Saugatuck Michigan
 

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!

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.

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/

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

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.

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.

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!