Where to stay that ';has it all';?

We are planning on trying Orange Beach this year for Spring Break. Can anyone suggest a condo that ';has it all'; (ie nice pool, restaurant w/in walking distance, beachfront). We are kinda picky so something pretty nice as opposed to budget.

Also, is Orange Beach considered ';family friendly';? We don%26#39;t want to end up in the middle of a college party spot with our 11 year old.

Where to stay that ';has it all';?

Yes, Orange Beach is ';family friendly';. Tradewinds and Phoenix V both have great pools, beachfront locations and are within walking distance to restaurants. Tradewinds is also directly across the street from Adventure Island. Try looking at vrbo to rent directly from an owner or the property management sites with Kaiser, Brett Robinson or Meyer.

Where to stay that ';has it all';?

Good advice from Nane3...the rental companies down here are pretty careful about who they rent to during spring break, and they monitor their properties a little more closely during that period. In addition to the properties already mentioned I would add The Enclave, Silver Beach and SeaChase condos.

Caribe, which is just over the bridge, has a lazy river/water park type pool overlooking the back bay. You can keep your boat there, but if you want the beach you can safely walk under the bridge without having to cross the beach.

While it is possible to walk across the bridge (very high) to the nearby San Roc Cay, a shopping area with some food places, I would not. I would definitely drive. Even if you are across the street from shopping, it is really best to drive. People are hit all the time crossing.

Caribe has a restaurant too. They also shuttle you to the beach. I dont know about ppl getting ';hit all the time crossing';. I live in OB and have not heard about that. OB is very family friendly and has a great waterfront park on the bay with a kids park area as well as a fishing pier out on the bay where dolphins play each evening.

Good reco on Caribe. Nice place.

We did have some issues about 3 or 4 years ago with some people getting hit by cars, but in some of the cases alcohol was involved on the part of the pedestrian. OB did have a plan for some walkovers, but I haven%26#39;t seen anything happening on that.

We just got back from a Spring Break trip to Orange Beach and stayed at the Caribe. It is a beautiful and well-maintained resort. However, we failed to take into account how important it is to stay somewhere at that time of year that has HEATED pools. The Caribe does not heat their pools or lazy river and this was a huge issue for all the people staying there. These fabulous pools and waterslides went virtually unused because the water was just too cold to be swimming in them this early in the Spring. We liked everything about the resort, its location and Orange Beach but can%26#39;t recommend going there during Spring Break unless you are assured that the pools where you%26#39;re staying are heated. I%26#39;m not sure what the cost-benefit situation would be for them to start heating their pools in order to attract people for Spring Break, but it is definitely a deal-breaker for us to go there again during that time of year.

What about beach temperatures? I have heard conflicting reports on whether or not the temperature is ok for swimming or laying out on the beach during Spring Break. We are trying to plan for 2009. Can anybody help. Thanks.

I did a search to find average water temps in the Orange Beach area and a couple sites listed March as 63 degrees and April as 71 degrees. That seemed about right when we were there in late March. It was too cold to swim in. We walked the beach and looked for shells. On the warmer days it probably would have been OK to lay on the beach although with the breeze off the ocean, it might have been a bit chilly. The beaches were fairly deserted other than a few walkers here and there.

We were there in March and the water was definitely too cold to swim in, at least for us southerners. Now someone coming from a colder place might find it not as bad, as some people w/ northen accents who were sitting near us did. We stayed at Tradewinds which had a nice heated pool and lots of people seemed to be enjoying it. The temps can vary from day to day. The saying in the south is if you don%26#39;t like the weather just wait, it%26#39;ll be different tomorrow! One day it was just absolutely too cold to lay out on the beach. There were some storms out in the gulf and the wind was fierce. The last full day we were there it was beautiful and warm and we all got sunburned!

As for a really nice place to stay, the Lighthouse in Gulf Shores is really nice. Covered parking deck. Two pools. Nice beach. Sea and Suds within walking distance. Keep it in mind for another trip!

Will the water be warm enough by the second week in May? That%26#39;s when I might visit. Thanks!