Daniel Dunes FAQs
Whenever possible - Yes! Our cleaning crew will send us a text as soon as the house is ready, and we will text or email you at that time letting you know you are welcome to check in early. During peak season, it is challenging and if we are unable to offer early check in, then we welcome guests to utilize the pool or grab some beach gear and head to the beach while they wait for the house to be ready.
From the front door of Daniel Dunes to your toes in the sand is less than 60 seconds! And the best part is, there are no boardwalks or stairs at our beach access making it ideal for families with young children or elderly guests. The beach access is flat and level with the street making the walk to and from the beach easy for people of all ages and abilities.
Absolutely! Fishing in both the lake behind Daniel Dunes and the ocean are allowed, but do require a Florida Fishing License for those over the age of 16 and under the age of 65. Licenses are offered for both short and long term. You can obtain a license less than a mile from Daniel Dunes at YellowFin Please click here for details regarding fishing licenses in Florida.
Unfortunately, we do not allow pets at Daniel Dunes. There are boarding locations nearby if you do need to bring your pet while staying at Daniel Dunes.
Smoking is strictly prohibited inside and outside our property.
Yes, during the booking process, you can purchase the optional travel insurance available or you are welcome to obtain your own travel insurance as well. You will be given the option to purchase Travel Insurance including a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) policy to protect your vacation investment. We strongly encourage the purchase of Travel Insurance.
We accept personal checks and credit card payments through a secured online link.
After you book, you will receive a link to our house manual which contains specifics regarding directions, house rules, and recommendations for what to pack. About a week prior to your arrival date, you will receive all the access codes for the house, garage, pool, and water craft. Don't worry, there are no keys or cards to keep up with - everything is a code and we make them personal so they are secure and easy to remember!
Currently, we do still list our home on other listing sites to ensure our past and future guests can find us. However, because of the newly imposed fees by some of these sites, most of our guests choose to book direct through us to avoid paying hundreds in fees to the listing site. You are welcome to book through the listing sites, but please be advised these listing sites may charge a service fee to guests that book and we are not able to discount the fee when booking through the listing site.
There really are no advantages to booking with listing sites over booking directly with owners. In fact, it is increasingly becoming a disadvantage due to the service fees most listing sites are now charging our guests. Keep in mind, the listing sites are merely a matching service when you are renting a privately owned vacation home - listing sites are unable to assist you with any specifics regarding our home before, during, or after your stay at Daniel Dunes. So, why pay more to stay when you can book direct with the owner? Whether you stay at Daniel Dunes or find another great privately owned vacation rental, we always recommend to search online to find the owner and contact them directly for the best customer service and ultimate vacation experience!
Well, you are correct to be concerned about ensuring you are sending money to a valid entity. I did recently hear from one of our guests that their family member wired money for a vacation rental and ended up losing their money because the rental site they booked through was a fake. So, you absolutely should do your own confirmation prior to proceeding with payment for a vacation rental. Although in a few instances wire transfers may be an ok way to pay, generally, you probably want to take some additional verification steps if a homeowner or site is asking for a wire transfer. Keep in mind, even the large listing sites have scammers who list, so you always should go through verification on your own. One of the BEST ways is to actually speak to the homeowner and ask them specific questions about the property - scammers are hard to get in touch with and obviously have limited knowledge of the property. Another easy verification method is to contact the local tourism office for the county. In our case, that is the Tourist Development Council for Walton County. They actually have their own site where they list the properties for rent in their county, and these organizations take very strict measures to ensure the properties and owners are valid. The link for the Walton County TDC Accommodations is https://visitsouthwalton.bookdirect.net/ and search Daniel Dunes for our property.
Sure! Although, we would love to have you as our guest at Daniel Dunes, we understand the need to find a vacation home that fits the size of your group best, and we are happy to assist in helping you find your perfect vacation home! We can refer you to the homes in our neighborhood that meet the configuration of your specific group better. Just contact us and we will be happy to help!
Since Daniel Dunes is really setup for families or smaller groups of adults, we do not rent to groups of college-aged spring break groups. We can recommend nearby condos or other rentals you may want to consider if you have a large group of college students.
For Daniel Dunes, there must be 1 individual over the age of 26 for every 4 guests in the group under that age, unless they are all in the same extended family.