FAQs on Vacation Rentals

Apartment: One or more rooms of a building used as a place to live, in a building containing at least one other unit used for the same purpose. Usually has, at least, cooking facilities, a bathroom, and a place to sleep. An apartment building, apartment house, block of flats, or tenement, is a multi-unit dwelling made up of several (generally four or more) apartments (US), or flats (UK). We have included both Apartments and Flats in Apartments.

Cabin: A small dwelling characteristic of the frontier, especially when built from logs with simple tools and not constructed by professional builders, but by those who meant to live in it.

Condo: A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate (usually of an apartment house) is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights associated with the individual ownership and controlled by the association of owners that jointly represent ownership of the whole piece. Colloquially, the term is often used to refer to the unit itself in place of the word "apartment". A condominium may be simply defined as an "apartment" that the resident "owns" as opposed to rents.

Condominium is the legal term used in the United States. The difference between a condominium and an apartment is purely legal: there is no way to know a condo from an apartment simply by looking at or visiting the building. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership. The same building developed as a condominium (and sold as individual units to different owners) could actually be built someplace else as an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and rent individual units to different tenants).

Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home (Anglo-Saxon law systems; different elsewhere). The boundaries of that space are specified by a legal document known as a Declaration, filed of record with the local governing authority. Typically these boundaries will include the drywall surrounding a room, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium's creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group - it may not have ownership itself.

Typically, a condominium consists of multi-unit dwellings (i.e., an apartment or a development) where each unit is individually owned and the common areas, such as hallways and recreational facilities, are jointly owned (usually as "tenants in common") by all the unit owners in the building. It is also possible for condominiums to consist of single family dwellings: so-called "detached condominiums" where homeowners do not maintain the exteriors of the dwellings, yards, etc. or "site condominiums" where the owner has more control and possible ownership (as in a "whole lot" or "lot line" condominium) over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some planned neighborhoods and gated communities.

Cottage: The term "cottage" denotes a small, often cosy dwelling, and small size is integral to the description. Bungalow: a small house with a single story. In modern usage, a cottage is a dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities). In North America, most buildings known as cottages are used for weekend or summer getaways by city dwellers.

House: A house is generally a shelter or building or structure that is a dwelling or place for habitation by human beings. The term includes many kinds of dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to high-rise apartment buildings. In some contexts, "house" may mean the same as dwelling, residence, home, abode, lodging, accommodation, or housing, among other meanings.

Townhome: In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations. The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but due to having multiple floors (sometimes six or more) it has a large living space, often with servant quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city. In areas so densely built that detached single-family houses are uncommon or almost nonexistent, ownership of a townhouse connotes wealth. Some examples of cities where townhouses are occupied almost exclusively by the wealthy are New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and San Francisco.

The name "townhouse" or "townhomes" was later used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. The distinction between dwellings called just "apartments" or "condos" is that these townhouses usually consist of multiple families, usually multiple floors. The traditional "townhouse" apartment is a two bedroom unit with the living room in the front on the lower level, kitchen in the back. Two bedrooms are on the front and back of the upper level with a single bathroom between.

Florida Keys FAQs

Here we have found out some of the queries a traveler would ponder on while selecting a Florida Keys Destination for vacationing.

What is the weather like in the Keys?
There are basically two seasons in the Keys - winter and summer, or "dry" and "wet." Winter brings day after day of short-sleeve weather and clear blue skies.

In the summer, brief daily showers are the norm. Weather systems move swiftly in the tropics, so summer showers in the Keys are short and sweet, providing sudden shade from the summer sun. Visitors caught in downpours find that they dry rapidly when the bright sun reappears.Situated between the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Keys' unique geographical location benefits from ocean breezes that keep temperatures moderate year-round.

Key West, the Keys' most far-flung island, boasts an average daytime high temperature of 81.9 degrees Fahrenheit. With similar readings for the entire island chain, the Keys are the perfect place to enjoy water recreation - with scuba diving or snorkeling on the region's rare living reefs, water skiing, sailing and offshore swimming - any time of year.

During the late evening, when the temperature in Key West reaches its average low of 73 degrees Fahrenheit, the weather creates a climate conducive to celebration into the wee hours in the city's streets.

How are the beaches in Florida Keys?
There is no natural beach. You will not find miles and miles of gleaming white beaches. The offshore reef eliminates the surf action needed to carry in the sand and many of the shores are sharp with coral shards. The best public sand beaches may be located at Bahia Honda State Park and Long Key State Park.

What is the best way to get to the Keys?
Most who are making the Keys their vacation destination, arrive at Miami International Airport, rent a car, and drive to their final destination. You can be in the Upper Keys within an hour or plan on a three-hour drive if you are traveling to Key West - the southernmost Key. This is mostly a two-lane road over land and water and you can expect routine backups Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings as South Floridians head for their favorite getaway.

Connections to Marathon and Key West International Airports are available from Miami and Fort Lauderdale International Airports. Facilities are available at both airports in the Keys to accommodate travelers flying in private aircraft.

Visitors not interested in air travel have a wide variety of ground transportation options to reach their destination as several shuttle bus and limo services are also available from these airports to the Keys.

Ferry services between Key West and Fort Myers and Marco Island are available. These services are seasonal and are closed May through November.

What outdoor activities I can enjoy in Florida Keys destinations?
Many visitors to the Florida Keys are outdoorsy people who come to enjoy the islands' unique location. The Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico provide plenty of water and a fantastic array of marine life for visitors who come to dive and snorkel among the only coral reef in the United States and take advantage of world-class sport fishing.

For outdoor enthusiasts, there is a wealth of things to do and see - world-class snorkeling; scuba diving; deep-sea fishing; exploring the Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson, a 19-th century coastal fortification off Key West that is only accessible by boat or sea plane; taking a kayak trip to the backcountry of Florida Keys to view the lush flora, birds and marine life; and, a glass-bottom boat ride that puts you at eye level with marine life. These are but just a few of the possibilities.

What are the attractions in Florida Keys?
For those looking to explore the history of the islands and do a little sightseeing, there is the Best of Key West - Ernest Hemingway's Home, the Key West Aquarium, the Key West Lighthouse Museum, Theatre of the Sea, Key West's Shipwreck Historeum, and more. Those that prefer the party life are right at home in the vast number of bars and restaurants that provide endless entertainment including street festivals like the annual Fantasy Fest and the nightly Sunset Celebration at Key West's Mallory Square. Besides these Florida Keys has many more to attract visitors.