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Affordable and Fun Family Beach Houses
With summer approaching, it's time to plan ahead for family vacations. If you're thinking of hitting the beach, consider renting a beach house or condo through one of the vacation rental by owner sites. We've used them a couple of times and have found them to be very affordable and reliable. The most important tip is to do a little bit of research about your destination and use a map when you look up various options to rent.
When renting a beach house it's critical to know how far you are from the beach. Since parking is always a problem near any beach, confirm that there is a designated parking spot if you are traveling by car. There's also a different between oceanfront and beachfront. Oceanfront can mean the house has an ocean view but there might not be a beach, only cliffs.
And it's important to know how many beds there are, which is different from how many people a house will sleep, since many places up the number of guests it can handle by having a sofabed - not always a comfortable or convenient option. I have found the rentals to be clean and attractive, and occasionally quirky. One place we stayed in had really ugly modern art, but we loved the place anyway.
For example, in the beachtown of Santa Cruz, California where I live, there are plenty of rentals on Homeaway.com or VRBO.com, and most claim to be near the beach. When I checked some listings, most were reasonably close, but a couple were as far as a mile from the beach - so quite a walk with kids! There are a number of different beaches, too, so here's where your research would come into play. Contact the Visitors Bureau to ask them about the best and safest beach areas where you plan to visit. Then use that info to help refine your search. Back to my example - If you want to stay near the Santa Cruz main beach where there is an historic boardwalk, wharf, surf lessons and all kinds of activities, you would look for a house on Beach Hill, a safe neighborhood just above the wharf and beach. If you wanted a quieter beach experience, you would select a different beach in one of the neighborhood areas. Use google maps or ask the Visitor's Bureau to send you a map of the area so you'll really know what you're getting into. Many of the beach houses I looked at on homeaway.com for Santa Cruz were under $200 a night. I also looked into beach rentals in Cape May New Jersey and Del Rey Beach Florida and found the prices to be about the same for simple rentals. Here again, research about location was really important - in Cape May, for example, a couple of the houses weren't really as close to the beach as they claimed to be. But with a map and a little information, that was easy to figure out.
Once you've narrowed down your options and checked out availability, which is right there on the site, contact the owner of the houses you're interested in and ask them specific questions. I also like to find out what the yard is like since it's always pleasant to sit outside in the evening or morning before you head to the beach. It's like having an extra room. Many rentals will have information about local grocery stores, restaurants and fun activities in the neighborhood, so even though you don't have the concierge services of a hotel, you get loads of info. It's definitely a vacation option worth looking into. And since there isn't a middle man to help with the rental, the prices can be kept lower. As more and more people post their houses on sites like these, it also keeps rental prices down because of the competition.
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