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The Cove on 25th, Indian Rocks Beach, Florida

Every year for the past couple of years, we fly into Tampa and head to Clearwater or somewhere close by for our annual “back to the beach” vacation. Our last trip took us to Dunedin, a few miles north. This year, we ended up in Indian Rock Beach, a few miles south of Clearwater. In Dunedin, we were quite spoiled with the condo we found since it had everything we could possibly want for a beach vacation. We were looking for the same type of place for our stay in Indian Rocks Beach.

Sometimes on these vacations it is just Chris and I and sometimes it’s the whole crew. This time, it was Chris, Ashley, and me. After searching and doing several inquiries, we found a place through VRBO. It seemed to have everything we were looking for: on the water, a dock, room for the three of us, and several other amenities including a kitchen stocked with dishes and appliances and a washer and dryer available for our use.

We booked the condo through VRBO and were then contacted by the owner, Brent. I corresponded with Brent several times before our trip. He answered all of my questions within a few days.

One of the activities we were really looking forward to was kayaking, kayaking on the ocean being on Ashley’s bucket list. There is a picture showing a kayak on the dock as well as a mention of kayaking in the details section of the VRBO page for the condo. When I asked Brent how many kayaks there were, I was told that kayaks are not included. This was a bit disappointing. He did however inform me that there was a place nearby that rented kayaks. This would work.

We continued our trip as planned. Prior to arrival, we received information from VRBO about the condo as well as a text from Brent explaining how to get into the condo once we arrived.

The condo was easy to get into; we simply had to input a code into the keypad on the door. This actually was of added benefit since we didn’t have to keep track of a key and all of us could enter the condo whenever we needed to without having to pass a key around.

The condo was clean and well decorated; there were beach themed furnishings such as a sign stating, “Life is better at the Beach” and a pillow announcing, “The Beach is My Happy Place.” Beach scene pictures, knick-knacks, and other furnishings were thoughtfully placed throughout the entire unit to create a warm and inviting beach getaway.

We stayed in unit 2. This is a two bedroom, one bathroom condo. Each bedroom sleeps two people. Additionally, there are pull-out couches as well as a single roll away cot. Although the condo was not huge, there was definitely plenty of room for the three of us.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the master bedroom had TWO closets, one very large walk in closet and one smaller, bi-fold door closet. In the closet were several sets of sheets, nicely organized and labeled for each bed that they fit. Plenty of hangers were provided as well.

Ashley was extremely pleased to find out that the other bedroom not only had a decent sized closet, but that the doors had full length mirrors on them. Not that I needed several full length mirrors necessarily, but I would have liked to have had a mirror in the master. I had to check myself out in either the bathroom mirror or the one in the living room, or I had to wait until Ashley was out of her room to use the full length mirrors in there. Not a huge problem, but worth mentioning.

The bathroom was adequate size as well, not huge, but big enough for our needs. Several bath towels, wash cloths, and beach towels were supplied in the bathroom closet. One of the things I always appreciate when staying in a place away from home is strong water pressure and sufficient hot water temperature. This shower/tub combination had both.

Just about everything you would need in a kitchen was supplied. Again, call me crazy, but I like things to be neat, orderly, and matched. And these dishes were just that. I feel like it shows that the owners took time, effort, and thought into putting the place together for their guests.

There was also a microwave, blender, toaster, and bottle openers, which happen to be of great importance to us! Also, important to note is that the coffee maker is actually a real, brew your own coffee maker, not the cheap hotel, single serve kind. Because we are coffee snobs who travel with Starbucks ground coffee, this is also of great value!

“The location of the condo could not have been any better!”

The location of the condo could not have been any better! Situated right on the bay and just minutes from the beach, we had the best of both worlds. We woke up to beautiful views right from the living room and stepped out onto the small patio to wait for whatever wildlife to happen by. We saw lots of pelicans, some ducks, and nearly every day we saw dolphins swim by.

Just about everything we needed was within walking distance. Beach access was about a block away and there were restaurants within a few minutes’ walk as well.

We ate at 18 on the Rocks Restaurant and Tiki bar several times during our stay and discovered a fantastic little French restaurant, Café de Paris, that served delicious crepes and other pastries. Anything that wasn’t within walking distance was just a mile or so down the road. We were also able to get to Clearwater beach and John’s Pass in about 20 minutes in either direction.

There were a couple of minor issues during our stay, again not huge problems, but for the sake of honesty and full disclosure, I am including them. After deciding to stock the refrigerator with some snacks and drinks for our stay we realized that the refrigerator had not been cleaned out after the prior occupants left. We discovered milk, juice, soda, and liquor were still in it. There were also clothes left in the dresser drawer of the master bedroom.

Another issue that came up was the fact that we learned that not everything that was advertised to be included with the use of the condo was actually there to use. The description of the condo states that there are tennis rackets, “body boards, and MUCH MORE!!” There was a beach cart that was extremely useful, along with beach chairs; however, there were no rackets or body boards. When I reached out to Brent he stated, “If they are not in the storage closet they may have been taken by the previous renter. Let me see if I can get some more to you.” We ended up buying our own body board to use while we were there and left it in the storage closet for the next renters to use.

Overall, the condo was just what we were looking for. It was clean and well maintained. It was right on the water and close to the beach. It was stocked with everything we needed in a home away from home. And, even if the condo itself didn’t have kayaks, we found them to rent close by and Ashley was finally able to scratch ocean kayaking off of her bucket list!