One of a Kind Fully Renovated Historic Boathouse

This property is amazing and truly a gem. Beautifully located, well lit, with modern equipment, good air conditionning, access to a beautiful lake. I've been using VRBO for a while and I can say this is one of the best - if not the best - place I've had the pleasure to enjoy.

Neighborhood is lovely and serene. Interior and exterior of the boathouse are great, it’s well suited for a solo or couples getaway. The deck overlooking the lake was my favorite part. Couldn’t figure out where the light switch for the outdoor lights was, though! Nonetheless, a nice stay.

Country atmosphere close to City of Tampa. 30 minutes to Beach, 15 minutes to Race Track. 20 minutes to International Mall. All on non congested roads. Very nice community and very private. Fishing from back deck was so much fun. Stairs a little steep for older couples but view from bedroom was so relaxing.

Lovely, fully equipped 1-bedroom house built directly on the water. Even though the area is semi-residential, the lake and the houses around it seem to be set off in their own secluded area that makes you feel you're in more of a wilderness area. The upper deck is a great seating and lake-viewing area, and the lower deck has a great shaded 4-person table (had breakfast outside every day!) You can easily fish from the lower deck, and the fish LOVE to bite on bits of bacon on the hook! The hosts were great, and responded immediately to a inquiry about a deck umbrella being available. The only negatives I encountered were that the WiFi is terrible - it uses a repeater that's meant to make the internet connection from the adjacent house available, but it's just a little too far away to provide a robust connection. As I had some online meetings and work I had to do, this was a big enough problem that I had to travel several miles away to leach a hotel's internet connection a couple of times. The other small negative was that while the house was in general very clean, some of the cookware had dried food on it and needed to be scrubbed pretty hard before use.

There are also some things you should note before you arrive...

- The owners mention in their initial email that the water is hard well water, but that's not the half of it - it smells/tastes terrible! Fine for bathing, but the first thing I did after the first night was to get a couple of gallons of bottled water for drinking, cooking, coffee, etc.

- The bedroom takes up the entire second floor and the upper floor bathroom has no door, but is really just a an alcove off to the side of the bedroom, so there's no real privacy. If you're a totally sharing couple, then no problem, but if you need a bit of privacy in the bathroom, then it's best to use the one downstairs. It also means that when the upper bathroom is used at night, it floods then entire room with light.

- Lastly, both floors have many windows and sliding doors that allow for fantastic view from inside, but they don't have black-out drapes or shades, just blinds built into them. Consequently, during the day the bedroom cannot be made very dark (and for some reason the window directly above the head of the bed has no blinds at all). So unless you enjoy waking at dawn, I recommend bringing sleep masks :-)

All told, a wonderful space - will definitely look to stay there again sometime!

We stayed at this lovely home while visiting Florida to see Yankees spring training games, which were just a quick 25 minute drive from the house. The house is comfortable, clean and accommodating. The lake is quiet and beautiful, with endless action from the surrounding wildlife, including birds, fish, turtles and more. It is a great place to relax and unwind, but also offers plenty to do. Bob and Cathy were responsive and accommodating, I would highly recommend booking a stay at their home.