooms. If you've rented a home with more than 4 bedrooms this substitution may include the substitution of two or more homes in close proximity with a total number of bed/bathrooms equal to or greater than your original reservation. Although it is rare that we have to change a property, circumstances may also prevent us from notifying you of a change prior to your arrival. Also, if you made any "special requests" when placing your reservation, it is understood that, while we will do everything possible to fulfill your requests, we cannot guarantee that your special request will be met.

Minimum Stay

If you are planning a visit of less than five nights, we are happy to offer you our Best Value option. You choose the property type and when you arrive, we will find you the best home available from our vast selection of properties. Guests staying for less than 5 nights must also pay the cleaning fee. For guests who want to select their specific home location, we require a 5 night minimum stay. (7 nights during some of our busiest Holiday Seasons.) If you rent multiple homes for less than 5 nights each we are unable to guarantee the proximity of the homes to one another.

By state law, occupancy may not exceed what is posted for each home (Generally 2 people per bedroom plus 2 additional people.) Maximum occupancy excludes children under three years of age. Occupancy is based on two people using a sleeper sofa (if available) or providing their own air mattress. Not every home is equipped with these. Your party might need to provide an air mattress to accommodate all your guests.

Cribs

If you purchased a "crib" with your reservation please note that these are not full size, wooden cribs. They are smaller, more portable "pak-n-play" cribs. This is so they can easily be moved from room to room. Also, for sanitation reasons, no linens are provided for these cribs. If this does not meet your needs, please contact the Hospitality Center to discuss alternate arrangements.

Smoking

Smoking is only permitted on your rental home`s patio or in other outdoor locations.

BBQs

If you purchased a BBQ please note that these are small, transportable propane gas BBQs. They will be delivered on your arrival day and placed just outside the pool screen, on the lawn. Per fire regulations, BBQs are not permitted on the pool deck.

Pets

Pets are only allowed in specific homes and require an additional fee. If you plan to bring your pet, you must notify us in advance so we can make the proper arrangements. Bringing a pet without notifying us and/or paying the additional fee will result in a higher fee charged to your card and, at our discretion, may result in the immediate eviction from the property. No refund will be granted in this event.

Pool Area

Children should not be allowed to swim unattended. No running, diving, or horseplay in the pool area. Please bring your own beach towels. You may not use the bath towels in the home, as the pool water will bleach them. Do not bring glass into the pool area.

According to Chapter 515.33 of the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act: Anyone tampering with or disconnecting pool alarms commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by a $5000 fine or one (1) year in jail. Please do not tamper with the pool alarms.

If any pool alarm at any door or sliding glass door leading to the pool area is not working, please contact the Hospitality Center immediately. Not only is this a safety violation, if we discover a non-working pool alarm, it will also be assumed that you were the one who tampered with the alarm and you will be charged for its replacement upon departure. Therefore, to avoid a charge, please inform us if the alarm is not working.

Pool Heating

If you would like pool heating, you must make arrangements for it at the time you place your reservation. Pool heating must be ordered for the entire length of your stay or a minimum of 7 nights if you are staying longer than three weeks. Refunds for pool heating are not available once you arrive, regardless of weather conditions.

Many of our pools are heated by electric heat pump. The desired water temperature is set at 82 degrees Fahrenheit. It is important to note that this temperature will not feel hot like a spa, nor warm like a bathtub. It is only meant to take the chill off the water so you may swim comfortably. When the air temperature drops below 55 degrees Fahrenheit the pump (which sucks in air as part of its operation), although on and operating, may not be able to bring the water fully up to desired temperature. However, the operating costs remain the same and no refunds can be made should the water not reach temperature in this circumstance.

If a pool heater is broken and/or unavailable for any reason, we will do our best to offer you an alternative property with a working unit. If, for whatever reason, we cannot provide a home with a pool heater, our liability is limited to only the amount of supplement paid for the pool heating not supplied.

If your home has a hot tub in addition to a swimming pool the hot tub can usually be heated by turning a timer switch. In most homes, you do not need to order pool heat for the hot tub to get to temperature, which is set to 100 degrees. Here, again, there are numerous reasons why a hot tub may not be able to get up to temperature, including, but not limited to, the outdoor temperature, the pool heat equipment, user error. No additional fee is paid for the use of a hot tub and, in the event a hot tub does not get to temperature, no compensation of any kind can be offered.

Pests & Critters

Because Florida Dream Homes is a lodging establishment and it does business in the sub-tropical climate of Florida, there is always the possibility of a guest encountering various pests and critters indigenous to our location and/or potentially present in any lodging establishment including, but not limited to: Alligators, bears, Florida panthers, raccoons, birds, snakes, palmetto bugs, bed bugs, ants, bees, mosquitoes, microorganisms and so forth. Although we clean, sanitize and treat our homes on a regular basis, no amount of prevention can eliminate the possibility of an encounter. Guests agree to hold Florida Dream Homes harmless for encountering any pests or critters whether outside or inside their rental home.

In the event a guest encounters an undesirable pest or critter, or have cause to believe they have encountered one, they must contact the Florida Dream Homes office immediately. We will assess the situation and, at our sole discretion, determine a course of action, if any, which may involve anything from sending in a pest control specialist to offering a guest an alternate property.

Limitation of Liability

Although it is rare, I understand that from time to time a member of the management or maintenance team might need to access the property in the routine course of their duties even if we are unable to be contacted. If you are unhappy with your vacation home for any reason, please contact us immediately and we will make every effort to remedy the problem. Our first priority will be to fix any problems in your current home. If we are unable to solve the problem, and if we deem (at our sole discretion) the problem to be of a serious nature, we will attempt to find an alternate property for you. Once a decision has been made, no additional refunds or compensation of any kind will be offered. Guest agrees that they and anyone they invite to stay at their rental home does so at their own risk. Florida Dream Homes is not liable or responsible for any injury which occurs anywhere on the property, including injury resulting from the use of the pool.

Telling us about a problem at departure time will help us to fix the problem for the next guest—But we want a chance to remedy the problem for you! If we are not given the opportunity to address an issue while you are at the home, we cannot assume responsibility for it upon your departure.