duke158

My husband and I are taking our son, who will be 13 months at the time, to Saugatuck Michigan this summer. We are planning to rent a house near the beach in Saugatuck. Does any one have any advice or knowledge about the rental property managers? I am talking to one property manager and they seem skatter brained. With a 13 month old would you recommend staying closer to the beach or in town? Any other advice and tips about the area would be great. Thanks alot!

Barbara_in_FL

What do you find more relaxing? The baby will be fine wherever you are, so I would recommend staying where you would feel best. If you just want to sit on a beach chair with a good book and let him crawl around, then stay closer to the beach so you don't have to schlep your beach gear too far. If you will have a better time knowing that you can walk to shops, food etc., then stay closer to town. Saugatuck is a cute little town but there is not a whole lot to do there, so my personal preference would be to be as close to the beach as possible. (My in-laws retired to the town just below Saugatuck, so I've been spending a week there almost every summer for the last 20+ years - with kids for the last 11 of those years.)

If you haven't already, search for Saugatuck and Holland on the forum - there have been a few other threads and short trip reports that you might find helpful.

Superfish

I would contact the local convention and visitors Bureau for Saugatuck. They would be able to give you some good rental recommendations. Their website is http://www.saugatuck.com/index.asp

I think a local real estate office might be helpful too. I recommend http://saugatuck-real-estate.com/

tomboy

What locations/streets are you considering? Do they have websites? Be glad to help if knew more.

henny16

If you are looking for a beach vacation then I'd stay as close as possible to the beach. You can put your son down for a nap and sit outside and watch the lake.

I've rented through VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner) with good luck. There are quite a few listings for Saugatuck.

I live less than an hour south of there - it's a fun area. Have a great trip.

CarolineM

Saugatuck is more of a boat town than a beach town. If you want to rent on the beach, you will be a little ways out of town, which would be good. The only reason I can think of to stay in town is if you are into the nightlife, which is very fun. No need to drive. But with your baby, I am guessing this is not a party trip. Saugatuck has a lot of good restaurants and bars. Shops are pretty touristy. Can't beat the beaches up here in the summer though. I would try the chamber of commerce for rental suggestions. I live in Holland and get that question a lot, and that's where I always send people. I hope you are aiming for July-September. The weather is better than in the early summer.

parisinspring

Try Millpond Realty www.millpondrealty.com They are very helpful when searching for a rental property. We have used them for the past 10 summers! Very friendly/ knowledgable group!