About Us

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The rental property is an entire 1,300 sq. ft., 1 1/2 story beach house located in Fire Island Pines, part of the Fire Island National Seashore National Park. The home features two upstairs dedicated "Jack & Jill" bedrooms, each with a queen-sized bed, separated by pocket doors from a high ceiling, mirror-walled bathroom with a marble walk-in shower. But who wants to take an indoor shower when there is also a delightful, private outdoor shower? Showering under the sun or stars is a wonderfully refreshing and relaxing experience.  Downstairs, one room is multi-functional, configurable as either a den/day-room, or a bedroom. The couch/daybed converts into a very comfortable, plus sized Full XL bed. There is also a built-in bar in that room. Also featured are a full-service kitchen, a downstairs bathroom with a walk-in shower accessible from the deck without entering the house, a cathedral ceiling great room and dining area, and a canopy-covered living area connected to the great room via French doors, effectively doubling the living area and enhancing airflow and ventilation, while also cooling the great room by preventing direct heating from sunlight.

This vacation rentals home in Fire Island Pines is fully air-conditioned, although the excellent natural ventilation and cool sea breezes typical of beach house rentals often make air conditioning unnecessary.  The main floor French doors, combined with the upstairs bedrooms' sliding patio doors, rooftop ventilating skylight, and abundant casement windows throughout the home maximize air flow. Twin, industrial capacity ceiling fans in the great room, with variable-speed wall control fixtures, enhance air movement wonderfully.  A cook's kitchen; a SONOS, whole-house sound system with three, individually configurable sound zones, and also linked with the 4K OLED TV in the great room; 4-K whole home Dish DVR service; TV's in every bedroom; copious linens, bath towels and washcloths; heated swimming pool and hot tub; high-speed broadband access; a Weber barbecue grill; normal household supplies and toiletries; beach towels, chairs, umbrellas, etc.; and full pool and hot tub maintenance are provided - plus MUCH more.

To see an actual Google Earth satellite view of the home, click GET DIRECTIONS beneath the Contact Us form, and then click the Satellite View button and zoom in.

Xochimilco will host a maximum of 6 people, and is set up for 3 couples rather than individuals.  It can only be rented by the entire week, month, or 5-week or 10-week fractions of a full season (with 1-2 weeks each month of the season).  During early and late season (before late June and after Labor Day), daily rentals with a 3-day minimum stay are also allowed, but weekly rentals (7-day minimum) are required in high season (late June - Labor Day).  Weekly rentals run from Thursday to Thursday. Check-in is at 4:00 P.M., and checkout at 11:00 A.M., although early luggage drop-off is allowed, and we do our best to make early check-in possible.  When 3-day minimum stay rentals are permitted, check-in is also allowed on Friday, and checkout is allowed any day from Sunday through Thursday.  The vacation rentals for full, half and quarter seasons begin around May 15, and run until the end of the last full week before October 1, the exact dates depending on yearly date variations.  But isolated weekly and shorter, 3-day minimum stays are available in October with 3 days advance notice.

We accept bookings via Airbnb, VRBO, and local realtors in the Fire Island Pines community. The rates on all these platforms are calculated to provide the same net rental income for daily and weekly rentals, and reflect the relative commissions and service fees in effect for each booking agent. For simplicity's sake, only the rates listed with our realtors are shown, but keep in mind that, with them, we pay the entire commission, while with the online booking agents, you and we both pay them fees, and the booking agent's fees can be substantial. So, although the rents shown here and on the realtors' websites are higher than those shown in Airbnb and VRBO, the total cost to the renter is usually nearly identical.

For FRACTIONS OF A SEASON (Full, Half, Quarter) and MONTHLY RENTALS, rental through one of our local realtors offers significant discounts over the normal weekly rates. Signing a standard NY seasonal, short-term lease will be required. This protects both the lessor and the lessee.  

Taxes

Suffolk County imposes a mandatory 5.5% tax on the rent as well as any associated fees.  This excludes any rental for 30 or more consecutive days of rental.

Additional Fees

Except on Airbnb, a security deposit of 10% of the total rent, with a minimum of $1,500 for any rental, is fully refundable in the absence of damage to the property not attributable to normal wear. Rentals through VRBO also require a very affordable rental property damage insurance policy purchase: $99 for $5,000 coverage.  

For weekly rentals, a house cleaning and pool/hot tub cleaning and maintenance fee of $425 will be added. There is no utility charge for weekly rentals, but utility expense in excess of $200 for any week will be deducted from the security deposit. 

For monthly and fractional seasonal rentals (full, half or quarter), a flat rate of !0% of the total rent covers pool/hot tub maintenance and utilities.  Any unused prepayment of utilities as documented by smart meter readings and prorated billing charges will be refunded when the billing for all periods of occupancy is complete.  A weekly cleaning fee (currently $225/week) must also be paid each week directly to the housekeeper (this avoids taxation).  

Beautiful, enchanting and seductive Fire Island Pines is a predominantly LGBTQ community famous the world over for it's beaches, stunning beach architecture, and very active social scene.  So it's understandable if you want to spend all of your time there.  The following link points to a community Guidebook for use by our vacation rentals, created on Airbnb for the property listing there, and shared with permission.  

It lists most of the "business district" venues for shopping, dining, and cutting loose.  But it also has information on other truly remarkable attractions found on Fire Island, plus information about how to get to them.  Take a moment to peruse it to whet your appetite for what's in store to make your stay truly fantastic!

https://www.airbnb.com/s/guidebooks?refinement_paths[]=/guidebooks/721826&share_channel=copy  

That's what life in Fire Island Pines is all about!