Vacation Rentals by Owner

Great Vacation

Guest: Maryland Flyers (Baltimore)
Date of Stay: 03/17/12 Review Submitted: 03/25/12

Flew into Marathon in a filled-to-capacity Saratoga, six hours air time from Maryland. Gus' home was exactly as described. Nice, quiet canal-front neighborhood. Google Earth shows the area exactly...so much so that on arrival, a lot of the initial excitement was gone since we had already been there. I even ended up "driving" to Key West via Google Earth, avoiding the high price of gas and long drive. Home is well maintained, well equipped, and comfortable. Great to sit out on the deck and take in the evening tropical breezes and sunsets. A Winn Dixie supermarket, MacDonalds, Subway, and CVS are less than two miles away in Tavernier Town Center We went to the Keys for SCUBA diving but the March winds had other plans...so we ended up fishing. Off the patio, off bridges, on a rented 19' from V&J boat rentals (great op at Tavernier Creek Marina), and, for one of us, a full day charter at Bud & Mary's for $65, landing a dozen yellow tail snapper. Best restaurants: Islamorada Fish Company and The Pilot House in Key Largo. Great glass-bottom bar over the water.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Home away from home!

Guest: Sarah and Barry (New Westminster, BC, Canada)
Date of Stay: 12/22/11 Review Submitted: 01/03/12

We stayed at this home for 10 days over the 2011 holidays and it was definitely a vacation house we were able to call home. We spent many peaceful mornings on the covered deck eating our breakfast and planning the day. But the evenings sitting under the bright stars and sipping on a glass of wine were simply the best ... great memories and we miss it already! The kitchen had all the tools we needed to make our favorite recipes and when we didn't feel like eating in, there were plenty of wonderful restaurants close by (Snappers has incredible fresh local fish). We selected this rental because it was off the beaten track, but close enough to make "getting there" easy (ie day trips to Miami Beach, Everglades, Key West). Everything you need is close by as well (grocery store, pharmacy, etc). Thank you!!!!!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Keys Paradise

Guest: In Decent Seas (Fort Pierce)
Date of Stay: 08/05/11 Review Submitted: 08/13/11

First of all, let me thank Gus and his family for renting their Key's home to us. The home is situated on a wide canal (plenty of room to turn around our 35' boat). The three bedrooms were comfortable and the layout of the kitchen/dining area leading into a large living room at the rear of the home facing the water is great. It has an enormous sofa and overlooks the canal. The deck in the rear of the home has a picnic table and deck chairs where we enjoyed breakfast and coffee in the morning and Cocktails in the evening. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by swarms of Mangrove Snapper, Jacks and an extremely large Manatee. There were also lobster crawling along the seawall and Tarpon in the canal. The kids would have been happy to fish off of the seawall all day. Harry Harris park is close by (at the end of the road) and the boat ramp there is in excellent condition. It is on deep water and makes for easy launching and retrieval of a boat. There is also a playground with sand bedding and an enclosed lagoon for kis/adults to swim in. The home is roughly 5 kms from the 40-50ft reef and 12 kms from the hump.....our fishing trips were exceptional. Dolphin, Tuna, Wahoo, Mangroves, Yellowtail, Grouper......to name a few. We have stayed at several different places throughout the years and this was the best! Thanks again....we can't wait to return!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

February in Paradise

Guest: Dean (Hershey, PA)
Date of Stay: 02/01/11 Review Submitted: 04/10/11

We spent the entire month of February at this property and loved every minute of it. The owner keeps a remarkably clean and organized house and you really do not need to bring anything. The fishing was great following information offered by the owner. He even gave me gps coordinates. The neighborhood is quiet and safe. The neighbors are very friendly. The house is centrally located for short trips to Miami, Everglades, and Key West. I give this listing my highest marks.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Christmas in the Keys

Guest: Dox (Atlantic Beach Fl)
Date of Stay: 12/25/10 Review Submitted: 01/09/11

Really enjoyed the dock with the deep water canal. Great for swiming & docking the boat. Easy access to the ocean. The home was comfortable and met are needs. Nice nieghborhood & nieghbors. Real close to shopping and good resturants. Our dog enjoyed the deck. We are planning our next trip to the Keys.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, pet owners, sightseeing.

Keys Paradise

Guest: Great family vacation (Palm City, Florida)
Date of Stay: 07/01/10 Review Submitted: 07/13/10

Thank you so much for letting us stay in your awesome fl keys home. The house had everything we needed to make our stay very comfortable as our home away from home in paradise. The location is perfect for bringing a boat, seconds from the ocean, easy access to the bay, close to many reefs for snorkeling, diving and fishing. Also lots of great restaurants nearby. The kids (and big kids) had fun relaxing and swimming in the canal at the end of the day. Thanks again, we can't wait to come back.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Guest: Taimy
Date of Stay: 05/27/10 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Hi Gus, Just to let you know we had a great time in the keys. Your house is beautiful and very comfortable. And your neighbors are very friendly. The weather was perfect!!!!!!

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Guest: Michelle
Date of Stay: 08/01/09 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Gus The house was great and we will consider returning next year for the lobster mini season. For the entire 2 weeks we ended up with one 15 pound dolphin, one 20 pound Wahoo and 30 plus lobsters, so not a bad trip from the fishing point of view. The biggest problem I had was going under Tavernier Creek bridge with my out riggers up. Trashed a nice pair of SOS out riggers on the first day there. Thanks

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Guest: Dave
Date of Stay: 03/21/09 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Gus and Carmen We all really enjoyed our stay. As far as I know, there was no pay for view. I will verify that with the late birds and get back to you if there was, as I am an early to bed type. I think it would be hard to improve your home as everything we needed was there. I will be happy to share our experience with others and recommend your home to rent. Thank you for the opportunity.

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Guest: Rick, Stacey and Syd
Date of Stay: 03/14/09 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Gus We have been enjoying the family pics on the wall...great looking bunch! We have not looked for anything and not found it... this is one of the most well provisioned places we have ever been in. Looking forward to a great week! Syd is enjoying her view of the canal near the front window. The guy across the way was feeding the birds last night and that really brought in a bunch of them circling and scooping up the pieces of bread...Syd was pretty interested in all that activity. We need to head out and find some bait shortly. Thanks for sharing your place (and coordinates!) As far as feedback, everything was great....lots of plusses with your place for sure...(WIFI, access to boat ramp, clean canal, large, open kitchen/dining/family room, huge couch..etc). The only suggestion I would have would be a hair dryer.

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Guest: Susan & Doug
Date of Stay: 12/25/08 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Hello Gus You have a lovely home and we thank you very much for having us (everyone is already talking about next yr!). It has been a pleasure to work w/you and if you ever want to use us as a reference, please feel free. Thanks again, Susan & Doug

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Guest: Jana
Date of Stay: 08/04/08 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

On behalf of Hartnett, Hutchins, Vernese family we had a wonderful time at your home in Tavernier - which felt like home and a place we hope to have regular annual August visits to. The water at the dock was perfect, I took many dives in. The fishing was great on Friday, I have attached a picture of the boys. My son is holding the Bonita. He has autism and this was his first time on a boat since 18 months and first time fishing and touching fish so it is pretty special he had a lot of firsts at this house. We hope to hear from you soon to firm up August. Thank you so much again. P.S. - we cleaned really good and washed all linens and towels. YAY! Excited to be coming back.. actually we have hopes to be repeat clients every year/August about this time.. finally we found a house that we would love to come back to and is perfect for our families.

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Guest: Harrington Family
Date of Stay: 07/21/08 Review Submitted: 06/07/10

Hi Gus We had a great time and the ocean access was a bonus. We spent a lot of time on Conch reef and I used less fuel than I planned on. We did fair on Lobster, I got 28. Thanks so much for allowing us to enjoy your property. The Harrington Family

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