So it’s no wonder why tourism on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key is up almost 6% this year compared to last year.  According to a recent report by Research Data Services Inc. of Tampa, the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau saw almost 2000 more visitors this May compared to May of last year.

Tourism was up 2.8% for the first 5 months of 2011compared to the first 5 months of 2010. The economic impact for May 2011 tourism alone was 30.4 million dollars compared to 28.3 million dollars in May 2010. Beautiful beaches were the number one reason why tourists chose the Anna Maria Island area, followed by great restaurants, clean environment, and crystal clear waters.

Bradenton Beach March 2011

 Northerners from all over the country flock to Anna Maria Island to find paradise, and escape the long harsh winter.  The rising number of trolley riders and the record number of northerners coming down to soak up the sun makes Anna Maria Island the place to be.

 The Anna Maria Island Trolley has seen almost 4,000 more trolley riders for the months of January and February 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Investors on Anna Maria Island have been buying up property at low prices and remodeling beach houses and storefronts to fit today’s Anna Maria.

 As quoted in the Bradenton Herald by our very own Anna Maria Island Property Specialist  Larry Chatt., “We are benefiting from a vacation-rental  perfect storm, the whole nation is finding the value of renting homes and apartments with kitchens and more bedrooms, where they can cook meals and sleep more people at a lower cost than hotels. And Anna Maria just happens to have a lot.”

 Whether it’s for a short stay, or a lifetime, contact an Anna Maria Island property specialist today!

Fantastic Pool and hot tub

There has been some great strides made in educating the marketplace on Vacation rentals versus hotels.   Each one has its place for providing good accommodations.  If you are staying on business or as a couple for one – two days then a hotel is probably the best bet.  You don’t need a ton of space and just one bedroom works fairly well for short stays.

Staying for longer than a few nights with multiple people makes a hotel room no longer the best choice.  Taking out multiple hotel rooms which are small and just not built to support multiple folks is where a hotel room no longer makes sense.  What does make sense is renting a vacation rental condo, home or villa on Anna Maria Island.  A few large vacation rental home networks have begun to show the drawbacks to renting a hotel room for a vacation.  On Superbowl Sunday several advertisements will be shown and expect the “Griswold’s,” America’s vacation family to poke a little fun at hotels versus Vacation Rentals.  This is just one post of many and hopefully very soon after the official commercials I will be able to post the videos.

For now I will wet your whistle with vacation rental commercial done by another vacation rental company.  Don’t forget if you are looking for vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, look no further to Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals.  Enjoy the video!

Awesome Private Pool

Island Real Estate and Vacation Rentals has just added a wonderful six bedroom Mediterranean Beauty. The Extra large home is just 1.5 blocks to the gorgeous Anna Maria island Beaches. The private pool home is located at 4118 5th Avenue in Holmes Beach, Anna Maria Island, Florida. Specific amenities are as follows… (6) Bed: (3.5) Bath: Accommodates up to (12) people: 2 Kings, 1 Queen, 4 Twins and 1 Queen Sleeper Sofa. Sorry this property is No smoking and is not Pet friendly.

The private Mediterranean is a newly built and is just 1 1/2 blocks to Anna Maria Island’s award winning beaches. Enjoy your holiday rental at this gorgeous high luxury home with no details left to chance. The villa is located on a quiet cul-de-sac of luxury homes in Holmes Beach. The finer amenities include a large private heated pool, numerous big screen televisions, high speed Internet, extended cable TV, game room with a ping pong table and darg board. Most importantly the luxury home offers a separate fenced in area for a swing set and children play area. The Anna Maria Island holiday villa has a phenomenal master bedroom which includes a private veranda balcony and extra private bathroom with large walk-in shower.

Please note that the “Google Maps” tab incorrectly positions this house. The vacation rental is located on the corner of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue (north of Manatee Avenue). For more information on this great holiday vacation rental visit Island Real Estate’s listing for this vacation rental.

Fantastic Tropical Pool

Fabulous pool and outdoor living area

Fabulous Great Room

Huge Dining and kitchen Area

Hidden Cove Gulf Front

Estate has a human voice answering their phones 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. No automated attendants allowed. In addition, Island Real Estate is one of the very few offices open 7 days per week on Anna Maria Island. This is to ensure that buyers, sellers, owners, tenants or guests can speak face to face with a resource required to help service their requirements. Island Real Estate realizes, without customers, there is no business!

Servicing customers when everything works correctly is easy. A company’s service is best defined when faced with adversity. The next review is a fantastic example of this fact….

“Nice house, great location, but no air conditioning”
“The house was nice and clean. It was warm when we arrived. We contacted the office the next day and they sent someone out to look at the air conditioning. It still hot the next day so they moved us at their expense and were very apologetic. We had a very nice stay and always enjoy the island. We appreciate the efforts that Island Real Estate went to to make our stay enjoyable.”

Island Real Estate has a ton of reviews just like the one found below…

“Well looked after”
“Well looked after by Island real estate, going beyond the call of duty when one of our party had sun burn. Everything was clean and tidy, with key pick up and drop off easy. Will use them again on are next holiday Tony and Rosie England”

For more independent reviews of Island Real Estate’s services please visit Flip key which is the Trip Advisor of Vacation Rentals.

Private Heated Pool

lifts, docks, Gulf Front; Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals has your perfect holiday villa. It’s all just a touch away. Visit Island Real Estate’s website, enter your dates of stay and amenity expectations and quicker than a blink of an eye their premier website returns vacation rentals available for your exact stay. The scavenger hunt is over. Be sure to visit their 100% accurate on line available website for all your Anna Maria Island Vacation Rental needs.

Maybe you are looking for the impossible? Well Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals can make it possible. Their inventory of over 200 Anna Maria Island properties has every amenity imaginable. Looking for wireless Internet? No problem, more than 1/2 of their properties has wireless. Looking for an XBox or Playstation III for the kids? No problem. Clock radio’s that accept MP3 players? Elevators, Pet friendly, Multi-month friendly? Yes, they have them.

Outdoor Living Gulf Front

Let’s come up with something tough…restaurants just a walk away, holiday rentals close to trolley stops. Yes, yes, but still not hard enough. Outdoor bars, TV’s outside, outdoor billiard table, dining room tables with seating for 14. Yes to all. What about the most luxurious complexes, yup, yup, and yup. In fact, Island Real Estate Vacation rentals has at least one rental in each of the high luxury direct gulf front condominiums on Anna Maria Island. Bradenton Beach Club, Island Paradise, Vista Grande, L’Plage, Hidden Cove and La Casa Costiera. No other company has rentals in all these luxurious gulf front properties. In fact most if lucky, have a vacation rental in only one of the gulf front properties listed!

Visit Island Real Estate’s website and don’t struggle looking through properties too long. Island is the only rental company on Anna Maria Island open 7 days per week so call any day! (877) 778-6066

Direct Gulf Front

Gulf Front Resort

essentially three buildings and two ground level condominiums which are Direct Gulf Front. The two Holmes Beach ground level properties have a spiral stairway to the roof which offers a perfect view of the Gulf of Mexico as well as early evening Anna Maria Sunsets.

The second building offers Direct Gulf Front views from the living areas as well as the covered patios. The covered patios have seating as well as high top tables and chairs perfect for relaxing at the Gulf.

The last two buildings are located towards the back of the property and all condominiums have views of the Gulf with phenomenal covered patios. These two buildings overlook the heated pool area, the spa and a vineyard terrace that houses dining tables as well as a community propane barbecue grill and charcoal barbecue grilling fireplace.

All La Casa Costiera properties have two bedrooms with a den or three bedrooms. Wet bars are included in the living areas. High end kitchen appliances, ceramic cook tops, plenty of televisions, DVD’s, Surround sound stereo, outdoor patio speakers, and many more amenities.

If you are interested in a Luxury Gulf Front three bedroom vacation rental on Anna Maria Island then look no further. The La Casa Costiera complex located in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island is the perfect resort for an unforgettable tropical vacation. See links below for more information on the properties Island Real Estate Vacation Rentals offers.

La Casa Costieria #1 – For Sale information – Vacation Rental Information

La Casa Costiera #3 – Holmes Beach Vacation Rental information

La Casa Costiera #6 – Anna Maria Island Vacation Rental Information

La Casa Costiera #7 – Real Estate for Sale Information – Luxury Beach Vacation Rental

La Casa Costiera #8 – Holmes Beach for Sale information

La Casa Costiera #9 – Anna Maria Vacation Rental Information

Floor Plan

based photography enthusiast website. Take a look at this picture of a Widow Watch at Palm Isle Village, fantastic.

Using 2008 rental income both one and two bedrooms can be owned for less than $300 per month. Amazingly this analysis includes all anticipated costs for owning a Palm Isle Village cottage. This analysis INCLUDES debt service! * One Bedrooms start at $299,000 and two bedrooms start at $349,000. The average rental income for a 2 bedroom in the resort is $39,000 and a 1 bedroom is $34,000. Wow!

For more information on Palm Isle Village Resort please call me and I would be happy to provide more information as well as pictures regarding Palm Isle Village. (941) 345-1288 If you are interested in renting out a Palm Isle Village cottage please visit Anna Maria Islands premier vacation rental service.

* The estimate of costs on a monthly basis have several assumptions. While most assumptions are deemed reasonable I ultimately suggest you call for details of our analysis and ensure your specific financial situation meets assumptions already made by consulting with your Certified Public Accountant

Palm Isle Village offers great Gulf Views

For additional vacation rental information or real estate information please visit Island Real Estates vacation rental and property for sale information websites.

Holiday Rental

continue our positive trends. While the rest of the country is experiencing a recession, Anna Maria Island seems to be bucking the trend. Thanks to the Convention Business Bureau of Manatee county, the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce and the business leaders of Anna Maria Island we continue to present Anna Maria in the light it deserves. A simple, easy living, beach paradise and the rest of the world is finding this out, one visitor at a time.

The below video is of Mark Davis who runs Harrington House a phenomenal Direct Gulf Front Bed & Breakfast on Anna Maria Island. In fact, the only direct Gulf Front Bed & Breakfast on Anna Maria Island.

Take a look at the Anna Maria Island Video.

Vacation Rental

Looking for a vacation rental on Anna Maria Island? Look no further. Island Real Estate has over 150 hand picked vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island, Florida. Island Real Estate’s office is open 7 days per week to ensure any day of the week they service your vacation rental needs. Whether you are looking for an Gulf Front Beach Cottage or luxury accommodations Island Real Estate has the widest variety of Vacation rentals on Anna Maria Island.

Island Real Estate manages properties that can accommodate over 50. That’s right, over 50 guests. We have several options. Beach Cottages with Gulf Views, Direct Gulf Front Condominiums or a cluster of homes West of Gulf Drive. Visit their exclusive Vacation rental Last minute specials page for some phenomenal accommodation deals.

Be sure to visit the premier Anna Maria Island Vacation Rental website where accurate on-line availability can be found through simple or complex vacation rental searches. Most properties have virtual tours and all properties have received Island Real Estate’s exclusive rating from Bronze to Platinum to ensure all their rentals measure up to guest expectations.

More questions? Visit Island Real Estate’s Vacation Rental website or call seven days a week to speak with one of their knowledgeable Vacation Specialists.

Holmes Beach public Pier

All pictures of this blog are property of the author and should not be used without the permission of the author. Thank you for your consideration.