Month long stays w/o the rv

[wanderingaimles]

I have seen folks in here comment about month long stays in some potential snowbird areas with local motels and apartments.
We are not done with the house so cant go full time yet but were looking now at either doing a week or two in the Caribbean come Jan/Feb or maybe a month in a snowbird area, ie anywhere from Myrtle Beach, to Biloxi, to the RGV.
Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels or cities where we should look before locking in somewhere? Dont want to break the bank, scenery will override nightlife (were old). Just want modest accommodations somewhere different.

[DkCreative]

I suggest trying an Airbnb or VRBO. The difference is VRBO is normally more expensive since you only can book whole houses.

An Airbnb you can rent out a smaller portion of a house such as the basement suite. Good luck!

Source:Airbnb vs VRBO

[alfredmay]

As Pawatt mentioned, Victoria Palms in Donna, TX has 20 motel rooms and 100 suites in their RV Resort. I have a mobile home there and the resort is very nice. The suites offer a bedroom, living room, bathroom and an eat in kitchen. You park your car right outside your suite front door. They will rent by the month and probably by the week too.

[TomG2]

pawatt wrote:
Victoria Palms in Donna Texas has Motel Rooms and Suites with kitchenettes. Full use of the parks facilities and amenities. It is Very nice.

Texas Inn and others offer monthly rates around $1,200 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Many RV parks have a pool of rental units also. January is the most expensive and least available month, of course

[olfarmer]

If you are at all interested in Texas, google Serendipity Bay Resort. It is at Palacios Texas on Matagorda Bay and has several new cabins for rent. It has a marina in the middle of it and Palacios is the shrimp capital of Texas. It is our favorite RV park in Texas. You would want a car to stay there.

[John_Joey]

wanderingaimlessly wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
If you don’t have a car then you’re pretty much in a metro area with Uber and/or Lyft. Public Transport can be sketchy at times. We did just fine for six weeks with no car in a destination area.

Aruba and Azores is on my list of potential fishing spots. Been to both, never long term.

Fishing? I had an offshore boat at Hatteras 3 years and Before that Key Largo 2 years.
If we wait till Feb, were thinking Barbados. Not even worrying about the fish.

Barbados is very nice. Fishing was an analogy

[valhalla360]

We spend a month or so several times per year. We typically do airbnb but there are other similar sites.
- Make sure you look at the pictures with a critical eye. While we have never found a fraudulent advertisement, we have seen lots that get creative. Usually it's just taking the photos from an angle to make it look bigger than it really is or something like, there is sleeping for 4 and they show two pictures of the same bedroom with different covers on the bed, so you assume it's a different bedroom. The other two spots are the pull out couch.

With a lot of these snowbird areas is it's prime time so rental apartments will be a bit pricey for only a month (they are better off locking someone in for 3-5 months).

Unless you are dead set on Southern USA, seriously consider overseas. It's easy to get by without a car as transit is cheap, reliable and goes everywhere.

You would be surprised how cheap it is to stay longer term.

Do look at the weather. Rome for example is only 50-70 for daytime highs mid winter but that counts for the USA also. Myrtle Beach isn't beach weather in January but a heck of a lot better than Chicago. Some locations we've stayed over the last few years:
- Merida Mexico
- Barcelona Spain
- Rome Italy
- Athens Greece
- Prague, Czeck Repbulic and Viena, Austria (go in Nov/Dec for Christmas Markets)
- Bangkok Thailand

[pawatt]

Victoria Palms in Donna Texas has Motel Rooms and Suites with kitchenettes. Full use of the parks facilities and amenities. It is Very nice.

[wanderingaimles]

John&Joey wrote:
If you don’t have a car then you’re pretty much in a metro area with Uber and/or Lyft. Public Transport can be sketchy at times. We did just fine for six weeks with no car in a destination area.

Aruba and Azores is on my list of potential fishing spots. Been to both, never long term.

Fishing? I had an offshore boat at Hatteras 3 years and Before that Key Largo 2 years.
If we wait till Feb, were thinking Barbados. Not even worrying about the fish.

[John_Joey]

If you don’t have a car then you’re pretty much in a metro area with Uber and/or Lyft. Public Transport can be sketchy at times. We did just fine for six weeks with no car in a destination area.

Having a vehicle will open up the snowbirding area for you. Your problem will be getting only one key month. Those that rent out their places know they can rent out those key months all day long. What they’re looking for is the 3+ month rentals to help offset the bills. One month rentals are low on their list.

Hotels normally are never 100% sold out so monthly rentals are gravy money to them. The real question is can you live in a hotel room for an extended time. That free breakfast can get old fast. 🙂

Don’t rule out casinos. Normally in destination areas and reasonably priced. VRBO’s need to compete in those areas also so deals can be found.

Like a good fishing spot, not many will say where they caught the heavy stringers. We all spent lots of time and money figuring out those spots. The more you read about an area on the internet the more likely there is a real reason for it. Back to Google earth.

Aruba and Azores is on my list of potential fishing spots. Been to both, never long term.

[wanderingaimles]

John&Joey wrote:
Are you planning on flying or driving. Not too many snowbird places you can be at for a month without a car.

Florida affordable one month stay is an oxymoron. You might get lucky with an extended stay hotel though.

VRBO, AirbnB, all have reviews to go by. Everything else is buyer beware. Google earth is your friend. Go to the location and “walk” around the area. You’ll get a feel if it’s sketchy or not.

We can do either. We had looked at Sea Mist in Myrtle Beach (fits in your "sketchy" description) and another in Panama city fl.

Would probably drive, but just looking for something different than the lakefront where we are.

[John_Joey]

Are you planning on flying or driving. Not too many snowbird places you can be at for a month without a car.

Florida affordable one month stay is an oxymoron. You might get lucky with an extended stay hotel though.

VRBO, AirbnB, all have reviews to go by. Everything else is buyer beware. Google earth is your friend. Go to the location and “walk” around the area. You’ll get a feel if it’s sketchy or not.

[RICK-ards_Red]

Try VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) or similar site. they have all locations and price ranges. We go to Scottsdale for the month of April staying in a condo rental, great city, great weather and reasonable price.

Start looking now as short stays are harder to find, most rentals want 3 month stays.

Good luck and have fun!!