SEA GARDEN COTTAGE - 703 NORTH SHORE DRIVE, ANNA MARIA FL

I booked Sea Garden Cottage for my wife's birthday surprise in January this year and stayed there with her and my 6 year old daughter for a week. We travelled from the UK and wanted somewhere really special. This place is absolutely charming, it is immaculately clean, well furnished, comfortable and I can strongly recommend it to you. I realise that people have different standards, but I think it's fair to say our standards are quite high for holiday/vacation rentals - this perfectly matched them. Communication with the owners was excellent, really relaxed and because of that I felt safe with them having our payment in advance. All that said, the real reason you want to book this place is the location - it has amazing gardens which back on to an utterly stunning, incredibly clean, paradise like beach on which we spent many hours making sandcastles and playing in the almost impossibly white sand. We swam in the sea, saw dolphins, pods of sting-ray and all manner of other birds. Amazing place. On several nights we made dinner and took it to the beach to eat, watching the sun-set. It was magical. The house is also in walking distance of lots of places to eat and drink and close to the convenience store. So, if you want somewhere really special to stay, this is it.

This was the first time on Anna Maria for my family and they loved it. The location of the house is on the gulf side and a short walk from the beautifully maintained backyard to the beach. The description and photos of the home are very accurate, and the house looks even better in real life. The exterior and interior were immaculate. The interior of the house is very nicely decorated, with many pieces of furniture I would love to have in my home.
Ashley was very accommodating and patient with our last minute planning. She even had a bottle of wine waiting for us when we arrived!
We walked or biked (rented from Beach Bums) to "town," with really no need for the car unless we were heading further up the island for dinner. Our best meal was at the Waterfront. The highlight of the trip for my kids was swimming with the manatees at Crystal River. It did mean getting up at 4:30am, so we could be at the Best Western by 8:00am, but my girls would do it again. The highlight for me was being on the beach, enjoying the sound of the surf, shelling, and the sun.
We'll rent this house again on our next trip down to Florida.