Time, again, for a mini-vacation…

I hope every issue of Life’s A Beach House will give you the inspiration (and excuse) you need to plan your next vacation in vacation rental beach house, cottage or condo.

And if you’re not ready to make plans, it’s also fun to live vicariously. Read about my latest “finds,” get personal recommendations from vacation rental owners and tap the expertise of local, “boutique” rental managers who do a fabulous job.

Ready to get some sand between your toes?

Looking for Fresh
Family Reunion Ideas?
Think Vacation Rentals

• Plan Your Family Reunion in Somebody Else’s Home

Next Month: Going With the Dogs

Last year, Fay and her sister, Judy, brought three generations of their far-flung family together in the charming town of Cambria on California’s gorgeous central coast. It was week of pizza parties and potlucks, daytrips and “doing our own thing”.

And the scene of many of their most memorable times together? The four vacation homes the family rented less than two miles from each other.

“My brother and his wife live in St. Louis. They rented a house on Moonstone Beach big enough for their grown kids who live in Chicago, Nashville, and Columbia, Missouri. We had our pizza party there, because it had decks all around and an ocean view.”

Judy and her husband (who have rented a vacation home in Cambria for 10 years before finally moving there from Texas) were within walking distance of the house Fay rented with her two daughters and their families, including her baby granddaughter. Judy’s daughter and her family stayed in a charming Victorian-style house.

Vacation rentals are made for family reunions. They offer privacy, comfort and convenience a hotel room or bed-and-breakfast will never match. “We spent time on our own and then got together at somebody’s house for a potluck dinner,” Fay reported. And most of the time a vacation rental is more affordable than a bunch of rooms at a hotel or B&B.

I first stumbled on the idea of renting a vacation home while planning a much smaller reunion of my own family. That first year, my mom and dad (retired in Arizona), brother (living in Denver), my husband and I and our two dogs (from Sacramento) converged on a three- bedroom home in South Lake Tahoe.

It was in a quiet, residential neighborhood just a few miles from the lakeside casinos (great for my husband and brother, both Blackjack aficionados).

Just steps from the front door, there was a fire trail that went for miles through beautiful forest (perfect for morning and evening hikes).

My dad, who can devour a book a day on vacation, soaked up the sun and quiet on the deck facing the woods.

In the evenings, we all snuggled into the leather sofa and recliners and watched videos—passing around big bowl of buttered popcorn.

Now we meet every other year in a different location.

Three Ways to Plan Your Own Family Reunion
in a Vacation Rental

Rent one big home. Large occupancy rentals (sleeping 12 or 22 or more!) come in all shapes and sizes -- from majestic villas to dressed-up frat houses. Some houses are kid palaces with a swimming pools, basketball courts, trampolines, well stocked game rooms, big screen TVs and sports equipment like kayaks.

But, depending on the composition of your group, there can be pitfalls to sharing the same house. Click here for my Basic Scouting Strategies. They will guide you in making the right choice for your group. This might require some careful figuring when it comes to the number and sizes of beds and ratio of private bathrooms to guests.

Rent a cluster of homes. Like Fay and her family did. Local vacation rental management companies, like Sun Palace Vacations in Fort Myers Beach, Florida (see more detail below) often have several homes that are next door, within walking distance or a short drive from each other.

Rent condos in the same complex. This option is closest to the hotel/resort experience. What you give up in privacy (sharing the pool and spa with other tenants), you may be able to make up in additional amenities, such as a game room, putting green, and club house.

5 tips for planning the best reunion ever

1. Plan a party.
Many family reunions happen around special events. Guests renting condos through Better Vacation Rentals in Oceanside, California, can rent the very cool clubhouse (with soaring ceilings, a stone fireplace, dance floor and a large deck overlooking a koi pond) for a song -- a sweet deal for group events ranging from wedding receptions to birthday, graduation and anniversary celebrations. Just ask for a list of recommended vendors such as beach wedding coordinators and caterers.

2. Mark the event with a portrait.
A local owner or rental property manager may be able to point you toward a photographer who specializes in family portraits. What a great keepsake for everyone in your group.

3. Vary your activities.
Just because you’re gathering as a big group doesn’t mean you can’t break off into pairs every now and then.

“My brother and his wife and my nephew from Texas had never been to Hearst Castle, so they spent a day there,” my friend, Fay, told me. “We took the kids to San Simeon Beach and did some antiquing. And my sister finally got to see Big Sur! Her husband gets carsick on the Pacific Coast Highway, so one afternoon one of my nephews drove her up the coast with the top down on his rented convertible. It was thrill for her.”

Extended families include a wide range of ages and temperaments, so be careful to plan around the needs of everyone in your group. Make sure easily bored siblings or bonding cousins have plenty of safe places to let off steam away from grandparents, who might want an afternoon nap.

4. Save money by staying in.
Pizza parties, potlucks, board games, charades, a movie with fresh popcorn….staying in is a big part of the fun when you stay in a home rather than a hotel or B&B. Here are more tips for traveling on a budget without skimping on fun.

Many times local vacation rental property managers can also help out with discount tickets to local attractions.

Sun Palace Vacations in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, is always scouting special deals for guests. For example, Sunday mornings during the off-season (May through October), you can rent a boat for three hours bay cruise for only $50. “We’ve been working with a marina that has a boat that holds up to 45 people. We’re going to arrange to do sunset tours for the larger groups of people,” says owner Judith Lee.

5. Plan an encore in a different location.
Now you’re a pro. So far, my family (dogs and all) has gathered on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California, in Morro Bay on the Central California Coast and in Sedona, Arizona.

SUN PALACE VACATIONS

It didn’t take the couple long to realize they had carved out a great niche. “We started to focus on growing our clusters,” Judith says. “We have three clusters of homes -- two sleep up to 45 and one sleeps 50, and we’re building another cluster closer to the pier/tourist area.”

Between swanky Naples and the mostly private beaches on Sanibel and Captiva islands, Fort Myers Beach, is a beautiful compromise.

The laidback beach town sprawls across seven mile long Estero Island, no more than half a mile across at its widest point. On the Gulf of Mexico side, the island is rimmed with wide, flat, sugar-white sand beaches ranked among the world’s safest for their shallow water and lack of riptides.

The east side the island is separated from the mainland by Estero Bay. Cruising or kayaking among mangrove islands in Florida’s first aquatic preserve, you’ll see dolphins, manatees, sea turtles and five-foot-tall wading birds.

The beach trolley makes a constant loop from the souvenir shops and rollicking bars at Times Square (where they lower a beach ball on New Year’s Eve) on the north end of the island to pristine Lovers Key State Park in the south.

In the quiet mid-island residential neighborhoods and beyond, Sun Palace Vacations has 25 charming and immaculate cottages, duplexes and luxury homes perfect for family vacations and family reunions.

Many are beachfront or no more than a 700-step stroll to high tide. (None is more than five minutes from the sand.) Most have private pools and hot tubs. A number of the cottages are deceptively large -- several sleep 12 to 16 people. All (but one) are dog-friendly.

Full review of Sun Palace Vacations

Next Month: Going With The Dogs

There's nothing a dog loves better than a beach. The smells! The waves! The miles of sandy shore! More vacation rentals than you might imagine that welcome two- and four-legged family members. Next month, we’ll a closer look at your options.

Stay tuned!