Renting a Vacation Home {The Beas Nest}

This month we traveled to Charleston, SC for a fun vacation on the beach. (you can see all my recommendations here) Last summer, during our first visit to Charleston, I had posted a photo on my Instagram asking for any recommendations others may have. Mary Jo (@port2palm) commented back with her list which then started up the conversation about The Beas Nest, the vacation home she owns in Charleston. Little did I know that this conversation would soon lead to a friendship and the generous offer of letting my family rent her beautiful home for a week. As much as I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, I am truly thankful for the life-long friendships it has created.

The Beas Nest is located right on the Isle of Palms in Charleston, about a block from the beach. This was incredibly convenient with kids because if we forgot something one of us could just run back really quick to grab it from the house. I also loved that I could go back to the house to let Emery nap while the others could stay and play through the afternoon.

Our family has traveled many ways– hotels, a cruise ship, a camper, and renting a home. Hands down the best way to travel with kids is to rent a vacation house.

Adelyn has always been a pretty easy going and travels really well. Traveling with Emery is a little more different as she does thrive on a set routine and being in a familiar environment. When we rent a home while on vacation, Emery sleeps better because I think it is a more “home-like” space for her. I also like that if she does have a hard time falling asleep, we don’t have to worry about neighbors in the room next to us having to listen to her cry.

When renting a home, there are also many awesome amenities that come in handy with kids as well. Having a kitchen to make meals or store food is so nice. I never thought I would like having to cook while on vacation, but we notice that we come home not feeling so sluggish and bloated if we don’t eat out for every meal. In Charleston, we ate out every night for dinner but made sure to always eat breakfast and a few lunches at the house. We just make sure that once we arrive to the vacation house, we find the nearest grocery store to stock up on a few groceries for the week. A few tips for this is to just buy what you would usually eat at home– eggs, granola, toast, and yogurt were good options for us. And not buy too many things so that you are having to throw groceries away at the end of the week. You can always go back to the store if you run out of something!

Another great amenity was having a laundry room to do a couple loads throughout the week. This also helped with packing and not knowing if I was taking enough clothes. Just knowing I could always run a load of laundry helped to not over pack or wonder if I was under-packing.

The Beas Nest in Charleston was the perfect place for our group of 9 to stay. We all had our own bedroom and bathroom which was great when just needing rest for a bit in the afternoon or if someone wanted to sleep in later than the others.

Also, can I mention that pool? We definitely spent more time in the pool than at the beach because the water was so nice and it was conveniently placed right in the center of the home. So while some played in the pool, others could be lying on a beach chair, eating at the dining table, or sitting in the living room watching tv. It was all open so we felt like we were together all the time with having lots of space to play.

The Beas Nest has an amazing history and so much beauty that you can read/see here. We cannot wait to go again!

Renting a home is one of the best decisions we made while traveling with kids. I hope that if you are trying to decide if that is the right move to make with upcoming trips, that this post helped! Sites that can also be used to rent a home include ones such as Airbnb or HomeAway.

Have you rented a home when traveling? What was your experience like?