My experience is not directly related to yours, but we’ve rented houses in Highlands, NC, in the summer. We’ve had very good luck using a real estate agent. We used VRBO for a summer rental in CO and it worked out fine. I think @mtnrdredux_gw is the queen of Airbnb. Maybe she’ll pop in with advice.

We rented a 2 bedroom house in Nokomis FL for the month of April last year. it was FANTASTIC! we took our bikes as I already new the area somewhat. we rode every day for a month, went to the local Y just up the road using our Silver Sneakers and explored everywhere by bike. we had our DD and the two babies down for a week and that was also wonderful. we were only a little over a mile from the beach. We rode about 450 miles in a month!

I began looking for a place in the same area for next April this past Summer. The one we had last year sold right after our rental. I couldnt find anything prices were so crazy high … and i mean way more than we had paid and we paid a lot!

I gave up reluctantly. We use VRBO. You do not want to use AirBNB for these types of rentals as their cancellations are very poor. You can select a 60 day or 30 day 100% refund with VRBO.

I decided to look again this past Fall . Luck was with me! I found a fantastic 3 bedroom /2 bath house in a gated community with a clubhouse and there is s pool at the clubhouse and a gym. The owner supplies bikes for children and kayaks etc. The only reason it was suddenly available was because normally it is a 2 month rental and someone used the cancel option. I snapped up April . You will have a very hard time finding anything this late. i have already looked for 2023 and there was only one that I was even slightly interested in .

Good luck and keep checking because as I said folks can cancel withb Vrbo

On our local ABC Channel 6 news tonight they reported on summer rentals. I know you're considering someplace more exotic than the Jersey shore but the comments indicated that rentals are already going quickly. Apparently Covid caused a pent-up demand and now that things are opening up again the demand is high.

I hope you find something - As Trail pointed out there are always cancellations.

Maire

I’m thinking you mean next winter for Florida? If so, start looking now. We used a realtor when we started thinking about Florida for rentals.

Salon, I did 2 quick VRBO searches, one in the Fort Myers area and one in the Port St. Lucie area, for availability from 1/15/23 to 4/1/23, 2 people. Fort Myers has 26% availability; Port St. Lucie has 37% availability.

I would stay away from the Panhandle if you are looking for warm weather. Mom rented a condo in Destin for 2 months one winter so she could play golf. It was freezing cold for much of the time she was there!

Found you a place in Port St. Lucie! Only $5k/night. I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at. It seems to be a boat on stilts, but the description gives the engine size and horsepower.

https://www.vrbo.com/2217623?adultsCount=2&arrival=2023-01-14&departure=2023-04-01&unitId=2782181

I would not want you to be in Fort Myers. Just my opinion. You need to figure out if you want east coast or west coast. How long will you be staying?. Would you do a studio or do you want to have a big enough place to have family down?

We knew we wanted west. We started with rentals in Estero and Bonita Springs. At the time DH wanted to have a Bikram Yoga studio fairly close.

If you are wanting a rental with amenities such as golfing, fitness center and pools, try a general search of "seasonal condo rentals in private golf clubs in Florida" or "seasonal condo rentals in private country clubs in Florida". Add the county you are interested in within the general search terms. This should bring up preferred or inhouse realtors for that particular area's clubs and show their listings. It would also give you some names of who you may want to contact regarding next years availability. Some of these listings will be in regard to member owners condos/homes rentals but a few will be for club owned properties. The prices will depend on how grand the C.C club is in general. Some will be reasonable and others $$$$$. As a side note: there are some lovely older and smaller country clubs that are not grand but are lovely. In their case you would want to check out the immediate area, crime rates and closeness to other areas or towns of interest.

I know nothing about Fort Myers. It is just where we fly into when we go to Sanibel Island. Why not Fort Myers, @eld6161? Not being argumentative, just curious since I know nothing about it.

I agree Just terri. Salon has to narrow down her must haves.

Bbstx, It is more of a party town. Not saying all of it, but that is the vibe I get when driving through. It is very congested and busy during the season.

Yes, that is my airport too!

Love Sanibel and Captiva. Haven’t been in years.

And... this is why I posted here. Such helpful and relevant comments. We truly are at the beginning stage ( so probably will blow it for next year lol). I think a month if possible would be the way to go... we will likely be driving down and have our dog with us so that definitely limits the places that would rent to us. I do need to think a bit more about the wants and needs but I am pretty sure that a studio would not work for us. A one bedroom might be realistic, but ideally I think 2 bedrooms would make us a bit happier.

I have played around with both airbnb and vrbo just to see what kinds of listings there are. I think if we can figure out where, or even like a few wheres, we could possibly find something.

Thank you for all the info...now have to digest and discuss.

I maybe an outlier here but I will never deal with VRBO again. When my sister and I had to cancel a trip to Italy due to Covid, the only place that wouldn't refund our money was a VRBO property in Venice. The website clearly stated that it was fully cancellable/refundable within 30 days of arrival. I tried to cancel 4 months before arrival and the property owner said that "due to Covid" they weren't issuing refunds. When I screenshotted the cancellation policy from the listing and sent it to VRBO for help, they told me that they "no longer support this property." Thanks for nothing - never again. Conversely, I have never had a problelm with Air B&B.

We live year round in Ft Myers! We do have a lot of seasonal residents! Price on rentals has gotten absolutely insane. Check out Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club. We have a golf course, marina, restaurants, tennis and it is a gorgous place. We are close to Sanibel! It has gotten hard to find monthly rentals, but they do have them. Some come with a golf membership or sports membership which allows you to use the club.

Our area, which is in The Panhandle, is probably colder than you'll want. Although many cool mornings turn into nice days. I guess it all depends on what you want to do each day. That said, we have a couple staying next door to us for two months that rent the house every year. They are from IL. A Canadian couple nearby have been here several weeks in another house.

My point for posting is our area has several large companies that handle rentals for the various areas. Vacasa is one that rents houses and condos all over Florida. TripAdvisor forum is a good source for info too.

ETA: Another note, we are east of Destin, which was mentioned above, and our temperatures are often better due to our location in the curve. Cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. So it's a good idea to check average temps in areas even half an hour apart since they can vary.

As a contrast on VRBO we had a beautiful rental scheduled on the Jemez River and pd 50% for two weeks in Oct 2021. As the fires increased out West we got worried. We were 30 days out and I wrote the host and stated my concern and widh to cancel. He was very kind and the several thousands were refunded in 24 hrs. As it happens the weather and skies were perfect and we missed a great vacation.

In my experience the rentals have a clear statement that cancellations are accepted or not due to …. I use my credit card and if my proof showed that I was in the right I would hope they would go to bat for me. @nekotish i am really really sorry that they treated you so badly! 😡☹️

I mentioned Country Clubs for the reasons Frankginakay said, lots do do within with some walkability. I think walkability is a Big deal. In some popular vacation spots the traffic can be horrible if you want to venture out. Since the pandemic it's been easier to find rentals in or near walkable towns but normally it's very hard to find. If you want a walkable little town for next year I would start looking now as people are over being shut-ins. Pinellas county on the west coast has some cute towns and some nice beaches. I haven't been south of there for a few years but several people on this forum live in those areas so could advise.

To date, I have had very good luck with AirBnbs. Cancellation terms vary but are spelled out. If I understand the story above about VRBO, you had a right to cancel but it was not honored? Have your tried talking to your credit card company? You may even have a legal case. The entire reason you use a co. like VRBO instead of going direct with a Venetian landowner are these sort of protections. I used VRBO once, on Lake Lure. The ceiling had water stains and the approach to the cabin was akin to rapelling down a hill (not really exaggerating). You kind of only get one chance with lodging. I've not used them again.

I think how to look depends on where you are looking. EG if you look on Vacasa, it is almost all Panhandle stuff. I know where we are in Maine, you find almost nothing on VRBO and Airbnb, it's dominated by one local realtor. So you may want to figure out the area that interests you and then determine which platform dominates.

You may want to consider Mexico too?

All continuing great insights. We would definitely consider a community. (fwiw, we do not golf).

DH will not consider Mexico. He would consider other countries, just not Mexico but then again with the dog I think we would stay in the USA. I did want to mention mostly that a golf course , although pretty and a nice feature would not really be our thing since we don't play..

Walkability is definitely a plus (and also walking the dog. it might take an adjustment as now DH is really accustomed to long walks on trails with the dog, and even in the summer we have some great shaded trails).

We were most recently in Florida I guess winter of 2019 visiting friends who moved to Pinellas Park. It was very nice and we do like the west coast but don't care to go back to Pinellas Park.

I'm taking in all the tidbits of info as they come about.

Maybe start your search with areas that have dog friendly beaches? It's always nice to do a beach walk early morning or early evening with the fury kids. In my area we have Jupiter dog beach but it's not easy to find a rental that excepts dogs.

https://www.bringfido.com/attraction/beaches/state/florida/

I live on Marco Island just south of Naples. Prices have skyrocketed lately for rentals from what i have heard. Many people post dates needed on the local Facebook pages to get in touch with owners. We are mini snowbirds. Leave June through Labor Day to Ohio. Our area of Florida is as far South on the gulf side as you can get. The weather is usually quite agreeable with the exception of some cooler days in January. Meaning in the 50s. Message me if would like more information.