Bellavida is going ‘digital’
The cable TV system on the Bellavida Resort is being upgraded to a digital service, bringing more choice and 15 new HD channels.
We are told this will be happening during this month, and when complete the basic package will have 108 channels and an improved internet service with up to 25mbps available.
At the moment all homes on Bellavida Resort get the same cable tv package so it is interesting to see the words ‘basic package’ as this would indicate there will be upgrades available, hopefully these will be made available soon!
We also need to change the Tivo DVR system in the villa, but again apparently there will be options available so watch this space!
Keeping up appearances
One of the challenges we set ourselves when we first bought the villa was to make it the very best of the best, and to maintain that high standard.
It’s part of our long term outlook, we hope to have our home for a long time and although when we bought we were told we could simply replace items when they broke and to expect everything to last an average of seven years, we simply did not want a villa that would get progressively more worn and tired each year, but instead to keep it ‘like new’.
Villa computer and wifi upgrades
We have upgraded the computer terminal and installed a new wifi router today!
The computer is located in the loft area next to the ‘mickey’ and ‘eeyore’ rooms. The new desk lets you use the villas mac computer or you can close the drawer to hide the keyboard and mouse and place your own laptop on the desk instead.
Over 220 books in the villa and counting…
Mainly thanks to Hayleys family in Canada, we now have over 220 books in the villa!
Our ‘book policy’ has always been if you read any of the books and are halfway through when you leave please feel free to take it with you, but please leave a different one behind.
Changes to the summer grill
One of the most popular items with both us and guests staying at the villa has been the summer grill, so we were slightly worried when our management company advised us that the fire officer advised that gas grills within the lanai area were no longer advisable.
We discussed the options with the management company and there appeared to be two options, to stay with gas and remove the summer kitchen entirely, replacing it with a mobile barbecue for use outside the screen, or we could switch to an electric model.
LED TV upgrade
As part of our ongoing upgrades to make sure our villa remains the ‘best of the best’, we have upgraded the TV in master suite 1 to an LED model.
Our plan is to try the new set in this room over the next 6-9 months, and if it works out we will extend the upgrade to replace the TVs in the other master suites.
Let there be light, part II
Our garage and porch lights have until today been controlled by standard switches, i.e. on or off.
They worked fine, however if you were out at the parks all day and arrived back at the villa in the evening, if you didn’t turn on the outside lights before you went they would not be on when you got home!
We tried fitting light sensitive detectors however these quickly got clogged by insect webs and then did not work, they were still easy to turn off by accident with the main switch, and we could not use the energy saving bulbs with them.
Today ‘Chris’ wired in a new solution, timer light switches.
A very simple idea that seem to work really well. The switch itself has been replaced by a timer unit and this still has a button on the front so you can turn the light on and off normally, however it also automatically turns the lights on and off in the evening so you don’t have to return to a dark house again!
We think this will be a great addition to the house, especially as a lot of guests arrive for the first time on a late flight or are out in the parks all day and it will be great that the house porch and garage lights will be on to welcome them home and make it easier to enter the door access codes.
Our aim is always to make the villa the best of the best, and we hope small items like this all add to the attention to detail, and make the overall experience the best we can.
Andy
Blu-ray HD Player
Just a short post today!
Another day, another shopping trip and another purchase for the villa, this time a blu-ray player!
We have a full HD tv, so it made sense to add a blu-ray player now the HD format war is over and Blu-ray is the player to have.
It also plays standard dvds and upscales these to the highest possible quality which is quite neat.
The existing philips multi region dvd player is also still here as it’s handy for us and for guests from outside the states that want to play their dvds from home.
Andy
