Review - Emerald Island Resort and Just Reward vacation villa

We've been to Orlando three times in the last few years and each time we've stayed in the same holiday villa - Just Reward Vacation Villa. We decided to go for a private rental for several reasons. We discovered that if you book a villa through a large holiday company, although you know the resort you don't necessarily know which exact villa it will be. We also liked the personal touch of renting a private villa, and because the owners of Just Reward also live in the UK we had peace of mind knowing that they were easy to contact, and it made dealing with deposits and payments simple.

We chose a villa over a hotel because as a group of six (my parents joined us) it worked out cheaper than the two hotel rooms that we would have needed. Being self-catered also gave us flexibility and meant that we could save money on eating out.

Just Reward villa is situated in the Emerald Island Resort, a gated community that is set back from the main road yet just minutes away from the Disney parks and other tourist attractions. The resort is beautifully cared for, and has plenty of communal areas including swimming pools and sports facilities. We've only ever used the children's playgrounds though as the villa has its own pool and we've always been so busy!

The villa has two double bedrooms, both en-suite, and two twin bedrooms with a family bathroom, perfect for us as our light sleeping children can have a bedroom each. The main room is open plan with kitchen, dining area and sitting area and there's a big garage which has been turned into a games room with table tennis, air hockey and table football. It also has a large washer and dryer.

The villa is beautifully decorated, spacious and clean. Any problems that we've had have been dealt with immediately by the local maintenance team.

The swimming pool is lovely. It's worth paying for the pool to be heated even if you are visiting at a warmer time of year. Our second visit was in May and we didn't pay for the heating, and we didn't use the pool nearly as much as when it was heated! There are a few inflatables already around the pool, and it's pretty cheap to buy your own locally to use for the holiday. It has a lovely outlook across the green lawns. Just out of view in the photograph is a soft fence that extends all the way across, and the doors to the pool are also fitted with alarms to keep young children from wandering into the pool area. It's all screened to keep away the bugs but still lets in plenty of Florida sunshine.

The villa feels really homely and it had everything that we needed. If you are looking for a holiday villa to rent for your trip to Orlando then I can fully recommend the Just Reward villa, and indeed the Emerald Island Resort as a whole. You can find details of prices on their website as well as lots of photographs of the interior (it was always far too messy for me to take any while we were there!) - Just Reward villa website.