Vilano Beach holiday house

I took my kids and girlfriend there for a late winter getaway and was blown away with the property and with St. Augustine as a vacation area for both families and couples. House was very clean, well maintained, with many great features- including elevator service. My favorite features were the wall to wall French doors on the waterfront side of the house on both main living floor and Master bedroom. Fantastic if you're like me and love to open the house up when its nice out and feel the fresh ocean breezes blowing through the house. Wall to wall doors were great for enjoying the views too. Wall to wall ocean front decks outside the French doors made it very easy and pleasant to enjoy inside/outside living. Deck outside the luxurious Master bedroom/Master bath was especially nice once the kids were in bed. Kitchen was great and living areas and baths were well proportioned and nicely furnished/decorated. Another very nice feature was being able to sit out on the decks in the evening and watch the St. Augustine lighthouse in the distance rotate it's light out across the water- Very peaceful. House was at the end of a private road so there was no through traffic or noise. Beach was about a 150 ft away. Beach right in front of the house had plenty of activity, but you could also walk along the beach about 1/4 mile in either direction and it was almost deserted. House also had a small ocean front pool that was good for small kids, or for a romantic late night swim- it was more like a really big, in-ground hot-tub actually. St Augustine was also a very nice place with lots of nice shops, art galleries, restaurants, and kid places. Try Harry's New Orleans restaurant- Better than the real New Orleans in terms of food, and had a beautiful outdoor garden dinning area. Great Fried seafood at O'Steens too. We are definitely going back!!

Our family has a Thanksgiving gathering each year and we chose this property in 2008. We liked the property, it is in a secluded spot near the beach and the accommodation was nice but lacked some small things like soap in the bathrooms and kleenex. The master was huge and took up half the top floor, space that could have been used in some of the other bedrooms or a common room upstairs...the size of the master caused some problems when deciding who got such a large space in the face of the other bedroom choices.
The home has an elevator but it couldn't be used because the agent didn't leave a key, which resulted in lengthy trips up many stairs to bring the luggage, food, coolers, and supplies into the unit.
We needed to do some cleaning when we got there because the cleaning staff used a sticky solution when wiping down the kitchen counters, but the place was very neat and well cared for other than that. It has lots of space downstairs and has two conversation areas that we really liked, as well as a great balcony that we used most of the time.
The beach is not far, but in my opinion, not a very pretty beach. There is traffic allowed and the cars and trucks tear up the sand so that walking to the beach is difficult. Fishing is allowed from the beach and there is a pass close by so fishing is good I'm told.
We had 8 people stay at the home and aside from the fact that three of the five bedrooms have twin beds (queen beds would have been nice), everyone was comfortable and of course well fed! We heated up a prepared Thanksgiving dinner there and had a wonderful time, and found the kitchen to be well stocked with necessary items.
We would recommend this property for large families wishing to get away for a great time.

We love the view here. You can see the ocean from the house, but the more interesting and entertaining to watch is the Intercoastal Waterway and the boats traveling by, bring your binoculars! The lighthouse is at a bit of a distance for pictures, but can be seen well.

The house is well maintained and clean, also decorated nicely. The beds are slightly uncomfortable. We recommend that the owner invest in better mattresses to make the bedrooms truly "luxury" as claimed. The upstairs master bedroom has a kitchenette, large bathroom and massive closet!

Please be aware that the pool is not a full sized pool. Our children enjoyed it, but couldn't be overly active in it.

Vilano Beach is quite deep, a bit of a walk to the water and then there is a large drop off to the edge. Lifeguards sit here since the Intercoastal Waterway starts here.
Skim boarding is popular here and fun to watch! We found a surf shop within biking distance and are going home with a new one!

Vilano Beach is in the middle of a big transition. They are beautifying this end of town and making changes. The sidewalks are wide and level. You can ride a bicycle from the house to the pier easily and then down the main drag towards the beach to a fountain on the sidewalk made to play in.

Today this is a residential looking, family friendly area, once the changes are in place, I would predict that it grows, a Publix sign was up with plans to build soon. Hopefully more restaurants will move in.
Be sure to check out the boardwalk at the bridge. It showcases the ecosystem of the Estuary created here by fresh water and ocean water coming together. Just don't go there in the heat of the day.