Gulfcoast waterfront villa with private pool - in traditional 'Conch' style

We have enjoyed vacations in Florida each year since 1999, so we are now getting to be quite experienced, and probably also quite fussy when it comes to choosing a villa for ourselves.

After much trawling around, we stumbled across Villa Seapines in Hudson on the Gulf Coast. It looked lovely, and seemed to fit the bill.

We wanted something a bit different this year, and we have "done" Orlando so many times now. We liked the prospect of some peace and quiet, and to be able to enjoy the Gulf Coast, having only ever seen it previously on a few day trips to Clearwater and St Petes.

We were so glad that we did this, and we will now spend our holidays in this part of the world from now on!

First of all, this is indeed a lovely part of Florida - it is not like Orlando at all, with its swarms of tourists. This is the real Florida, and there are plenty of things to see and things to enjoy. And, if you want to do Disney and Universal, well they are maybe a simple 2 hr car journey away, and Busch Gardens is maybe 50 minutes away down in Tampa.

Villa Seapines looks huge from the outside - it stands in relative isolation with commanding views of the canal to the rear. WIth other villas we have spent our holidays in the past, you could almost touch the house next door from the pool - not so here though! This is a place for peace and quiet, yet you can enjoy all the attractions that Florida and the nature coast in particular have to offer.

The villa is nicely decorated, and we found no faults at all. We found the master bedroom to be very nice, and no sore backs for me in the nice comfy (very large) bed.

The pool at the rear is ample in size, though some might not like the fact there is no surrounding "cage" to keep away the critters, but we never found this to be an issue at all, so no worries there.

All the nice touches, facilities, towels and utilities mean that you don't need to bring much with you at all. Next year, I really must learn to bring only a half dozen T-Shirts, a couple of pairs of shorts and that is all! You don't need anything else, as it is all easily on hand to buy, given the huge number of shops within a 5-10 minute drive.

So, in summary, we really enjoyed Villa Seapines. Hudson is a nice place to be, and there are ample quiet beaches to visit, and you can really unwind here. We would highly recommend it to anyone. But don't tell anyone, as we want it for ourselves :-)