A wonderful experience overall. Simply put, Tina cares. Unfortunately, the red tide was threatening this beachfront property and Tina did not shy away from being up front and honest about the conditions in the weeks/days before our recent vacation. Fortunately, our beach was for the most part unaffected. My wife did see several dead fish on one morning, but we never had any bad smells or respiratory issues during our week. Tina took the time to visit the property and give it her own "sniff test" since the red tide does adversely affect her. She reassured us 3 days prior to our visit... a testimony to her commitment to her guests having a quality experience.
The lay out of the condo is perfect for families up to 6. I'm sure even bigger families would be OK, just that somebody's sleeping on the couch!
We loved the two balcony set up. The unit sits directly on the beach so your west balcony(2nd floor) has a perfect view of the Gulf and sunsets while the east balcony overlooks Gulf Blvd, the intercoastal waterway, and the building's dock. It's completely possible to be on different sides of this building-wide condo and have all the alone time you need.
Tina and John have given A LOT of thought in providing all the particulars needed for a family. Beach chairs, umbrella, pool/ocean floats, fishing rods (although no tackle box nor tackle for toothed fish), a plethora of books, DVD's, writing desk, binoculars, just to name several off the top of my head.
The kitchen is fully stocked with every pan, dish, glassware, utensils needed. Full size fridge. If you're a BBQer, the pit is shared with other tenants and sits down by the pool. It's pretty big with a heavy iron lid, similar to what you'd see in a state park. It worked fine for my steaks, chops, and chicken I 'qued up.
Lots of Gulf wildlife! Stingrays, crabs, manatees all seen our 1st day. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium monitors the multiple turtle nests and we were fortunate enough to see them explore a nest the morning after a "turtle boil". They extracted 6 live baby turtles that had yet to make it out. Pretty cool to see them set off for a new life in the ocean! There were dozens of shore birds. I was amazed at how many pelicans call this beach home. Terns, sand pipers, black skimmers, and cranes every beach walk.
The beach itself was very pleasant and only populated with whoever else was staying at the building (12 units I think). Needless to say, not crowded at all.
We'll be back!