Vacation Rentals by Owner

American Paradise - Kokomo-- Gulf Front with Spectacular Sunset- Heated Pool [#6671] | View Property

Grassy Key
House, 4 Bedrooms + Convertible bed(s), 2 Baths, (Sleeps 10)
$367 - $857 per night (USD)
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Traveler Reviews (13)

• Nice, but strange layout

  Nice, but strange layout

  • Guest Family travelers
  • Date of stay 08/11/12
  • Review Submitted 03/31/13
  Beautiful property, secluded and private, gorgeous pool, and spectacular dock. Gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. Well appointed kitchen. Only complaint is kitchen is small, as is adjoining dining room. But the living room is upstairs via a winding staircase. We found ourselves crowding into the dining room - which was too small for our group, and no one really wanted to go up to the living room, or when they did, it split the group. I'd recommend the owners tear out the second bedroom on the first floor and turn it into the livingroom so you have an open living area. Then turn the living room into additional bedrooms. That would make the house absolutely perfect. Internet was spotty and TV in downstairs bedroom didn't work. Caretaker couldn't get it fixed while we were there.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• Experience Kokomo

  Experience Kokomo

  • Guest Max
  • Date of stay 02/25/12
  • Review Submitted 03/03/12
  Wow! What a wonderful vacation spot for family or friends... We leave Kokomo with misty eyes and a longing to return.. The house and grounds are wonderful!... To fish off our own dock and catch the day's lunch was terrific! The weather couldn't have cooperated any better then it did...80's everyday with soft gentle breezes... Stepping into a warm swimming pool or lounging poolside with a drink and a good book past many a day. Once you visit Kokomo you too will want to return again.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, pet owners, romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• great place, but left itching!

  great place, but left itching!

  • Guest TR
  • Date of stay 01/18/12
  • Review Submitted 01/29/12
  I thought there was sand here? I didn't see any. Nice place for our event ( private wedding) . had a great time, beautiful setting. finally got the pool filled, and warmed up after a few days. We had to fill the pool, because it was low, and the heater didn't start till the pool was full? seems to be a common theme with pool issues here. Hot tub worked good, but could only stay in it for 10-15 minutes, the chemical vapors were burning our eyes, I assume Chlorine? A few days into the stay, most of us started to get little welts on our body,looked like bug bites ( nosee-ums). The smell from all of the sea weed washed up on the rocks was pretty strong when the wind was right. After our stay there, we all went home. A few of us still had small welts on our body, and they itched like crazy. Went to the doctor to investigate, turned out to be an infection from bacteria in the hot tub, called FOLLICULITIS. had to get treatment. The house inside was nice, comfy, and served as a nice vacation place. Everyone enjoyed themselves and made the best of it. I would definately look into the smell out by the water though, smelled like rotten eggs, and clean the hot tub please.

  Recommended for: Families with teenagers, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Owner response: Thank you very much for your feedback. I am glad your group enjoyed their stay and you found the house comfortable. I am very sorry that the No-seeums were so bad when you were there and you got bit. I think this is what caused your itching and then they got infected. I have had it happen to me as well. The Mosquito Control spray regularly and it kills some of the noseeums but their life cycle is shorter then mosquitoes so they come back sooner. I have found repellent use in the late afternoons/dusk really helps. We do keep the Chlorine level in the hot tub on the higher side of the recommended levels due to hygiene. Maybe we could cut it back a little. We regularly drain and refill the hot tub. Between drainings we use shock and chlorine along with high quality micro filters to keep the water clean and clear. The smell of rotten eggs is the grass that collects on the rocks during storms. I understand there was a storm just before you arrived. During a storm we experience higher tides and the grass gets caught on the rocks and doesn’t get taken back out until another similar high tide. We wish everyone to have a wonderful experience at our houses sometimes Mother Nature has other ideas.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/5

• Love Fishing!

  Love Fishing!

  • Guest Team BS
  • Date of stay 10/05/11
  • Review Submitted 03/14/12
  Our stay at Kokomo was in fact considered "Paradise" for us...it was exactly what we were looking for! VERY private...I don't think we saw a single neighbor on shore or any people on the water off our dock our entire week stay. It was so relaxing, refreshing, comfortable and everything we wanted in our first vacation together. The house was EXACTLY as the pictures portray it to be. I was disappointed to hear, on our arrival, that the hot tub was not working properly, BUT the very next day Doug and Donna had it up and running and it was enjoyed immediately. They were very attentive to our needs...including needing propane for the grill cause we are big time grillers for all meals. We even fell asleep in the hammock a couple of nights...until little drops of rain awoke us. From the early morning sunrises of enjoying a cup of coffee on the dock to late evenings enjoying a Sunset Ale watching the sunset, we could not of asked for anything more beautiful. We fished EVERY day off the dock from morning hours til late into the evenings. A manitee even visited us twice RIGHT under our dock! So amazing!! We were unable to rent a boat until our last two days due to weather. But when the weather permitted...we visited Silver Palm Marine, only 3 minutes up the road from the house. Dion was fantastic with working with us to get us a boat and get us on the waters to fish. Silver Palm is so close, so convenient and VERY friendly for your boat or fishing rental needs. That brings me to one disappointment...why is there no fishing equipment at the rental house for people to enjoy? We traveled on a plane, so bringing a lot of fishing equipment would be very difficult and expensive for baggage costs, as I'm sure it is for a lot of other visitors. We had to go out and purchase everything from poles, lures, bait, lobster tickler gear, hooks, etc...expensive it did get. We didn't mind so much because we used all the stuff we purchased everyday. At the end of our stay we were going to leave the $80 poles and other equipment there, at the house, for other guests to enjoy. But, when we found out when items, such as these, are left behind by guests they are removed and placed into a storage shed off the property. Why not leave these items for others to enjoy? Knowing that information, we took our poles and sold them for half of what we spent in our travels back to the airport. Our stay was more than we expected and very much enjoyed!! Thank you!!!!

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• relaxation

  relaxation

  • Guest cloud30
  • Date of stay 08/06/11
  • Review Submitted 01/07/12
  My family stayed last year for a week at Kokomo.We brought our boat,our grandkids and alot of luggage.lol Our sons are old enough to pay there own way. So really 3 families. 6 adults three children. It was awesome. Plenty of room,pool and hot tub were perfect. Safe and private. The sunsets were gorgeous. Hope to go every year.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Week of December 12, 2010

  Week of December 12, 2010

  • Guest Kate
  • Date of stay 12/13/10
  • Review Submitted 12/22/10
  I took my 90 year old mother, handicapped sister and my children to Kokomo for a week. The house is exactly as portrayed in the photo. It has a lovely vista and the grounds are well maintained by Doug and Donna, who are also available to help with anything that you need. Don't hesitate to call them (see below).The house has heat, which was great, because we experienced weather in the 50s and without heat, my mother would have suffered. Doug said very few homes in the Keys have heat and we just lucked into this one, as it wasn't a criteria that I had been looking for. The bedrooms were large, the beds were very comfortable and clean, the house was very tidy when we arrived and Doug met us there and walked us through the home. The house is located about 1 hour from Key West, which is nice, its a very relaxed setting, quiet and peaceful, at the end of a dead end street, just lovely. The wireless internet was spotty and probably needs to be updated. The pool was not warm until the last day. I called Donna who said the cold weather was probably keeping the pool from coming up to temperature. On Thursday, I called Doug, he came over, cleaned the pool, changed the temperature, it heated up perfectly by the next day. Unfortunately, it was our last day. Doug said the heater had clogged. So, lesson learned. If you aren't happy with the temperature, call Doug. He will fix it and then you will be happy. He's a nice guy and very friendly. The Hot Tub was a nice compensation for a very cold pool and a very cold vacation and we even got my Mother in the hot tub. Cairn, the owner, was great, helpful and very responsive. She is the kind of owner that is easy to deal with and good at her business. It was very enjoyable holiday for all of us and I would recommend the home to anyone wishing to visit the Keys. Coming from Alaska, I had no points of reference other than the reviews on this website, so I've tried to make this review detailed for folks looking to stay on the Keys in the future. We were happy and it was a wonderful memory for all of us.

  Recommended for: People with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/3

• Delighted Guests Letter Owner recieved from Renter

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Delighted Guests Letter Owner recieved from Renter

  • Guest Elizabeth McCluney
  • Date of stay 09/11/10
  • Review Submitted 09/23/10
  Cairn (owner) My parents, our dogs, Brian, and I rented Kokomo 9/11/10 - 9/18/10. I just wanted to tell you that it was the best vacation we have ever had. I live in West Palm Beach, FL and they live in Charlotte, NC. I have been to the Keys previously but my parents had not. We definitely plan to return next year for a week if not sooner. We have also shared your website as well as our beautiful photos with family and friends as they may want to rent one of your properties. Kokomo is truly a beautiful, serene place. We absolutely loved the property as well as the house and all of the amenities. I saw from the water your two other properties on Morton Street which I had looked on the Internet as well. All are stunning! We will certainly pass along to others our great experience, and you can expect to get future renters by our word of mouth. Again, we will rent from you again in the future. I just wish I could buy the property from you! I also wanted to tell you that we were very impressed with Donna and Doug, the property managers. We had no real problems except that the air conditioning our second day wasn't working properly and it was taken care of within an hour. That is unbelievable service. Donna and Doug were so kind and cordial; very good people. I also left a set of water skiis there which Donna so kindly retrieved after I called her a couple of days later and is storing them for me at her residence. In addition, I left a necklace in the bedroom and the lady who arrived to clean the residence as we were leaving was kind enough to advise me of this and gave me the necklace which has great sentimental value to me. It is not often that we are privileged enough to deal with such honest, genuine, good people. I just wanted to let you know that these people are doing such a great job, and my family and I really appreciated that! I will look forward to renting from you again in the near future. Thank you, Beth

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/5

• • Guest Andrew38
  • Date of stay 01/23/10
  • Review Submitted 01/23/10
  We stayed at this wonderful house from Dec 26-Jan 2, 2010. It faces directly north into the gulf, and views from the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the upstairs living room are all beautiful. We wakeboarded, fished, and played in the pool and hot tub everyday. The state park across the street is great too. Donna and Doug, the property managers, are extremely friendly, and make you feel like you are borrowing a family member's house. We also got our full deposit back. Thanks Cairn, Doug, and Donna!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/3

• Kokomo, Marathon, not as described, October 2009

  Kokomo, Marathon, not as described, October 2009

  • Guest JMC2009
  • Date of stay 10/13/09
  • Review Submitted 10/25/09
  We stayed in Florida for 3 weeks in October 2009, party of 5 (4 adults and 1 child). We are widely travelled and this was the third property we rented on this vacation but have rented in Florida and the States many times before. Pros - great location, very private, quiet and fairly clean. Very comfortable beds. Effective A/C (but a little noisey) Cons - over priced for what you get. Pool heat broken and we were informed that it had been for several months. The property managers said that the owners (american paradise) would not give authrorization to carry out the necessary repair and so temporary fixes had been undertaken but as they were temporary they didn't last. We could not use the pool for 50% of our vacation because the water was freezing and the property managers/owners did not resolve the situation during our stay of ten days - they had four full days to resolve it. The property is not entirely as described. The owner's own website described the yard as a sandy beach - it's crushed coral stones and too sharp to walk on. The property is very dated - the bathrooms are (we think) from the 70s or earlier. It needs some serious updating and maintenance - the jets didn't work at all in one corner of the hot tub. The toilet seat in the downstairs bathroom was cracked and was not replaced prior to our arrival - my Father (who is disabled) almost had an accident when the seat broke into two pieces on first use. Several light bulbs were out, we can't see how the appliances can be described as 'new' they appeared to us to be dated and the bottom dishwasher rack would not 'roll' properly because a wheel was missing. The cooking extractor fan was extremely rusty underneath and full of insects and cobwebs which periodically dropped into your food when cooking. The salad/veg drawers in the fridge were broken. Only two plastic glasses for drinking soda around the pool/yard - very insufficient if more than two people stay here and it accommodates ten! Many pages were missing from the Guest Feedback Book but it was obvious (from comments made by guests when they'd referred to negative feedback from other guests) that they'd also had problems, some similar to ours and action had not always been taken e.g. insufficient plastic glasses and peeling teflon on one of the pans - this guest wrote that peeling teflon is a known carcinogen - it was still there for our stay. Would not recommend for the price.

  Owner response: We were sadden to hear so many criticism when only 2 items were brought to our property mangers attention during their stay. The property managers responded immediately when informed of the toilet seat breakage and made the repair. It was unfortunate that the weather became so cold after their first week. Regrettably we were unable to get the part for the heater right away. We were all surprised by the drastic change in weather from around 90 degrees to mid- 60s and windy. Even so the pool temperature never dropped below 80 degrees since it was in the very high 80s before the weather changed. When the air temperature is as low as it was the pool temperature would have had to be well over 90 to make swimming comfortable in that weather especially with the wind we were experiencing. The pool heater has been repaired and the weather and pool temperature have both returned to the high 80s. They told us not having the pool heated for the last 4 days ruined their vacation even though the hot tub was available. To compare pricing of a 4 bedroom oceanfront home for 10 days at rates well below what we normally charge for a week to an Orlando home is unfair. The two markets are extremely different. The house is over 30 years old and it is quite evident from the architecture that this is not a spanking new home like several of my other homes. The bathrooms were update some time ago and even though the tiles may be dated they are in good shape. The appliances in the kitchen were new in late 2005 and our website does not state they are new. The pots and pans are less then 6 months old they were all replaced but one pot when the other comments were read by me. The one pot was in good shape back then and it is the only one that now has any telfon bare spots. I inspected the refrigerator and found no broken drawer. The hot tube jets for that section were turned off by the knobs on the top of the hot tub not broken. The yard has a sandy area between the pool and water. We never claimed the yard was all sand. We do regular painting and maintenance on the house as well as inspecting items and will definitely address any maintenance issues which do exist. Although we responded promptly to the 2 issues they brought to our attention, nothing seemed to make them happy.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 7/8

• Never want to Leave!

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Never want to Leave!

  • Guest Decoste
  • Date of stay 06/20/09
  • Review Submitted 02/06/10
  We have to leave today. And to be completely honest, we don't ever want to leave. We don't live too far from here, but this little spot was so relaxing and truly enjoyable. Thank you.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 3/5

• Wow!

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Wow!

  • Guest Lundeens
  • Date of stay 05/23/09
  • Review Submitted 02/06/10
  Simply Amazing. The view. The Pool. The Weather. The house is beautiful. Doug is friendly and will attend to all your needs. Best place to eat is Keys Fish Co. and waver runner tours around the Marathon Key is a must, a bit $$pricey$$ but 2 1/2 hrs of fun. I will stay again next year and bring more family. American Paradise is 5-STAR. Thanks for the wonderful place.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/5

• Special Vacation

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Special Vacation

  • Guest Breaux family
  • Date of stay 03/14/09
  • Review Submitted 02/06/10
  American Paradise - that's Kokomo! It's just what our 3 West Point Cadets needed. We rented 3 fish and dive kayaks for them. They found lobster and were visited by sea turtles & dolphins. In fact our first morning we were blessed to watch a pod of dolphin chasing fish at the end of the dock. In the evening Brenden caught 4 bonnet head sharks. The resident great white heron, Henrietta (or Henry) waited patiently if anyone was on the dock. She was rewarded on several occasions. Cairn & Bart, Donna & Doug and all the crew who made all this special for guests - Thank you. You are helping make memories for families everywhere. Our grandson and his buddies had an experience they won't soon forget.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/3

• • Guest Fitz Family
  • Date of stay 08/08/06
  • Review Submitted 08/08/06
  We stayed in kokomo with 4 teenagers and the place was big enough to have privacy. Everything we needed was there. We look forward to doing it again. This place is GREAT!!!!!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1