Sea Star: Newly renovated cozy beachfront cottage, view dolphins from the porch!

We really enjoyed our stay.....but had a few issues, but they were taken care of. The HVAC filter was absolutely beyond it's lifetime...... causing the unit to struggle, but Terry got us a filter quickly. The boardwalk needs replaced, and almost caused a major accident, but thankfully my Father in law is okay. And someone came out to fix the part that fell in. But it still needs work. Overall it was a beautiful and peaceful stay.

Description is accurate - comfortable, great views. We very much enjoyed our stay at Sea Star.

Takes a little effort, but well worth it. Access limited to boat only means uncrowded paradise for making memories!

The location and beach is always amazing. This is our 4th time here. House is so out dated it didn’t seem clean. We mopped again within four 2nd day there but it didn’t get any cleaner, lots of lights burnt out, furniture outdated, child burnt chin on lamp upstairs because there was no shade. Towel holder in shower wouldn’t stay in, and poor cookware. Other than that we were in the beach and that all that mattered.

What a great spot! Very dog friendly!

We loved the location, the views, the front porch and the peace and quiet. The island is a magic spot for a family vacation and it is so convenient to just be able to walk a few steps down the boardwalk to the beach. There IS a house under construction next door, but we did not find it offensive. Beds were comfortable, house was clean, and when we go to the beach, that's about all we care about! Furniture was older, but comfortable, and nothing beats sitting on the screened porch listening to the waves! We were not disappointed!

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to the Sea Star Beach House on Little Gasparilla Island. But, while there were many things we enjoyed about the stay, we also seems to come up with some on the other hand reasons why we did not enjoy our stay. Firstly, the outside picture is not accurate. They are buildling a home on the south side of the property and construction was ongoing from 7:45 a.,m. to around 3:30 p.m. each day. It was loud enough to wake the family and disturbe the tranquil island setting we'd envisioned, as the new building is going up within spitting distance of the Sea Star house. On the north side of the property, there was a rowdy group staying at that adjacent property and we had to go out after 1am one night and 11pm the 2nd night to ask them to move their party inside (there is no security or police on the island). So, we were woken up both late and early, which honestly made for an unrestful vacation. I'm not sure the Sea Star management had much control over these variables, but you might want to inquire about what is going on with your neighbors prior to scheduling. We have stayed at six beach houses on the west and east coasts of Florida over the past many years. We stayed at the property in mid-July and this area had the worst mosquito and biting fly problem we've experienced compared to any of the other summer beach houses. Each time we would go out, each person would come back with 2 or 3 big whelts from these insects. We sprayed insect repellant, both the Deep Woods and Skin-So-Soft varieties, but it honestly did very little to abate the bites. Perhaps not visiting during the summer rainy season would be better, as far as insects irritations go. Property was clean and provisioned well with pots, pans, plates, etc. (although the fabric on the furniture could use a good cleaning). There are plenty of condiments and Brita water filters in the fridge. We left a lot of our groceries behind so we would not have to cart them off the island & others had done the same. Management is great at resolving any issues and helping logistically with getting on and off the island, if needed. Can't see enough about how pleased we were with them.

The house overall is charming. It had beautiful views of the ocean from inside the living room, kitchen and main bedroom. It was very clean inside the home upon arrival. The ocean and sunsets were gorgeous and we enjoyed it immensely. We enjoyed being able to go back and forth to the beach effortlessly multiple times during the day. The difficulty of getting to the island when staying 7 nights with all your belonging's and food is a lot unless you have your own boat. The water taxi will not help you carry your luggage to the boat. So you have to carry it yourself down the ramp. They will only help you to lift it onto the boat. When you have kids and a pet with your groceries and luggage that is a lot. Then the grounds of the property were not properly maintained. The sand under the house was black, the hammock and grass not taken care of. The advertisement stated that there were Kayaks on the property for use as well as a ton of beach toys. There were no Kayaks on the property and when we inquired we were told that we could rent them. The other beach toys which included mostly buckets and tiny shovels were old and unkept. There were a couple of half inflated water rafts and snorkeling equipment hanging in the shed that had caked on sand, salt water. They did have a beach umbrella which was very old but functional. They also failed to mention to us that there was construction going on next door every day m-f. Even though the workers were considerate these conditions should not demand top dollar. The outside furniture was very comfortable although we did notice what looked to be like mold on one of the pillows which had a pillow covering. The property manager did also let us leave our garbage to be picked up the next day which was a Saturday. Which is a plus since you have to remove the garbage yourself upon departure if you leave before Saturday. Overall we did enjoy our vacation just a few things as mentioned would have made it better. Thank you.

The online pictures of the property were completely misleading. Many things were broken railings, screens, furniture, owners closet was open the lock had been broken and we had children and there was alcohol in there. We called so they did not think we had broken it. The shower had no hot water, there was so much food left in the unit there was hardly room to put our supplies. Exposed outdoor plugs. So Much growth (weeds) around fire pit (which was a very full rusted out barrel). The bathroom you could not get out the door going to the outside because it is blocked by a palmetto trees. Based on the pictures is why we booked this place. There is also a house under construction (which I know they have no control over) but we were not made aware of ) and they working on it at 7:30 and 8:00 AM. These are just a few of the problems. We did take photos so we could make the property manager aware. I did talk with the property manager and she told me thank you for bringing it to her attention and she would make the owner aware of the problems. I know this a is a barrier Island and getting things done is much harder, but this was my third trip to the Island and never had problems. We felt very duped based on the listing. It was Overpriced for the condition of the property even though it is on the beach. There is no way you could tell if we damaged anything because it was so damaged before. However we did not let it ruin our vacation we enjoyed the Island so much. I would not recommend this listing at this time

Below average