Big Family? Small Family? Extended Family? Our family friendly Gulf Shores vacation homes are perfect for YOUR family.
Families need space, beach, pools, and lots of love! Located right in the heart of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama, our family friendly Gulf Shores vacation homes are just what the family (doctor) ordered!
Really big family?
A family reunion on the beach? Our vacation homes can handle that! No problem. You should check out our information about Gulf Shores vacation homes for large groups. We can easily handle 40 in single houses, and our large group solutions can probably handle more people than you want with you on a vacation! 130? 200? Sure!
Accessibility issues? Single level floor plans. Elevators!
Does someone in your party struggle with stairs? How about a home like The Egret or Erica’s Sandpiper where we still have a lot of rooms (6-8 bedrooms, sleeping 20-24 people), but they are all located on a single floor! And, they are still right on the beach. The only stairs to handle are to get to the first floor (as all beachfront homes in the area have to have, darn those hurricanes!).
Or, what about elevators? Yes, we have multiple homes with elevators for the ultimate in accessibility and convenience. All three of the Jewels by the Sea have them, and a whole lot more!
What to look for in Family Friendly Gulf Shores Vacation Homes?
Space, of course.
You want rooms! Bedrooms. Living rooms. Other spaces. A lot of them. What’s the difference between a family of 5 in a hotel room and a family of 6 in a 3 bedroom house? Peace, love, and understanding, in the house, of course! More rooms, and bigger rooms. That’s what you need. And we have rooms. Big ones. Lots of them.
Waterfront and beachfront.
Family friendly vacation homes are right on the water. You don’t want to have kids walking across the road to get to the water if they don’t have to, especially if they are young, and you have to go with them. Much better to watch them from the deck, right? If its not waterfront, it better have pool! Most of our homes are beach or waterfront and the very few that are not, all have pools!
Pools.
Families need a pool, especially if you aren’t staying at a house that’s beach or lagoon front. Most of our houses have pools. Some of our pools are covered, like Erica’s Sandpiper and Dancing Dolphin; others, like Beach Baby and Beachcastle East and West have uncovered beachside pools, all ready for you to sunbath to your hearts content. Some places, like our homes in On Golden Pond, share a very nice, private, gated pool and a covered dock over the lagoon. Finally, some of our family friendly Gulf Shores vacation homes, like the Jewels by the Sea, even have both a private pool AND a shared community pool (and fire pit and and…). If a pool is important to you, just let us know. We’ll get you to the perfect place.
What can families do in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama?
Zoo? Mini-golf? Golf? Beach? Check. Check. Check! Whatever you want to do with your family, from relaxing on the beach to parasailing over the Gulf, its close by.
Some of the places our family really doesn’t like to miss when we come for a vacation?!
The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo!
The zoo rocks. If you are with your family and you don’t stop at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, you missed one of, if not the, best non-beach family activity! The zoo is small, small isn’t the right word… intimate. You get right up close to all the animals, including lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my!). The staff are great as well. Say hello to Patty, the fire-redheaded director if you see her walking the grounds. We usually go several times during a trip and our kids love it (and have since they were in strollers and backpacks many years ago).
Say hello to Katrina the leopard. Our family sponsors her. She’s black, but a leopard, so if you look in the right light, you can actually see the spotted pattern in her fur. Yep, spotted leopard named after a huge hurricane, and featured in an Animal Planet series. Do not miss this.
Bodenhamer Center
This is THE RAINY DAY ACTIVITY for Gulf Shores. Indoor pool. Basketball. Raquetball. Ping Pong. Pool tables. Work out facilities. Aqua climbing wall. Pretty cool even on a sunny day but if you’ve been trapped in one of our Gulf Shores and Orange Beach family friendly vacation homes for a few days and the family is not so friendly, then Bodenhamer is the place to go spend the day. Public. Cheap daily and weekly passes. Can get busy after the local schools let out in the afternoon. Bodenhamer also has an outdoor play area (swings, climbing activities) and a large number of tennis courts!
Lulu’s
Mountain of Youth. Spend $10, kids climb really high in harnesses. Like a really big jungle gym. Kills time if the wait is long. Cheap time killer at Lulu’s? How about free? Sand volleyball and sand piles and castles. Oh yeah Lulu’s has the kid and family thing down. It can be spendy, and the food is sometimes inconsistent. I loved my Mahi tacos last time but they’ve overcooked the crab claws two trips in a row–and given what crab claws cost, that’s not cool. Still, this is a must-stop for our family because of the features, atmosphere (often live music!), and the better than average to excellent food. Service usually good as well.
Bahama Bob’s
Nice hole in the wall right on Highway 59 near to the zoo. Well known to locals. Good lunch specials. Food is usually quite good and there’s a diverse menu. Best gumbo around according to my brother (a northerner, so take that with a grain of salt). Oysters are awesome when in season. Fried entrees are usually done well (not overcooked, dried out, and therefore chewy and yuck) as are fish dinners. Great fries. Try them with tarter. Note, Bahama Bob’s is small so there can be a wait, sometimes longer than you would think. Definitely not the place for large (say bigger than 10-12) groups. Check them out on your next trip.
Track Recreation Center
Ready for some action? Go karts for all ages, mini-golf, arcade, water features, what more could you want in a day away from the beach? Enough said. Its a ticket based venue. Buy tickets ahead of time, trade them in. They are on a card you carry. Best deal is to buy in bulk. Sometimes you can combine with a coupon. Just save the cards for your next stay (in one of our family-friendly vacation homes, of course!).
If you want to be near all the family action in Gulf Shores, you need to stay in our of our family friendly vacation homes.
Check out a few of our great places then let us help your family find the perfect vacation home for your next (perfect!) vacation!
How can we help you?
