My 21 year old son is hoping to tap into my travel knowledge, knowing that I use this site alot. He is beginning to plan a sping break trip for March 2007. There will be 8-10 college students, most 21 or older travelling from Cleveland Ohio. Not sure if they are flying or driving. Ideally they would like to rent a house on the beach somewhere. I told him I think they need to go to Florida for warm weather, but to my knowledge there are not alot of beachfront houses in Florida. I know the popular college break spots are mostly in the panhandle area. Any ideas of specific spots that might fill their needs? Panhandle or elswhere? Specific properties that would rent to college students? This is a group of kids who are relatively tame for college students, and haven't done spring break before.

If they're looking for the quintessential spring break experience, then they should rent a house or condo on the Gulf of Mexico on Thomas Drive, Panama City Beach.

If they're within walking distance of La Vela & Spinnaker, even better. Both clubs are regularly featured on MTV; both are on the water with packed beaches all day long.

www.spinnakerbeachclub.com
www.lavela.com

I'm sure you can find a real estate company using google. Personally, I'd specifically ask for something close to the two clubs -- for convenience and safety.

(As an aside, there are zillions of beachfront houses and condos in Florida, from Jacksonville all the way around to Pensacola.)

Property management companies pretty much forbid house parties which is what you are looking for. They are very strict about this because of the wear and tear on the homes.

If they try and sneak in, they will get evicted and lose their money.

I suggest your son and his friends find specific hotels that allow adults under the age of 25 to rent rooms. Industry standard in resort towns is 25 not 21 years of age.

While they might very well be tame, that will not fly with a home owner.

My other suggestion would be www.VRBO.com and build a relationship with an owner and explain the situation.

Plenty of non-hotel options are available on Thomas Drive, particularly huge condo buildings that cater to the Spring Break crowd. Many rental houses, as well. Certainly the lessors may request a sizable security deposit, but such is life, and a credit card number will often suffice.

(Without Spring Breakers, Panama City Beach would be all-but deserted in March, as the snowbirds depart but the summer season hasn't started.)

Try this site:

http://tinyurl.com/fom8y

Out of 41 property management companies, seven have houses they will rent to non families.

I would also recommend Panama City Beach. It is a great place for students and you have at least a decent chance of finding a place that will rent to under 25's. I also recommend that you consider a condo within walking distance of Club LaVela and Spinnaker. Much better than driving several miles.

Don't even look at Destin. You won't find anything that will rent to people under 25.

Let me preface this by saying I live on the east side of Bay County, about 11 miles from Panama City Beach. Earlier this Spring, my DH and I drove down what is known as Front Beach Road on our way over to Destin. We saw hundreds of college students lined up outside just to check in at one of the locally owned hotels on the west end of Panama City Beach.
Many of the older Mom and Pop hotels have been sold to developers, who have torn them down to build high rise condos. One of the results is that there are fewer inexpensive motel choices now, and Spring break was actually a lot tamer this year.(I have worked in the criminal justice system for more than 16 years here.)
While PCB is more tolerant of Spring Breakers than Destin, Navarre, Mexico Beach, Fort Walton Beach or Pensacola Beach, you will still be prosecuted criminally for hosting an open house party (allowing alcohol to be served to anyone under 21.)

I just remembered the name of the huge condo building next to Spinnaker & La Vela on Thomas Drive -- The Summit. This would be the ideal place for your son's group to rent a multi-bedroom condo. It's right on the beach, of course.

I doubt that your travel knowledge will help much...lol...GoT is right many places will flat kick you out if they discover a Spring Break type party going on.