We were provided a discount on our stay for this honest feature story. The post contains affiliate links for your convenience which add no extra cost to you.
Sunset view from the balcony
Panama City Beach, Florida is a beautiful area. We spent four nights over the Thanksgiving break with our children, their spouses, and our grandchild in a direct oceanfront condo called the “Castle in the Sky.” That name is definitely fitting for this HUGE 3,000 sq. ft. rental that has four bedrooms and four full bathrooms. The “Castle” is owned by a Christian couple, Paul and Katie, and they show a touch of their faith through the decorations. They also have gone out of their way to ensure it is family and even child-friendly (more on that below). This property is a wonderful place to visit and enjoy God’s beautiful nature. The views compel one to reflect upon our future true castle in the sky (heaven) where we will one day abide.
The first thing you notice as you enter the condo is the wall of full floor-to-ceiling windows directly overlooking the ocean. Absolutely stunning! We have traveled a lot and I have never seen such an awesome view. These huge windows are also in three of the four bedrooms. They have two easy chairs set up to just sit and enjoy the beautiful view. We made good use of those chairs!
View from one of the bedrooms
View from the main sitting area
Behind the main sitting area
We arrived around 6:00 pm local time (Central time zone) and it was already fairly dark. Paul (the owner) sent us an email the day we checked in to see if all was well and let us know to contact him if we had any issues.
The space was plenty big for the 6 adults and one child that we had in our party, not crowded in the least bit with the open floor plan. There is actually bedding to sleep up to 12 people. The table had ample seating for 6 and there were also 3 bar stools at the counter. Awesome views are from nearly every position within the unit. On our first morning at breakfast, our daughter-in-law noticed dolphins in the ocean from the kitchen table. Living in Florida, that is not an uncommon sight, but we still all took a break from eating to soak in the majesty of God’s creation.
There is an L-shaped sectional in the family room which easily sat all 6 adults so that we could enjoy a movie together. There are also two additional chairs that could have been used, not including the two chairs positioned behind the couch for direct ocean viewing. There is free Wi-Fi and we had great signal strength throughout the unit.
Three of the bedrooms have large en-suite bathrooms, two of those bedrooms have king beds and the third has a queen size bed. These are the only bedrooms that we used, the beds were very comfortable. I usually wake up with back pain when I travel but did not have that problem at all on this trip. The pillows were large and thick. The fourth bedroom has bunk double-size beds and a full bathroom just outside its door in the hallway.
Two of the bathrooms have large jetted tubs with separate showers, the other two bathrooms have tub/shower combos. The three en-suite bathrooms have the toilet in its own separate room with a door for added privacy. All bathrooms provided hair dryers, but we had brought our own and did not use them. The water gets very hot, which I appreciate because I enjoy a hot shower, but beware not to turn it to the hottest setting as it can be scalding, especially for younger children who prepare their own showers.
The room with bunk beds would be great for kids. There is a Nintendo Wii connected to the TV in that room along with a few games. We did not use the game console but it certainly is a nice feature. I believe there were a few games there for the Wii, but you probably would want to bring your own also.
Below is a YouTube video compilation of a few of the pictures I took of the inside space, balcony and ocean views. There are more (and better) pictures on the VRBO website (Property #488816). You really should check them out!
There are two balconies. One has access from both the family room and one of the bedrooms. It has seating for 6 which includes 2 lounge chairs and is direct oceanfront. The other balcony is off of the bedroom with the queen bed. It is smaller and had only one chair on it but still offers a nice view of the ocean.
The kitchen has lots of counter space and a walk-in pantry. There were plenty of pots and pans for us to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal (although we did bring a large tin pan to cook the turkey in). There is a full-size washer and dryer in a separate laundry room off of the kitchen. Other nice touches include the assortment of live plants in the unit and the beach/coastal theme throughout.
Stroller at the condo
I mentioned that the rental is child-friendly. They have a crib, high chair and even a stroller there! The crib is one of the main reasons we chose this particular unit. That was so much more convenient than transporting a crib for the baby or having her sleep in a small portable pack-n-play. There are even safety plugs on the outlets in the main living areas! The owners definitely have made this unit enticing for those traveling with small children. There were lots of board games for children (and adults) and ample beach toys. There was a small piece of carpet behind the two easy chairs facing the ocean which made a perfect little play area for our granddaughter. The main area is all tile which you do need to be careful with little ones running on with socked feet. We kept shoes on the baby so she wouldn’t slip.
Lots of games available
Beach chairs and toys
Carpeted play area
The beach was wonderful! I don’t know if it is always like this, but there were only a handful of other people out enjoying it. The sand is whiter, silkier (and “fluffier” according to my daughter) than our beaches on the east coast. On the first day, the ocean was completely flat, not even a ripple of a wave. Some rainy weather moved in and it was choppier and had waves on the last day. The sunsets were beautiful! And those large windows in the unit were perfect to sit back and take in the view. Red Tide has been a problem for Florida recently, on all coasts, and we did see many dead fish along the beach. I know clean-up efforts are underway and this is definitely not the “norm” for the area. We simply looked past that and still had fun enjoying the sand and each other as you’ll see in the video below.
The complex has other amenities that we did not take advantage of including:
- Nice large heated swimming pool
- Outdoor jetted hot tub
- Exercise room
- Outdoor grills/patio area
The condo is located on the east end of St. Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach. It is away from the noisy clubs and traffic congestion, but close to all the fun parks and great dining choices. There is a Publix grocery store and a Walmart just a few miles away. Pier Park is a large outdoor mall and is only 8.5 miles to the west. We did a little Black Friday shopping there!
Our family vacation would not have been complete without geocaching. There is one located only a couple of blocks away which we walked to. You do have to cross the main road to get to it, but that was not too difficult. The geocache was easy to find. The hint pretty much gives it away so you might not want to look at that if you enjoy the search.
Family geocaching
Signing the log
Crossing the street back to the condo
There was evidence of Hurricane Michael which had impacted this area six weeks earlier. The damage in Panama City Beach (where this condo is located) was not near as evident as that in Panama City proper. There were mounds of yard debris still piled up waiting to be removed and a sea of blue tarps on roofs which we are all too familiar with. The “Castle” itself did have some minor water intrusion and there was plastic covering where the drywall had been removed in two obscure places. That did not distract us from enjoying the unit one bit as the damage was not located in common living areas. The owner informed us of it in advance and even sent us pictures so we’d know what to expect. Those repairs should be completed in the next few weeks. I posted pictures that I took of damage in the area in an article titled Hurricane Michael Aftermath. It’s worth taking a couple of minutes to look at them to see just how powerful of a storm that was.
This is the third time in two years that we have rented through VRBO. It has always worked out well for us and they have rental properties in almost any area where you might want to stay. I do recommend that you read the reviews before booking a stay. They often provide a clearer picture of what to expect and help you choose the right match for your traveling party. Some things I have noted from the reviews of other properties are things like linens not being provided, some units having steep staircases that might not be a good option if you are traveling with young children, etc. The VRBO website is easy to use and lets you filter your search on a lot of options and amenities. I’m sure we will be using them again in the future! If you have a house, condo or apartment that you’d like to rent out to make extra income (even your own home rented only while you are out of town), you can list it on VRBO for free.
Be sure and check out these other travel feature articles for a unique vacation experience:
Rent a Tree House for Your Next Vacation!
Rent a Floating Home!
Have you signed up for our email list? If you give us your email address, we’ll make sure you never miss a post and are kept up to date on all the latest resources that we offer (average of only one to two emails/week). You can also choose to read through the Bible in one year with us. We'll send you the reading assignment each week with a snippet highlight (average of one email/week). We promise that we will not sell your information and you can be removed from the list at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each of our emails. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
Below are the latest offers from our Affiliate Partners. Please click the links and visit their sites.
They have lots of products at great prices. We may make a small commission if you purchase through these links which help keep this website up and running and the best part is... there is no extra cost to you! Read our Disclosure for more information. For more details on each affiliate see our "Shop" page.
