Misc Help! Old Florida Village Vs. Camp Creek Cottages

[sunny lea]

This July we are visiting SoWal for the first time. The entire area looks lovely and there are so many choices it is difficult to make a decision. I have narrowed it down to Camp Creek vs. old Florida Village, There will be 4 adults and 2 children (18mos. and 7 years). Does anyone have advice or a comparison of the two? I read the thread about Camp Creek and it sounds great however I can't find any info on Old Florida Village and several of our possibilities are in that area. What are the main differences in the Santa Rosa beach area vs. Seacrest? I have been reading this forum for a few weeks and I love all the practical info you all give. Thanks in advance for your assistance, we are so excited and anxious to make a plan!

 

[wallymom]

Hands down...Old Florida Village. It has more of a "neighborhood" feeling to it. Seacrest area is a little older. Old Florida Village is within walking distance to Gulf Place, with shops and restaurants.

 

[Rita]

sunny lea,
In the Santa Rosa Beach area, check out some homes in the Old Florida Cottages development. Close to beach and several have gulf views and rents are very competitive usually. Old Florida Village homes should be nice as they are most all new. Depending on where you are in that development you might have a bit of a hike to the beach.

If the price isn't too much different, my choice would be Old Florida Cottages. That end of 30-A is not as busy but still easy drive or bike to Seaside/Seagrove and walk to Gulf Place which has shops, artist "kiosks", restaurants, band on one weekend night (may be Sunday). Same white sand beaches. Check this website for Gulf Place:
gulf-place.com
Camp Creek Cottages has some owners on this board and it sounds like you've found info on them already ..... Good luck and have a wonderful vacation!!

 

[Paula]

I have two cottages at the Cottages at Camp Creek. We LOVE it there, as do our guests. It's a quiet community of about 20 something one-story 3-bedroom/2 bath cottages and 6 3-story cottages in front and in back. Many of the cottages have large porches (large enough to be considered outdoor rooms), and the pool is very large for the relatively small number of cottages. One of the things I like about the community is that the one story cottages give you a real sense of space. When you look up at the sky from the pool, you see a lot of sky (and stars at night) rather than tall buildings. We float in the pool at night and look at the stars.

The community is across the street from a lovely uncrowded beach. We like the east end of 30A because it has Rosemary Beach just a bit over a mile from us, the Villages of South Walton (with a great fountain that dances to music around 8:30 each night and kids run through it -- awesome), Fonville Press at Alys Beach, 1 mile from Deer lake state park (awesome), 4 miles from Seagrove, 6 miles from Seaside, 10 miles from Grayton beach. We are 4 miles from a Publix to the East and about 4.5 miles to a Publix from the West.

But, our guests (and we) pretty much spend our time in the summer there at the pool, at the beach, and on the porch.

That said, I would be happy with either Old Florida Cottages or Cottages at Camp Creek (I would have happily bought a place at Old Florida Cottages but we happened to choose Cottages at Camp Creek). They are both wonderufl places. I think your choice will have more to do with the layout of the places you're considering renting and whether you want to be on the west end (nearer Destin) or the East end (nearer Panama City). And what you want near you if you do venture out during the days. We are very happy going to Fonville Press for coffee (and the Friday after beach get-togethers), the fountains, the beach, Deer Lake State Park, and wandering around Rosemary Beach -- all within a mile or so from us. We were there in July last year, and I must say for all people say about how busy it is in the summer in SoWal, we were surprised at how unbusy it felt when we were there -- the beach wasn't crowded, the roads weren't crowded, the bike path wasn't crowded. I truly was surprised.

The biggest difference I can think of is that the Seacrest Beach area has dunes and the west end I think is flatter.

I'll pm you more information about the Cottages at Camp Creek. But I really think you'd be happy at either place -- do one area this year and then another one next year so you can compare for yourself. All the beaches are lovely. (Again, our beach is uncrowded where we are; I don't know about the beaches near Old Florida Cottages --someone else would know, though).

 

[Rather B Paddlin]

sunny lea,
In the Santa Rosa Beach area, check out some homes in the Old Florida Cottages development. Close to beach and several have gulf views and rents are very competitive usually. Old Florida Village homes should be nice as they are most all new. Depending on where you are in that development you might have a bit of a hike to the beach.

If the price isn't too much different, my choice would be Old Florida Cottages. That end of 30-A is not as busy but still easy drive or bike to Seaside/Seagrove and walk to Gulf Place which has shops, artist "kiosks", restaurants, band on one weekend night (may be Sunday). Same white sand beaches. Check this website for Gulf Place:
gulf-place.com
Camp Creek Cottages has some owners on this board and it sounds like you've found info on them already ..... Good luck and have a wonderful vacation!!

Have to agree with either - Camp Creek Cottages or Old Florida Cottages. Both are much closer walking distance to the beach than Old Florida Village. Old Florida Village is indeed a hike to the beach, just a guess it has to be between .5 mile to a 1 mile walk depending how far back you are in the neighborhood. Old Florida Cottages are less than 200 yds to the beach and Camp Creek Cottages are less than that.

Personally, I would try to rent from Paula at Camp Creek. I am sure you would be extremely happy with either one of her cottages. Plus she is incredibly nice to work with.

 

[Paula]

Rather. Thanks for your kind words. And your places are very nice and well-located, too, because I checked on both of them after Hurricane Ivan and they both were in great shape. You have one at each end of 30A -- Seacrest and Santa Rose, right? Nice locations, both very close to beach/beach access -- perhaps ocean views, too? I'd rent from you, too. You should pm your links to sunny lea. And one of these days we'll be in SoWal at the same time. I had breakfast with our mutual friend Gretchen this morning by the way. What a great person she is! We've got to get Gretchen and her family to SoWal someday.

 

[sunny lea]

Thanks so much for all of the info. It sounds like either choice would be fine. With two kids, we trek to the beach with alot of stuff so the closer the better. However I think Old Florida Cottages are slightly out of our price range. (I set our limit at 2000.00 including tax). If you know of anysouth side "deals" within that budget I'd be happy to hear about them.

Paula, I looked at your cottages and they are adorable and our first choice in Camp Creek.

 

[seacrestkristi]

sunny lea!
Me and my peeps love Seacrest! My young nieces and nephews love the beach here and the fountains they can play in are within walking or biking distance in front of Seacrest Cafe and the Carvel Ice Cream Store. Rosemary and Alys have a few healthy munchie places too very nearby.

 

[Paula]

Thanks so much for all of the info. It sounds like either choice would be fine. With two kids, we trek to the beach with alot of stuff so the closer the better. However I think Old Florida Cottages are slightly out of our price range. (I set our limit at 2000.00 including tax). If you know of anysouth side "deals" within that budget I'd be happy to hear about them.

Paula, I looked at your cottages and they are adorable and our first choice in Camp Creek.

Thanks, sunny lea. PM me or email me through VRBO and we'll take good care of you. If our cottages are booked, we'll recommend others at the Cottages at Camp Creek. And, as I said earlier, much as we'd like you to come back to our cottages again and again, you could take a tour around 30A over the years and try out different places over time!

 

[Debra]

I have two cottages at the Cottages at Camp Creek. We LOVE it there, as do our guests. It's a quiet community of about 20 something one-story 3-bedroom/2 bath cottages and 6 3-story cottages in front and in back. Many of the cottages have large porches (large enough to be considered outdoor rooms), and the pool is very large for the relatively small number of cottages. One of the things I like about the community is that the one story cottages give you a real sense of space. When you look up at the sky from the pool, you see a lot of sky (and stars at night) rather than tall buildings. We float in the pool at night and look at the stars.

The community is across the street from a lovely uncrowded beach. We like the east end of 30A because it has Rosemary Beach just a bit over a mile from us, the Villages of South Walton (with a great fountain that dances to music around 8:30 each night and kids run through it -- awesome), Fonville Press at Alys Beach, 1 mile from Deer lake state park (awesome), 4 miles from Seagrove, 6 miles from Seaside, 10 miles from Grayton beach. We are 4 miles from a Publix to the East and about 4.5 miles to a Publix from the West.

But, our guests (and we) pretty much spend our time in the summer there at the pool, at the beach, and on the porch.

That said, I would be happy with either Old Florida Cottages or Cottages at Camp Creek (I would have happily bought a place at Old Florida Cottages but we happened to choose Cottages at Camp Creek). They are both wonderufl places. I think your choice will have more to do with the layout of the places you're considering renting and whether you want to be on the west end (nearer Destin) or the East end (nearer Panama City). And what you want near you if you do venture out during the days. We are very happy going to Fonville Press for coffee (and the Friday after beach get-togethers), the fountains, the beach, Deer Lake State Park, and wandering around Rosemary Beach -- all within a mile or so from us. We were there in July last year, and I must say for all people say about how busy it is in the summer in SoWal, we were surprised at how unbusy it felt when we were there -- the beach wasn't crowded, the roads weren't crowded, the bike path wasn't crowded. I truly was surprised.

The biggest difference I can think of is that the Seacrest Beach area has dunes and the west end I think is flatter.

I'll pm you more information about the Cottages at Camp Creek. But I really think you'd be happy at either place -- do one area this year and then another one next year so you can compare for yourself. All the beaches are lovely. (Again, our beach is uncrowded where we are; I don't know about the beaches near Old Florida Cottages --someone else would know, though).

Hi Paula,

I am looking for a place to stay at Cottages of Camp Creek. I really like what I have read about it. Do you rent your two houses out?

Debra Price/Atlanta