Choosing the Perfect Family Beach House: Tips for Renting a Beach House

There’s a first time for everything, which means there’s a first time for renting a beach house. It’s easy to get pulled into the pictures of beautiful rooms and seashell decor, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the perfect fit for your family’s needs. Not all beach houses are the same. And not all families are the same. It’s important to really assess your needs and come up with some priorities before you turn on your computer and get hunting. House hunting fatigue can set in quickly and it can sap the joy out of planning, so we’ve come up with some tips for renting a beach house that will get you weeding through all the options faster than you can change into or out of a wet bathing suit.

Tips for Renting  a Beach House: Location

This is one of those tips for renting a beach house seems a little uninspired I bet. Kind of like a no brainer, doesn’t it? The thing is, unless you really know your needs and the layout of where you’re headed, it can be difficult to choose the best spot.

Beach Access

If you choose an oceanfront location, then you’re going to have no problem with beach access. I mean, it is right there in all its glory. But what if oceanfront just isn’t in the cards for you? Maybe it was cost or the fact that you simply didn’t love any of the homes available? Well, I suggest you open your Google Maps and search the area then. Look for two things: public beach access and parking.

Public beach access can make or break you. In our beach rental journey, we’ve tried a number of locations before we really found what we valued. Close public beach access is one. Once, we stayed one street off of the beach. We could hear the waves pulsing from our beautiful sundeck. But to get to those waves? It was a long walk down the sidewalk-less street with toddlers and four million pounds of toddler stuff and snacks strapped to us. Not fun. At all.

Public parking can be key too. If you don’t want to walk your kids and their things and other things and even more things back and forth, then find a spot with public parking easily accessible to you and you can just fill your car up and head on over. The risk here, of course, is that you will be finding sand in your car for the next three millenia.

Noise

Remember when I said no beach was the same? Well, one of the ways they differ is, of course, noise. After you’ve narrowed your beach down (I’d totally take crowd into account in making that decision too), consider what kind of noise your prefered house will be subject too.

Now, remember that public beach access? So yes, it’s great to have near, but guess what comes along with it? Yep. Noise. If your beach has a boardwalk, do you want to be near it? It has a whole lot of action, but it also has noise (though they may be an easy trade off for your family). Are you near a busy road? A giant hotel? Check out the surroundings of the house to determine if you’re going to feel happy enough, safe enough, and entertained enough.

Entertainment

When you’re choosing your beach house, consider the proximity to certain places you will inevitably need to go. Think about your ideal week. Is it just the beach? Or is there more? Is the grocery store far away? Like, it’s a super pain to get there? Are you those people who end up at the grocery store a few times a week? What about activities? Mini golf? Go karts? Restaurants? Movie theaters for rainy days? Do you even want them? What about fishing? Is that important? Is there a pier near? I’d also suggest routing your Google Map from your house choice to a location you’d like to visit before you book. What’s the traffic like? Some of the barrier islands have a single stretch of road that can get congested.

View

We’ve found that because we’ve had little kids with us for so long who enjoy naps and earlier bedtimes, we really enjoy a good view. We’re stuck in the house, so it makes sense for us to prioritize a view. I mean, those last little moments of the day when the kids have all passed totally out, full of sun and sand, those are our moments to vacation. This is when we sit with a glass of wine and the silence beyond the waves. Because the rest of the day? Well, it’s kind of a cacophony of kid sounds and exhaustion.

Frequency

Location also becomes important when you start to consider what your day at the beach looks like. Is it a constant back and forth from house to beach and back to house? Kids napping. Kids going to the bathroom. Kids needing snacks. Kids getting sand in their eyes. Kids needing more snacks. If this sounds like your family (it may or may not sound like mine, on any given day), then a location closer to the beach is pretty important. (And if it doesn’t sound like your family, what witchcraft are you practicing?…).

One thing that can impact this is whether or not you are able or feel comfortable leaving your set up on the beach while you go back and forth to your house. We feel very safe at some beaches heading out early to set up. The 3KDad just gathers all the big stuff together (chairs, umbrella, cooler, sand toys, etc) and heads over early. Then once all the little people are ready, we saunter over, towels and goggles in hand, and take our positions. Same at the end of the day. When we go, we go. And the 3KDad is generous enough to collect all the big stuff for us while I desand the little ones and let them unwind. Some beaches, though, I wouldn’t recommend leaving a ton of stuff behind for any length of time. Know your beach.

Tips for Renting a Beach House: Layout

I guess layout is obviously of importance too. But for sure there are certain layouts that are key to surviving the week in a beach house with kids. These tips for renting a beach house may seem obvious, but they can make or break you if you mess it up.

Number of Bedrooms (vs number of people who can sleep)

Of course you want to take into account the number of people in your party when you choose your house. What’s the sleeping configuration going to be like? Are you ok with all your kids sleeping together in the same room? Does a young one need to be alone due to late night feedings or early mornings? If you’re traveling with another family, will the kids be sleeping together? In mixed groups? How many? If they’re going to be sleeping together, is there a room with enough beds to accommodate everyone? Are they bunk beds that you’d feel comfortable having your children sleep on the top of?

Keep in mind that number of people who can sleep in the house is not necessarily reflected in the number of bedrooms the home has. Most rentals take into account any pullout couches or cots tucked away in corners and hallways and dens and sunporches. This means also considering whether you’d be ok with your children sleeping on a pullout couch in a den or whether it’s important they have a separate room with a closed door. (We like separate rooms so we can tuck them away, close the door, and then relax in the communal spaces.)

Bedroom Location

Additionally, when checking out the layout of the house (most good renters will let you know what bedrooms are located on which floors), you want to note which bedrooms are on which floors. Do you have children that you want to have on the same floor as you? Then read the layouts as often times bedrooms stretch from the top floor through the bottom floor. If you know you need three or more bedrooms on a floor together, study the layouts.

Beyond the needs of children, remember to take into account the needs of any differently abled or elderly people who will be renting with you. A number of beach rentals have bedrooms on the same floors as the living space and kitchen, which can often be the top floor. For those with mobility issues, easy access to the common areas can make the day a little easier.

Lounge Space

I don’t love watching Paw Patrol. Sometimes, though, a long sun-filled day at the beach that strips all the bits of energy from the little ones needs to be finished off with a quiet episode or two and bowl of snacks. These are those evenings when it’s nice to have two lounge spaces. The grown ups can sit back with a glass of wine in one area and discuss all the grown up things and the littles cans snuggle up on a couch in another and just get some moments to veg before they slip into their beds for the night.

As I mentioned before, communal spaces are often found on the top floor of beach houses, but don’t discredit the merit of a good ground floor communal space too. We find it a great asset for those moments when some kids are tired of swimming and want to come inside. They can stay next to the pool area. It’s also easy to grab a drink from the downstairs fridge rather than track sand through the house, which makes having a kitchen or partial kitchen downstairs near the pool a huge convenience.

Elevators

Beach houses often go up, not out. This can be daunting for anyone, let alone those with mobility issues. It’s not unusual for beach houses to have elevators to make this trek easier. There’s nothing like traveling with your grandparents, and it’s even better when your rental house can accommodate their needs as well. It just wouldn’t be a vacation if they were trapped on the top floor or stuck on the bottom floor dreading the up or down.

Bathrooms

One tip for renting a beach house is to check out the layout for where the location of the bathrooms are. In particular, think about what the walk looks like for someone, say a little guy who’s about four and pretty prone to accidents (we may have one of those), that is covered in pool water, sunscreen, and a wee bit of sand. Is there a bathroom fairly close to the entrance from the pool and beach area that isn’t an obstacle course away? Because no one wants the combination of slippery floors and injured children (or grown ups).

Tips for Renting a Beach House: Outdoor Space

Decks

We once had the perfect beach house. It was the perfect size, layout, view. We were beyond ecstatic when we threw open those doors, laid claim to our rooms, investigated all the nooks and crannies, and threw open the doors to the deck so we could run down the steps to the pool. But…there were no steps. The deck didn’t connect to the pool. Seems like a kind of small issue, until about noon every day when we would have to traipse soaking wet through the entire house to get lunch for the little people who had been splashing the day away poolside.

You know what would’ve been a bit more convenient? If we could’ve just had them walk up the deck stairs and sit outside the kitchen on the deck, never having to slip and slide their way through the tiled house.

Grill

We’re a grilling family. Summer requires grilling. The beach requires grilling. Put them together and you can guarantee that there will be a substantial amount of time spent at the grill. That is, if there is one. So, for us, this is an amenity we always require when we’re renting a beach house. (Another tip for renting a beach house: check to see if it is a charcoal or propane grill and whether the house comes with charcoal and/or propane or whether you have to purchase it when you arrive.)

Ideally, this grill will also be located in a pretty central spot. Obviously right off the kitchen is ideal, but in this family, we’re pretty content if it’s located anywhere that’s not super isolating. No one wants to spend their afternoon grilling under the carport while everyone else is relaxing and chatting together. So, while this isn’t super important, it’s also something to keep in the back of your mind.

Pool

The pools to most beach homes are either attached to the house or not. And each has its benefits. When our children were younger, we looked for houses where the pool was not directly accessible through a sliding glass door or a deck. We didn’t want there to be any possibility of them getting to the water without having multiple gates they had to maneuver. Now that they’re older and better swimmers, we find convenience in having the pool located directly off of the house and decks.

We also check for shade. Some pools are just open to the sun all day, and yeah, while we do like to have some sunny afternoons swimming, it’s nice to also be able to retreat to the shade without having to run indoors. Often pools right out off of the house will have some shade during the day and have great spots under the decks. Some homes have gazebos and some have umbrellas. We’re happy to take anything, just as long as it’s something.

Tips for Renting a Beach House: Amenities

Kid Friendly

Not every beach house is going to work for every family. The first thing to know is that because a house markets itself as “family friendly” or “child friendly” that doesn’t mean it’s “child proof.” So, even if you’re in a “child-friendly” house, you still need to be on your toes. Some of the toys and games may have small pieces. The stairs may be a little steep. We once stayed at a house with a hi-chair, but it literally was just a high chair. Interpretations vary.

Things we look for are whether there are any child gates at the top of the deck stairs. We also take note of those decks that have built in seating along the railings. And, as mentioned before, we check floor plans because the last thing we want is to put our kids on the same floor as an exit when we’re in the master suite a floor or two above (bring some bells to hang on doors so you can hear them open). We also check to see if there’s a place for the kids to play indoors because it will rain. Even for just an evening or an hour, but rain is inevitable.

Extra Beach Gear

We like to travel light. That doesn’t mean we do it. But we always aim for it. (Our tips on packing light can be found here.) We check to see if there’s any extra beach gear that comes with the house. Often there are a set number of beach chairs provided (and when you show up, there’s often a lot more that have been left behind by previous guests). To be fair, it’s always a hit or miss on whether the chairs are quality enough that you actually want to use them. It just takes a little time in the salty air to make them questionable.

Kitchen

First things first, we always find out what kind of a coffee maker is provided because…coffee. Now that the most important tip for renting a beach house is out of the way, here are some other kitchen-centric items you should be considering.

1. Refrigerator: Think about how much stuff is in your fridge at home just for your family. Now imagine you’re staying with another family. All of the sudden, an extra fridge seems like a good idea. Whether it’s upstairs or downstairs, any place to store extra cold stuff is a seller.
2. Size: Is the kitchen going to be big enough for whatever size group you’re traveling with? Especially when there are going to be multiple cooks in the kitchen because the kids have, completely uncharacteristically, all are begging for something different for lunch? Can you see the kids from the kitchen? A new house with different bits and pieces means a new house with different bits and pieces to find new ways to get hurt.
3. Essentials: Often houses will come stocked with some essentials: spices, oil, tea, coffee. Find out what those are and determine if you’re comfortable using them.

Starters

What does your beach house provide? Often they offer initial rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. They may have some dish soap. But more often than not, it’s not enough to get through more than a few days. Consider what you have to bring: dish towels, soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, hand soap, paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, etc. This may not make or break your choice in rental, but it’s good to keep on your radar as your vacation approaches. (A solid Amazon Prime memberships can help here: just schedule a delivery for the day after arrival and you’re all set.)

Check in/Check out Times

Often beach houses have a minimum night stay. Before you decide on that perfect beach house for the weekend, make sure it’s not just a weekly rental. And if you were looking for that perfect mid-week getaway, thinking you’ll stay straight through the weekend into the next sloggish week, well, double check one more time. A fair number of beach houses are only available on a Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday basis. This is especially true during busy season.

You can also check your potential houses for pre-check in amenities. Some will allow access to the bottom floor as well as pool prior to check in time. This is great if you’re at your destination early and just looking to get out of your car, stretch your legs, and smell that salty sea air. It may be a tiny tip, but when you arrive at your destination five hours before check in time, this is one of those tips for renting a beach house that can make your getaway start with smiles rather than hot, sweaty tears.

Parking

You’ve gotta have somewhere to put your car, and so does everyone else who may be staying with you. If there are going to be five cars accompanying your party, you’ll need to make sure that there are five spots available for parking. Otherwise, it’s going to be pain to go searching potentially crowded beach streets for the extra spots.

Part of the fun of a vacation is planning. All the what ifs and wishes. But you don’t want to just let your choice in beach house be a what if. If you’re going to rent a beach house, it should be one that best fits your needs and your price. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to know where to even begin, so hopefully these few tips for renting a beach house will help you find your place. Once you’ve found that perfect fit, then your beach vacation can be about making memories rather than about how to make up for a house that that makes your beach life a little harder than it needs to be (because we have toddlers for that).

Safe travels and don’t forget to pin this for your next beach house hunt!