What do you look for in a vacation rental?

You're at THE BEACH ?, in Florida and on vacation. Enough said.
Frankly, I enjoy the bright funky beach colors and local art.

You could put in top of the line everything, but with this economy, people will still be asking for rate reductions. Then send me messages from their PDA's. Can't afford the vacation, but can afford expensive IPHONES and such. I don't even have one. :roll:

Honestly, I didn't understand the true meaning of Southern Comfort until I came South. We rent a small beachfront house at the shore in Jersey decorated with 80's kitsch, it's a tiny 3 bedroom with no a/c, I have had to buy a remote for the tv, fill the propane tanks, the laundry room is down below. No beach set up. We bring our own linens and towels. We carry everything back and forth daily without complaint.

Best vacations we have ever had. We're with family, happy to be away together, just enjoying life's little pleasures

I stipulated that renters do not expect top of the line furnishings. I'll give you an example. A neighbor bought a unit at the Inn at Blue Mountain Beach. She hired a designer to select furniture, accessories and color. Apparently, her designer specializes in services to prop owners. Her unit looks professional and is extremely comfortable. Too much color for my tastes but hey.....I like monochromatic. Color hurts my eyes and I am color blind. Go figure...:idontno:

We've only rented condos, not stand alone homes. Clean would be top priority. One time we went to Pensacola Beach and teenage daughters found a used condom on the floor of their room. Granted it was between the bed and the wall but needless to say "yuck". Everything in working order would be 2nd priority. That same condo had a shower that leaked all over the floor. No amount of manipulating the shower enclosure would help. Combined with threadbare towels that didn't show up until the 2nd day...let's just say we've never returned to Pensacola Beach. Rented once in Destin. That owner watched too many episodes of Trading Spaces. Ever sit on a painted couch for a week?
Have had only good experiences in Sowal...renting both from an agency and vrbo We always opt for gulffront...can't get that in Ohio and def. a priority for us. We love the sound of the water. Can't understand the need for music (ipod, boombox) on the beach. Above 3 stories, I'd appreciate an elevator. As far as a pool...always a good idea. You can swim at night (fun for teenagers) or if the gulf is too rough. If a private home had access to a community pool that would be good enough for me.
And to keep it all in perspective our first two family vacas to the beach were done by tent camping. After tenting the second time, I vowed to never go to the beach again unless we could afford a condo...we had sand in places that sand should just not go! The cost meant some years we just couldn't afford to go to the beach. This year it is taking a month of my take home pay for a 3 bedroom condo on the gulf. A luxury to be sure.

When we vacation anywhere we like enough space to have privacy (enough bedrooms important/extra baths a nice bonus but not critical) yet we like the places to have places for people to gather because we're on vacation to be together. Size of the place doesn't matter to me, but enough gathering places with enough comfortable chairs and a room/porch/dining arrangement that encourages people to come together and eat, talk, play games, do puzzles easily is what I look for.

Clean is a must - more important than style -- for me. It shows that the owners are on top of the quality of their place and the experiences of their renters. Enough kitchen equipment is important to me because the convenience and I personally like the aesthetic side of cooking/eating so I like the dining dishes/glasses/etc.,, to look nice - don't have to be new or top quality, but I just want to be able to set a nice table and not have to use beach buckets as serving bowls.

I like extra linens, too, because of the flexibility they offer (e.g., a nice blanket for using while resting on the couch or porch), extra pillows for comfort. And I appreciate it when the sheets, especially the fitted sheets, fit the bed and don't come off while sleeping and when the blankets are good quality (I don't like the old polyester pilled ones from the 80s that are still in some places). Cotton is wonderful...

I love outdoor seating areas, too. As for a pool, we have a community pool at our rentals and we love it because it's very big (we couldn't have such a big one if it was a private pool) and someone else takes care of it and we spread the cost of taking care of it among several owners. And pools from what I hear are high maintenance.

Quiet in general is important to me - whether it's inside (relatively quiet appliances which is a challenge) or outside (cars, people, etc.).

Games, puzzles, deck of cards, books, beach chairs - anything that says "we care about your vacation" and things to do and space to do them in on a rainy day means a lot to me. Beach chairs are nice for a lot of reasons and you don't have to worry about always saving a seat at the pool because you can bring your own chairs if needed (and I really like beach chairs that recline).

Parking close to the place for bringing in luggage and bags of groceries is helpful. Close to beach, too.

Ah, and directions for how to use things like the dvd player, etc. We were in Italy vacationing in a great apartment but it took me forever to figure out how to use the washing machine and to figure out how to manage recycling and trash. (By the way, I told the guy who owns the apartment about how wonderful SoWal is as a place to buy and will be sending him more information...)

Wireless is a plus, or a note where I can find inexpensive wireless (e.g., coffee shop) very closeby is important. I can go on more vacations if I'm able to get wireless because I can do whatever work I need to do - even if it's just checking in to make sure all's well or respond to a few emails - and sometimes I use it to stay in touch with family or to find resources where i'm vacationing.

A telephone and phone book, too - these aren't guaranteed in rentals anymore because the assumption is that everyone has a cell phone.

Rented once in Destin. That owner watched too many episodes of Trading Spaces. Ever sit on a painted couch for a week?
Have had only good experiences in Sowal...renting both from an agency and vrbo We always opt for gulffront...can't get that in Ohio and def. a priority for us. We love the sound of the water. Can't understand the need for music (ipod, boombox) on the beach. Above 3 stories, I'd appreciate an elevator. As far as a pool...always a good idea. You can swim at night (fun for teenagers) or if the gulf is too rough. If a private home had access to a community pool that would be good enough for me.
And to keep it all in perspective our first two family vacas to the beach were done by tent camping. After tenting the second time, I vowed to never go to the beach again unless we could afford a condo...we had sand in places that sand should just not go! The cost meant some years we just couldn't afford to go to the beach. This year it is taking a month of my take home pay for a 3 bedroom condo on the gulf. A luxury to be sure.

Thanks for the chuckle. A painted couch....:lol: Bless your heart.

Hope you can make it to Sowal again. :wave:

:welcome:

Here in sowal we have it all. From gulf front trailers that rent solid year round to multimillion dollar gulf front mansions decorated by some of the top professionals. Whatever your taste it's here. Now as far as price, that can range from manageable to obscene, but again it is your choice as to the bracket you will fall.

I can direct you to a modest basic rental home for an average family that is decorated tastefully for anyone, or I can direct you to a mansion with modern furniture you won't be able to figure out.

Condo? No problem, there's 7 bedroom 3 floor penthouses with their own elevators and then there's one that's being held together with linoleum and the couches are covered in eye splintering pastel vinyl.

Yes we truly have it all here in sowal.

Mango...did I mention the couch was painted black but you could just make up the tropical floral that was the original motif? It was a week of goth meets the beach...glad you got a chuckle. I had to laugh at myself that week too. In the photos on-line that I viewed before making the reservation, the sofa looked to be black leather. Every time we got up from the couch there was this skin getting unstuck sound and we spent the week checking our backsides for paint specks.

:welcome:

Here in sowal we have it all. From gulf front trailers that rent solid year round to multimillion dollar gulf front mansions decorated by some of the top professionals. Whatever your taste it's here. Now as far as price, that can range from manageable to obscene, but again it is your choice as to the bracket you will fall.

I can direct you to a modest basic rental home for an average family that is decorated tastefully for anyone, or I can direct you to a mansion with modern furniture you won't be able to figure out.

Condo? No problem, there's 7 bedroom 3 floor penthouses with their own elevators and then there's one that's being held together with linoleum and the couches are covered in eye splintering pastel vinyl.

Yes we truly have it all here in sowal.

SWGB, that is the funniest phrase ever!! :floor:

BTW, I have rented that unit. :shock:

SWGB, that is the funniest phrase ever!! :floor:

BTW, I have rented that unit. :shock:

If it's the one I'm actually talking about then you also remember the vertigo enducing floor. :lol:

If it's the one I'm actually talking about then you also remember the vertigo enducing floor. :lol:

No I am not a Virgo. But wait maybe I am still dizzy from that unit....:shock:

When we rented, we always wanted a private pool. We got so tired of community pools where a baby would poop in the pool and the pool would be closed for 24 hours. We come to the beach for the beach, but after the beach we just like to chill at the pool. Also, I hate having to stake out a lounge chair at a community pool. And it's tacky to put your towel on a chair and then leave for 4 hours. I also like being able to leave all of my stuff at the pool and not have to take it back and forth every time I go in and out. Plus it's closer to the bathroom and you don't have to take a cooler to the pool -- you can just step into the house for a drink.

these are the exact reasons we have started renting a place with a pool. the first few years we came down we didn't have a pool, and then we discovered what we had been missing.

Just in case anyone thought I was kidding about the vinyl couches.

http://www.vrbo.com/97586

Do not click the above link if you are pregnant, thinking of becoming pregnant, have a heart condition, are prone to seizures, have taste, or common sense.

Just in case anyone thought I was kidding about the vinyl couches.

http://www.vrbo.com/97586

Do not click the above link if you are pregnant, thinking of becoming pregnant, have a heart condition, are prone to seizures, have taste, or common sense.

:yikes:Wow.

Rental: Pool or no pool

We just booked for October. We looked at private pools or community pools. We decided on private with jacuzzi for the convenience factor even though you are super close. Does your community pool have certain hours of operation? At our home our community pool opens at 9am and closes at 10pm. My family on vacation may want to take a dip at 11pm or 6am so if it open 24hrs a day you might want to mention that.

We just booked for October. We looked at private pools or community pools. We decided on private with jacuzzi for the convenience factor even though you are super close. Does your community pool have certain hours of operation? At our home our community pool opens at 9am and closes at 10pm. My family on vacation may want to take a dip at 11pm or 6am so if it open 24hrs a day you might want to mention that.

I believe the standard is 10pm. I've never seen a pool that didn't close at that time.