The Best Vacation Rentals to Book in Sarasota, Florida

Let this one-bedroom Sarasota vacation home with water views give you whatever Florida vacation you crave. With a handy location right off of I-75, day trips to Disney and Naples are as easy as spending all afternoon in your private pool. Ease yourself into the low-key lifestyle with a drive over to Siesta Key for the sunset and into St Armands Circle for a lively evening of car shows and wine tasting. Did we mention a driving range is close by, too?

Resort-style amenities plus a short drive to the beach equals a Sarasota vacation home that you don’t want to miss out on. Condos here are available for a minimum of one month’s rental, meaning you’ve got at least a four-week holiday to see and do it all. Your first stop – outside of the resort-style pool, pickleball court and Bahama Bar, of course – should be the popular Siesta Key Beach, where the lively locals will show you how to adapt to South Florida living.

All you need to know about this two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo is that it’s got enough room for your foursome and your clubs. The kitchen, the patio and access to the fitness center at the complex are all secondary bits of info. Even Sarasota Square, only 12 minutes by foot, isn’t your top priority. Stoneybrook Golf & Country Club is less than 3mi (4.8km) away, so we doubt you’ll have the time or energy to take aim at the tennis courts.

Visiting the beach is not obligatory when staying at this Sarasota holiday rental. You and your crew can lounge all day at this two-bedroom condo, doing nothing more than shooting the breeze on the balcony and rock-paper-scissoring who gets to use the spa tub. When the call of the wild sends you outside, the Myakka River State Park is 10 minutes away to give you hours of hiking, biking and wildlife viewing.

So close to the beach that it might as well be your living room, this one-bedroom cottage was built for beach bums. Ideal for a couple on a getaway or a solo trip with your best furry friend, the small kitchen and cozy outdoor patio are more than space to wind down with wine. Any spot on Lido Key Beach is perfect for suntanning, but there’s just something about the Manatee Jetty that makes it the right place for sunset viewing.

Get that hotel vibe from a Sarasota vacation home in this close-to-the-coast apartment. A private pool, fitness center and game room are all yours to hang out in when you’re not discovering Downtown. The Classic Car Museum and the Ringling Museum are minutes away, but the beach will take another few miles to reach. Anna Maria Island is well worth the half-hour haul if remarkable sunsets and amazing seafood are your idea of a good holiday.

A quiet holiday home in Sarasota located within a residential area – this is where the real Florida lifestyle can be experienced. It’s choosing to lounge by the pool instead of making the 2.5mi (4km) drive to the beach (because the sand isn’t going anywhere). It’s not having to worry about cooking lunch for three bedrooms’ worth of family members because a Publix sub – a Florida delicacy – is always a crowd-pleaser.

Walk to St Armands Circle for fine dining – or ice cream – from this dreamy duplex on Lido Key. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms are plenty for your small family. Park your car in the garage, and leave it there for days at a time. The beach is a shorter walk than the circle, making it effortless to flip-flop the kids back home for a backyard barbecue. As an added perk, this Sarasota holiday rental includes free admission to Xplorie’s bike, kayak and dolphin cruise rentals.

Here’s a secret about home rentals in Sarasota: the south is a quieter slice of paradise. This two-bedroom home proves it with a screened-in patio and a community hot tub that you can use as often as you please. Siesta Key and Downtown are close, but fewer crowds will be found at Turtle Beach, which is half the distance and a mere 15-minute drive away and offers the same immaculate sunsets, best viewed from a paddleboard.

The kids won’t mind sharing a sofa bed at Pelican Gardens Villa. As it’s only footsteps to South Lido Park – where you’ll find nature trails and mangrove tunnels – they’ll be ready and rearing to get out into the Hansen Bayou before you can hit the snooze button on the alarm clock. This coastal, cream-colored one-bedroom condo is on Lido Key, conveniently equidistant from kayaking with the kids on the Big Sarasota Pass and sipping a cocktail at the Tiki Bar when the little ones hit the hay.