Finding the Perfect VRBO
Rosemary Beach, Florida
30A is a scenic highway along the beautiful emerald coast of Florida’s Gulf Coast. There are numerous picturesque beach towns along the route. Rosemary Beach is one of the very first you go through and where we chose to stay. Rosemary is filled with cottages, carriage (over garage) houses and beautiful larger homes.
If you have ever used VRBO you know it is a great way to “live like a local” without going through a vacation reality company. But, these properties can be hit or miss so it is important to do some research.
Location
Once you decide on where you want to travel to it is important to do a little research on the location. Check the surroundings on Google earth to make sure it is in a nice area and that the pictures are not misleading you. If you are flying, check the walking distance and pathways to restaurants or markets and of course, the beach accesses.
We learned that Rosemary is an extremely gated community. We were told before we arrived that our place did not come with access coded but was unsure what that meant until we arrived. Our carriage house had a public beach access about 200 yards from our front door BUT we could not access the beach from the town of Rosemary (say after dinner and drinks) without the codes to the locked gates.
Reviews
Reviews, reviews, reviews! I can’t tell you how important it is to check that the property you are interested in renting HAS reviews and that they are positive. As you will be staying in someone else’s home or rental home you want a helpful homeowner who is quick to respond and giving with area recommendations. Our #tinywhitecottage had amazing reviews and I was quick to add another after our stay was over. I can’t say enough about the beautiful, CLEAN, affordable beach cottage.
Amenities
It is important to keep in mind that you are not staying in a hotel. Since there’s no house-keeping or laundry, in most cases, it is important to bring extra sheets, bath towels, and/or beach towels. We forgot beach towels, oops, which meant we had to go buy them and figure out how to fit them in our carry-on bags for the flight home.
While our place was lacking beach towels, it had plenty of other necessities and amenities. From a kitchenette, cooking utensils, pans and basic spices to beach bikes, bike lock and even a kayak. No one was renting the main house while we were there so we also had the bonus access to the patio pool and propane grill.
Communication & Pictures
As a lot of VRBO is trusting pictures and communication with the owner, make sure you trust your first impressions of the owner and what you see in the listing. Feel free to ask for more information and pictures if you are interested in a property. Our owner provided us their cell phone numbers. They did not live in town but still wanted to be quick to respond to any of our needs and requests.
