Have you always wanted that vacation home on the beach without the headaches of maintaining it? Then InvitedHome is for you. Offering luxury homes from stunning to simple, InvitedHome makes it easy to rent that vacation home, while providing luxury hotel amenities. That’s right, just like at a hotel you’ll have 24/7 service for any issue that might arise.
The company has many homes in many locations like Maui, and the Emerald Coast in Florida, but in California the homes they offer are in South and North Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara. You can just guess where I chose to stay……Santa Barbara of course.
I requested a home on the beach and that’s just what I got. Not ocean adjacent, not five blocks from the ocean or with an ocean view but literally right on Miramar Beach. The home is called the Dolphin Den (yes I saw Dolphins) and is located in a gated community in the quiet Village of Montecito.
The Dolphin Den has 3 bedrooms and sleeps eight. It has two full bathrooms and believe it or not two kitchens (it was a duplex at one time). Three levels make up this converted house boat and each level has sliding glass doors that open wide to let in the sea breezes and sounds of the surf.
True to advertising the Dolphin Den is filled with pictures, statues and carvings of dolphins with the odd pod swimming in the ocean outside the door. The kitchens are fully equipped with whatever you could want from spices to coffee makers and cutlery to dishes. Bedrooms and bathrooms have all you could want including shampoo and conditioner and hair driers and curling irons (which was great because I forgot both). There is even a barbecue if you are so inclined and also a washer and dryer. Did I mention it’s right on the beach?
When we arrived I wanted to throw the doors open but we had a little problem with that, on one of the levels the lock wouldn’t turn. Did I get upset? No, I just called my friendly concierge and she was at the property within 30 minutes to fix that sticky lock.
There are all sorts of things to do in the Santa Barbara area, there’s Solvang or wine tasting, shopping on State Street or dinner at a wonderful restaurant. I didn’t do any of it. I sat on one of my three balconies and watched the ocean and then I listened to the ocean and then I walked along the ocean. I also enjoyed the antics of the dogs frolicking on the beach and the occasional pod of Dolphins. I read a book, watched paddle boarders make their way across the water and just generally decompressed. It was wonderful. The only time I left the beach house was to go to the grocery store to get a sandwich or a bottle of wine.
I had a wonderful, relaxing time. The house was perfect and so was my experience. The average price per night for the Dolphin Den is $524.00 – $998.00 per night (remember this house sleeps eight). For more information for this and the other properties that InvitedHome represents call (866) 600-8075 or visit www.invitedhome.com.
