Holiday Villas Iii, Indian Shores

Stay One 09/19 - 09/26/2009 We booked one week at Holiday Villas III, Indian Shores, FL through our travel club Great Escapes in Condo 408 for $199 total for 7 nights. When we arrived we were greeted by Larry, the friendly manager and checked in quickly. We could not wait to see our condo that faced the inter coastal -could not book a Gulf view condo at the time of booking. We opened the door and were so blown away with the size and beauty of the condo. Just awesome in cleanness and layout. The large sliding glass doors to the balcony gave a commanding view of the inter coastal water way, the draw bridge. Gulf Blvd was just below us and did offer a bit of noise but later in the evening it was quiet. Condo 408 has two bedrooms, two baths a large living and dining area. The kitchen is fully stocked with all the cooking ware one could need. Electric stove (all condos are electric) Microwave, new frig with built in ice maker, coffee maker with filters, blender, toaster and pots and pans . . even plastic storage ware for leftovers. We cooked every morning, and evening. Win Dixie and Publix markets are close by so buying food is easy. We just had to buy salt, pepper, sugar, paper towels and such. Many nights I grilled out on the three charcoal grills by the pool area. T-Bones, hamburgers, pork chops, shrimp and whatever we wanted to bring from the markets. NOW here is the second part of the stay. The first week was my wife birthday 09/24/2009. So . . .I suggested we stay one more week for my birthday 10/02/2009. You guessed it. . she said "Sure why not?" Went down to the HV III office and spoke to Larry Graves, Jr, Gen Manager and he cut us a deal on Condo 402 for $700 for 7 nights total just above the pool and a commanding view of the central and full southern Gulf. Alright! So with luggage cart loaded and frig emptied in #408 we walked around the corner to condo #402 where our new friends Owen and Gloria had been staying the previous week. They were departing and we were moving in. If we thought condo 408 was beautiful. . .well we were so impressed with condo 402 and the view. Recently remodeled again fully stocked from kitchen, bedrooms (2) bathrooms (2) dining room and living area. Huge flat screen TV, stereo. We loved it. The pool area is large and goes from 3 ft to 8 ft. Many pool chairs. John the care keeper and his partner (did not get his name) work daily to keep up the area as well as the elevator, parking area, grounds and more. We met so many other guests and those who live there year round during the 2 weeks stay. Very friendly people. We watched 3 wedding at sunset on the beach right in front of HV III. Several guest were fishing daily as they stood in the water casting. They caught mackerel an such daily. On our last day after we checked out of HV III we lunched at PJ's Oyster Bar in Indian Rock, FL. .right at Gulf & 688. Very good food. The only time we ate out in the two weeks stay. Just did not want to leave our fabulous condos. We'll go again to Holiday Villas III. Check our photos or visit our web site www.texaspepper.net for all the photos. Thanks for taking the time to read our review. David & Linda -Fort Worth, TX

We just returned from our family vacation at HOLIDAY VILLAS III and had an incredible experience. We loved everything about unit 605. We booked our unit through the owner and he was fantastic! His website was great: beachloverscondo.com and the condo was just perfect. We had a 2 bedroom, 2 bath oceanfront condo and the description and photos were extremely accurate. While this unit was not the least expensive, we all agreed in my family that we did not want to take a chance on a few others we saw in the same building that were a bit less costly on different websites that looked vintage 1970's! Our condo appeared very new and refreshing! New kitchen with granite sinktops, new bathrooms, new furniture, new floors- we were very pleased upon arrival and even happier once we met another family which I will tell you about in a bit. Holiday Villas III is a quant property, with 7 floors so it is not big and unruly. We got an assigned parking spot for our car - same spot all the time which was really nice. We felt comfortable letting our children go from the pool, to the beach and up to the unit unattended- no worries. The pool is oceanfront and had only a few steps to the beach with a shower right there to rinse off. We swam in the pool almost every night after dinner- heated like a hot tub. My children played shuffleboard and we even fished on the fishing pier accross the street. My husband enjoyed the BBQ grills, I guess it's a man thing as he grilled at least 3 times and grunted with great pleasure! Grocery shopping was close and there was a 7/11 just up the street that we walked to a few times for ice cream. The resturants were not crowded at all, and there were plenty within a 5 - 10 minute drive from the condo. I would recommend this property to others, especially unit 605. One bit of caution, we did speak with a family at the pool who had booked another unit and paid a few hundred dollars less than we did. Of course the husband grumbled all week- he thought he was getting a good deal, but the unit was not what they expected- a bit dirty and rundown. We hesitated to show them our unit but we did, and then they really became irritated and felt it was not worth the money they saved. They understood every unit was different as they are all owned by different people and the husband even said he saw the 605 unit on the internet but he booked an alternate one due to price. The wife laughed and said her husband was always trying to find the "best" deal in everything he does- well we laughed together on the side that he got his best deal and now was not happy! She was a good sport and a hoot to listen to about her husband all week- LOL! Surprised they are still married!!!!!!!!! We were extremely happy with our selection and will be returning to Holiday Villas III and hope to get unit 605 again this Summer! Hope this helps any of you that are considering a condo at Holiday Villas III- enjoy!

We really liked this property! We have stayed here 4 or 5 times and continue to come back. The views are to die for and the units are nice and clean. We especially like the oceanfront pool and the beach area.