hell beach vacation
Have you ever experienced one of those long-awaited family vacations where after day 4, you’re counting down the days until you’re gone? Have you ever opened the door to your carefully chosen week-long hideaway and been assaulted by the smell of cleaning agents mixed with the musty aroma of the hotel room? Do you want to avoid the beach vacation from hell? With a little planning and a well-balanced vacation mindset, you and your family can bring back great, fun-filled memories. Consider renting a single-family home for a true home-away-from-home experience.
On the web you can easily locate owners who rent out their beach cabins and vacation homes by the week. You can find any style or size of home to suit your needs almost anywhere in the world. In fact, just dream of your dream vacation home and you can probably find it for rent. Use these tips to help you avoid some common mistakes when researching potential beach house rentals.
Choose all the basics first. Narrow down your preferred beach location. Figure out how many bedrooms and bathrooms will give you enough space to get comfortable and give you some privacy. How many beds will you need? who can sleep together; Who needs their own space? Will you be bringing your own bedding or can you do just fine using “local” bedding? Calculate how many televisions are important. Is there a room big enough for a designated “kids” room?
Calculate your budget. Take into account the daily rate that you are willing to spend. Many times, you can rent an entire house for less than you would spend on multiple hotel rooms. If you can split the costs with another family, you’ll save even more.
photos always lie. Ok, maybe that’s too strong. But the photos can give you a lot of clues if you examine them carefully before choosing your beach paradise. While photos generally show a home’s best features, they could conveniently remove the worst features.
ask lots of questions.
- Does the furniture look like it was thrown away from grandma’s house?
- Is the bedding fresh and up to date?
- Are there at least some (but not too many) decorative accessories?
- How old are the bathrooms?
- What are the views like from each floor?
- Are there covers for the lounge?
- Is there enough parking for our cars?
- Can our entire crew sit down to eat in one central location?
- How far is the beach?
- Do I have to cross a super highway to get there?
- Can I hear the waves from my room?
- Does the beach photo show the beach closest to the house or a beach that is miles away?
The old adage, “don’t judge a book by its cover” is important here. While curb appeal is nice for your own home, it’s less important in a vacation home. What counts for the comfort of your family is in the inside.
Eat in or eat out? With a beach house rental, you have the choice. You can decide to have breakfast and lunch at home and dine out. A little advance planning can at least give you an idea of what your shopping list should be when you arrive.
Who is the local contact? Whichever house you choose, make sure there is a local contact responsible for the house. Some owners live hundreds of miles from their vacation homes. A local contact knows a plumber to unclog a toilet or how that peculiar door lock works. Vacation homes can also have problems.
Plan your activities in advance. Will you be renting bikes, kayaks or fishing equipment? Can you bring your own boat? Is there storage space nearby or on site? What are the possibilities for day trips and what kind of evening activities are most likely? Does the house come equipped with DVDs, music CDs, games and a library of books? Do you need high-speed Internet access or can you use a local internet cafe?
what is the beach as –white sand, brown sand, pebbles, rocks? Is there shelling or surf fishing? Are there strong rip currents, big waves or is it a calm beach? Each beach has its own unique personality. Are there jellyfish, coral beds, or other natural wonders that might require an impromptu visit to the doctor? Check your local tide charts to make sure you’ll still have some beach left at high tide. On many beaches, you have to plan your sun time based on the time of the tides.
Planning ahead and asking the right questions will help avoid a beach vacation from hell. Bringing in an extra dose of flexibility will also help. Not every beach house will live up to your exact standards, so remember, you’ll only be living there for a week or two. But, if you’ve done your planning right, it will be a vacation to remember. And you’ll be hooked on houses versus hotels for your next trip.