My family loved this home: it was spacious, well appointed and only four houses in from beautiful Belmar beach. The house itself is beautiful, and the kitchen and bathrooms have been nicely updated. The owners provided many books and games for entertainment, the kitchen was well stocked with equipment and basic supplies, and the beach badges were an added pleasant surprise. The rooms are a perfect size, not too big and not too small and the general layout of the house is fabulous: if you have kids you can put them in the upper level rooms and then close the door at the top of the stairs: you'll feel like you're on vacation without them LOL. At night, the breeze coming off the ocean was delightfully refreshing when sitting on the front deck and you can't beat a 2 minute walk to the beach itself. Location-wise, there are several places to shop well within walking distance [7-11 was 2 blocks, dunkin' donuts 4] from the house making it very convenient. Walking into town is a bit further, maybe 6 blocks but really isn't that far. Also, there is nothing better in Belmar than having your own off street parking spot. I grew up less than 15 minutes from Belmar so I am quite familiar with the surrounding areas -- there is plenty of shopping nearby, Pt. Pleasant beach is a few minutes away for a nice little boardwalk with attractions and an aquarium (perfect for a rainy day), Manasquan reservoir in Howell for a nature hike (also has an environmental center for kids), Great Adventure amusement park (we DONT recommend the water park there, we went last year and it was the worst water park we'd ever been to), outlet shopping in Jackson...you can even catch a train into NYC right from Belmar if you want to hit the city for a day [or night]. Belmar beach itself is a great little beach--very clean it also has a boardwalk with a few concessions: great for early morning runs/walks/bike rides. You can also rent a boat from the marina if that's your thing. Seaside Heights has a huge boardwalk and is not that far away, and Atlantic City is even doable for a day trip. Don't forget Asbury Park if you are a Bruce fan! (what can i say, I'm a true Jersey girl). We highly recommend this lovely home. (we recommend for tourists w/out a car but in that case bicycles would be nice to have- you can probably even rent them somewhere but not sure where)