01.16.15 Our Vacation Rental Christmas

I’ve mentioned that we’ve been staying in vacation rentals while we travel, as research for a potential vacation rental in Seattle in our future.

So, my parents were travelling up from California for Christmas, and our extended family Christmas Eve party was 3 hours north of us. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to rent a house for us to enjoy the holiday in!

We looked and looked and looked for a house big enough to house my parents, grandparents, and sisters’ family, not knowing that they wouldn’t be joining us. Our criteria was to sleep 8 plus, to be close to the party, have a big enough living room to all fit in, and to have an ample kitchen for baking and cooking. We ended up on the water near a big zoo-lights style display.

We never saw or spoke to our landlords. It was combination entry, was comfortably furnished, it was well stocked with linens and more food staples than could be expected, and the kids even put on wet suits and went in the ocean. We were able to treat it as home.

I learned two key things this time:

1. Read the descriptions very closely, and maybe even a bit skeptically. The header said Beach House Located on One of the Nicest Beaches. I was expecting the house to be beachside. It was one row back from the beach. Not a huge problem, but on the beach can mean different things to different people.  If it were my property I would say walkable to beach or near beach as to not mislead or disappoint.

2. A kitchen can make or break a property. Overall the place was kind of bland, but it gets huge raves from us for the very lovely and functional kitchen. It was an open design, the focal, and had plenty of upgrades. It also had all Ikea pots, pans, and cookware, which I am totally going to get when we move!

Overall, a great experience, score another win with vacation rentals!

PHOTO: Here’s our teens, Xander (16) and Anastasia (18), the inspiration for our rentals and the driving need for cash flow (ka-ching!), shortly after check in at our Christmas beach rental.