What Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home?

Posted on July 03, 2020 by Jeff Tumbarello in Luxury

When planning a vacation, most people spend a lot of time thinking about their destination and the activities that they want to do. Few people spend a lot of time thinking about where they want to stay. If they spend a fair amount of time researching this, it’s usually to just find a lower price. However, you really should be looking for more. Even if you’re out and about for most of the day, a large amount of your time will be spent at your vacation home. You can increase your comfort and relaxation by looking for the following features.

Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home: A Good View

If you’re going somewhere new, you’ll want to see as much of it as you can while you are there. So, don’t settle for a home with a bad view. You’ve spent a lot of money on this vacation, so you might as well get your money’s worth. Allow yourself to enjoy a little luxury.

If you are worried about your budget, don’t go to a hotel or resort. Consider using a private rental. There are many available if you know where to look. Keep in mind that there are multiple different views you could choose. A beach view is great, but expensive. In the same area you could get a mountain or valley view for much less.

A Bathroom Spa

A vacation should be relaxing and rejuvenating. Treat yourself to a vacation home with a bathroom spa. You may not have one of these at home so it will be worth finding a place that can provide you with this luxury for a few days. After a long day sightseeing or playing at the beach, you can bask in hot jetted waters and have a moment just to yourself. It may not be a good idea to allow young children to use this amenity unsupervised. Hot water can cause drowsiness in small children which could easily lead to drowning.

Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home: Hot Tub

If you are going to be vacationing in the winter, a hot tub is a must have. After being outside in the cold, a swim in the hot tub is the perfect way to warm up your chilled bones. Winter hot tubbing may seem awful if you’ve never tried it, but it’s better than hot tubbing in the summer. When the weather is warm, it is easy to overheat and feel uncomfortable in a hot tub. In winter, the cold air keeps you from overheating while the hot water keeps you nice and toasty. This is a perfect way for people to relax and have fun conversations.

An Outdoor Deck

Decks are especially great for summer homes. You go on vacation to get out of the house and spend time outside. A deck will make that much easier. Many deck features can create a space for gathering family and friends. You can hang hammocks on a deck for rest and relaxation. You can also eat out on a deck. Just fire up the grill and you can have yourselves a delicious barbecue. This is a great way to go if you’re looking to avoid the formality of a sit-down dinner. The open space allows for multiple conversations and groups to form. It also encourages mingling. If the deck is shaded, it can be a fun place to play board and card games.

Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home: A Theater Room

While you shouldn’t spend your entire vacation inside, some days you might want to just rest. Other days might have their plans cancelled due to bad weather. If this is the case, having a theater room is a huge plus and has many advantages. You can watch your favorite movies on the big screen in surround sound. A theater room is also a great way to keep the kids entertained and out of the way while the adults take a nap or prepare food.

Proximity to Public Transit

Depending on where you are vacationing, renting a private vehicle might not be the best option. You may do better by using public transit. Not only can this be cheaper, but it will also allow you to experience the culture of the place that you are visiting. As such, you should try to pick a place that is close to bus and train stops.

Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home: Proximity to Local Sights

It isn’t much of a vacation if you are spending all your time in a car driving from place to place. You want to find a place that provides a good middle ground between all the places that you are hoping to visit. Keep in mind that the closer you are to popular places, the more you are going to pay for your vacation home. So, the trick is to get close, but not too close.

Parking

Many people choose to rent vacation homes to use for family reunions and other large gatherings. If this is you, then you have probably already made sure that the home can fit everyone. But have you considered parking? Often, rental homes will not allow you to park multiple cars on the streets. They usually are in nice neighborhoods that prohibit such things. Doing so could result in a fine. Before committing to a rental space, you should make sure that it has adequate parking available for your needs.

Features Should You Look for in a Vacation Home: Good Reviews

It’s not uncommon for a vacation home to look great online but turn out to be a disaster when you actually get there. It’s not much fun if you decide to rent a home for its amenities and then you discover that several are undergoing maintenance and are unavailable. To protect yourself from this, you should check out reviews for the home online. Pay attention to what other people complain about. If you see common themes, you may want to take your business elsewhere. You should also pay attention to how the rental owner has responded to complaints. This will give you an idea of how easy they are to work with.

Don’t view searching for a vacation home as a chore. It should be exciting. Finding the perfect place to stay is going to make your vacation so much more than it would otherwise be. When you arrive and it is just how you imagined, you won’t regret doing your research.

If you’re looking for a vacation home to buy, check out the properties we have for sale!

Steelbridge Realty LLC is a Licensed Real Estate Brokerage that utilizes cutting-edge marketing techniques and data-driven Real Estate solutions in today’s ever-changing environment. Our group of professionals have decades of experience and have navigated through many business cycles. Our diverse background gives us the tools to guide people towards successful decisions.