Welcome! We are excited for your stay at our vacation home, Elm By The Sea! If at any time during your stay you have a question or issue with the home please let us know, we really want to make it right while you are there! You can text or call Andrew at 303-641-5058. Your enjoyment and a 5 star experience is very important to us.  You can view our complete PDF guide to the house here.

The property address is 295 Elm Street, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

(The entire 30A area including Seaside, Seagrove, Rosemary Beach is all part of Santa Rosa Beach…our house is in what is called the Old Seagrove neighborhood)

You may check in after 4pm on the date of your arrival.

You must check out by 10am on your departure date.

Directions:

Google Maps will get you here…basically you take 30a, turn on San Juan Blvd, then right onto Bellwood Ave which becomes Elm St. The Google map images will be outdated as we have done a lot of remodeling. Note that Bellwood becomes Elm Street, so if you see a sign for Bellwood and Elm street they are the same street.

Access:

–>There is an electronic key pad on the front door and the code for your stay will be emailed to you two days before check-in. The code will not work until 4pm on the day of your check in.

Enter the code to open the door. When leaving press the keypad button to lock the deadbolt.

–>There is also an alarm. Your alarm code will be emailed 2 days before check in.

Note: Your code will not work until your check in time (after 4pm day of check in) and it will stop working after check out time (10 am on your last day)

Supplies: The home is self catering meaning you will need to purchase your own supplies. We do provide hand soap and dish soap and a starter of toilet paper, trash bags and a couple of laundry detergent pods. You will need to purchase toilet paper, trash bags, paper towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, dish detergent, laundry detergent for your stay. There is a Publix grocery store about 7 minutes away, and we highly recommend Instacart.com— you can place your order online and have it delivered the evening of your arrival!

Parking:

There is room for five cars in front of the house. Do not park on the street. Please plan accordingly as there is not any rooms for excess vehicles, trailers, RVS etc. and finding anything within 30 minutes will be difficult.

Pool:

Adults must be present with any child under 12, or with anyone that isn’t an independent swimmer. The pool gates lock—you must keep them shut at all times to protect children.

No glass containers in the pool area. Please do not eat in the pool.

The pool is not deep so no diving or jumping in…plus you could easily jump across the width of the pool and hit your head in the edge, so no running or jumping for your safety.

The pool service company comes once a week and may come during your stay.

There is a volleyball set that you can setup across the pool.

Pool heat may be needed November-May. The cost of pool heat is $50 per day and we will turn it on one day in advance of your stay upon request. There is no charge for heating the spa.

The spa is turned on via the touchscreen remote. Press Spa Theme from the favorites. Be sure to touch the appropriate pool theme when done. Lights can also be controlled from the remote as can the spillover waterfall from the the spa to the pool (does not work in spa mode). Text 303-641-5058 with any trouble as we can monitor this remotely and assist. It takes a few minutes after pressing the theme for the equipment to adjust so be patient.

Firepit:

There is a gas firepit by the pool. This must only be used by an adult, with adult supervision at all times. The glass rocks are attractive to kids and will be HOT, even after the fire pit is turned off.

If roasting marshmallows, be very careful not to drop the marshmallows into the fire.

To light the firepit you must turn the metal gas key valve counterclockwise a quarter turn while using a lighter to light the gas (you’ll see a shiny metal piece under the rocks). Be careful.

Be sure and turn the gas off when finished.

Gas grill:

There is a gas grill for your use. Please turn on the gas valve to use and turn it off when finished. Please clean the grill when done and leave it clean for the next guest as the cleaners do not clean the grill.

Ping Pong:

Please put the ping pong table back up vertically with the cover on it when finished. Paddles and balls should be in a basket in the guest house.

Owner Storage:

The owners have a locked storage closet in the first bedroom on the left, an outdoor storage closet and a couple of cabinets in the kitchen. Beach Equipment:

Please return beach chairs and toys to the closet near the front door. Please notify us if anything is lost or damaged so we can replace it.

Check In/Check Out”

–>The check-in time is 4pm. Cleaners will usually be there until that time and early check-in is not allowed unless you have made prior arrangements with us. The only way to guarantee an early check-in is to block the night before your stay. Check with us to see if this is available and for the cost.

–>Check out time is always strictly 10am. We cannot allow late checkouts because the cleaners need to arrive at 10am in order to have it ready for the next guests. If the cleaners arrive and you are still here they will charge us (which will be deducted from your deposit) $200 per hour for the team of cleaners while they wait. We often have back to back guests so there is no flexibility on checking out late. Sorry.

WIFI:

There is a sign on the wall, but the wifi is elmbythesea and the password is 295elmst

TV: 

There is cable TV at the main family room TV (plus streaming via Roku). The rest of the TVs are on Wifi and you can sign into your own Netflix, Amazon, etc. 

Beach Access:

The easiest beach access is right at San Juan the street you used to access Elm St) with parking. The golf cart, walking or bikes work great since parking can be limited. There is a much larger regional beach access about a block East.

This is a public access and you can set up your own chairs although there are services if you want chairs setup or a bonfire. Please be aware of the beach flag warning system and respect it.

Please note that local rules do not allow dogs on the beach (locals can get a permit), or fires on the beach (without a permit).

Bikes:

We have a nice collection of beach cruisers for your use. They are provided strictly as-is—it’s impossible for us to maintain them or be aware of flat tires, etc. There will be at least six working bicycles, possibly more…so if one isn’t working that is to be expected; that is why we have so many with the intent to have six working at a time.  

The code to all the bike locks is 0295.

Please keep bikes locked up (at least locked together). People can easily mistake them, so don’t leave them unlocked.

Please wear a helmet and obey all rules. Bikes must never be used after sunset.

Please notify us when checking out of any problems with the bikes.

Video Cameras:

In order to keep an eye on the house and pool since it isn’t occupied all of the time there is a front doorbell camera, as well as a video camera at the front, at the back of the main house, and on the pool.  

These are not actively monitored and you are responsible for monitoring your own children at all times, however we will do reserve the right to immediately terminate your rental agreement if any of the house rules are broken and you consent to these videos.

Golf Cart:

We do have a golf cart on site, but for insurance purposes it must be rented separately. You will receive the code to the key once you execute the rental agreement.

Terms will be spelled out in the rental agreement, but just to be clear:

No one under 25 years of age may ever drive the golf cart due to our insurance (and of course you must have a drivers license). These are registered as vehicles and are not toys. If this rule is violated you will forfeit your entire $2,000 security deposit.

You may drive no farther east than the The Big Chill/Watersound and no farther west than Seaside/Watercolor. In other words if you drive to Alys Beach or Rosemary you have gone too far (and they aren’t allowed there anyway) and do not drive as far West at Blue Mountain Beach or Grayton. You will risk running out of battery and will hold up traffic.

Park only where allowed (there is great golf cart parking at Seaside).

Charge it all night, each night. It will cost you at least $500 to have it picked up and trailered home if you run out of battery.

Absolutely no more than 6 people on the golf cart, and everyone must wear a seatbelt.

No young kids on the back…it’s extremely easy for someone to fall off the back and people have killed.

Avoid driving at night. They are not ideal for night driving.

House Rules:

Please NO SMOKING in the house, the front porch or the pool area (i.e. you would need to be in your car or on the street.) This includes any sort of smoking, vaping, marijuana, etc. Ift his rule is violated your stay will be cancelled, your entire payment forfeited. And if we discover this after you leave during our inspection the damage is $5,000.

Quiet Time. After 10pm please ensure you are respectful of neighbors. No loud music outside, especially after 10pm.  

Cooking Smells. Please do not cook with curry or anything else that will cause a smell that stays in the house. We love curry as much as the next person, but when cooking the oil creates a film and the odor lasts for weeks.

Please don’t move furniture around the house.

Please read and follow the checkout procedures found in the guest book.

No Parties/Maximum Guests: There should be no more people on the property than are registered guests, and never more than 24 people on the property at any time (all of which must be registered guests). 

Other Info:

Trash: Put garbage in bags, in the garbage cans at the front. It gets picked up once a week.

Phone: There is no landline phone. Be sure you have a cell phone available. For emergency dial 911.

Laundry: There is a washer dryer set in the guest house master math and in the main house laundry room upstairs.

Check Out Procedures

Check out time is 10AM

Check out time:  Because the property is very time consuming to clean, the cleaners will arrive at 10am to get it ready for the next guests. Please be completely out of the property by 10am with the tasks listed on this page completed. If the cleaners arrive and have to wait for you they will charge $200 per hour for the team of cleaners and this will be deducted from your security deposit.

Check out list:

Text us at 303-641-5058 to let us know you have checked out and to alert us to anything that needs maintenance.

Please throw away all food and trash. It’s so helpful if you clean out the fridge; we know it’s a waste to throw away good food but we just don’t have any other system.

Sign our Guest Book and report any issues: We would love to have you sign the guest book,

Fill and Run Dishwasher: If you’ve been cooking we really appreciate it if you’ve cleaned any pots, pans and put them away. And if you can leave dishes in the dishwasher and start it our cleaners will adore you.

Gather all towels: The place is huge and it’s really tough on the cleaners to get the laundry done. If you can start a load of towels in both washing machines you would have done your good deed for the day!

Drive safe and come visit us again. Dreaming of the mountains? Visit emberwoodlodge.com. Want the ultimate Disney vacation (15 bedroom/16 bath)? Check out clubwalt.com