We loved our stay in cottage #7. You're staying on the beach. Wake up, go out your front (back)…read moredoor and you're on the beach. That's paradise.
Here are some tips mixed in with the review, if you are planning on staying at one of the cottages on the beach.
The #7 cottage is at the end, closest to The Mad Hatter. This cottage is really cute. Everything looks fairly new - five years.
The cottage was surface clean, if you don't look at the ceiling fan blades, vents, under the sink.
Bring suction cup hooks to hold your clothes while you shower. There weren't any hooks in the bathrooms.
The covered lanai had four chairs and two small end tables. It also has a clothes line set up (bring hangers of clothes pins) to help dry your bathing suits. Although the screen door was torn, there were barely any bugs in the lanai. We watched an incredible lightning storm one night.
There's a bbq grill outside the lanai. You need to bring your own bbq briquettes, lighter, fluid, and bbq utensils, but then you can enjoy chargrilled hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken.... There's also a picnic table outside your lanai, next to the bbq.
Bring a sponge to wash dishes. It's not easy washing dishes with paper towels.
This isn't as well stocked as a time share. However they have most of the basics. We weren't planning on cooking this weekend. Bringing premade meals, much easier.
There's a toaster, blender, coffee machine with basket (not the cone type), microwave, electric range. No dishwasher.
There is no table to eat at, there is a small island in the kitchen with stools.
Bring water shoes if you have sensitive feet. There's a lot of small shells and the sand gets HOT during the summer afternoons. For just walking on the sand, Dollar Tree flip flops will protect you from the heat.
There's no outdoor shower, not even a hose, to rinse off prior to going inside the cottage. Someone was kind enough to leave a plastic tub, that we filled with water and a bit of dish soap (maybe left by the owners or a previous renter?). That did help to at least wash off our feet before showering. With every precaution taken, sand will get in the cottage. There is no vacuum or mop. We were able to sweep most of the sand away, but I wish we brought our stick vacuum.
The driveway is for one car only and it is tight (we have a Yukon)! Get friendly with your neighbors, because you need to share the entrance/exit to your parking spot and if they don't park exactly in their spot you'll need to ask them to move their car to either enter of leave.
The entrance to all of the beach cottages is in the back of the house. The walkway is all sand. Keep that in mind when packing. Rolling luggage will get stuck, and if you roll anything you'll be bringing sand into the cottage.
I called ahead and asked about beach towels, they said bring your own beach towels or you can use the bath towels. Although we never needed any beach towels. We usually stayed in the lanai looking at shells. until it was shower time.
I hope they replace the mattresses soon. None of us slept well. Although if you spend all day in the water, you'll be too tired to notice.
The air conditioning worked perfectly. Nice and cool. Especially when it was almost 100 degrees outside!
Bring a couple of carabiners to attach your room key to your bathing suit or bag.
If you need ice for your cooler, they have ice across the street (marina side).
We brought our own beach chairs from home, but they have some you can borrow (leave a deposit and get it back when you return the chair).
Bring itch cream, the sand fleas are ferocious in the evening. The sunsets are stunning.
The town is only a 15 minute drive away. We weren't phased by having to drive to town, however our neighbors thought town would be in walking distance.
Bring buckets or mesh bags for shell collecting. There were lots of pretty, small shells to choose from.
We had an incredible stay in cottage #7.