Packing for a week vacation at the shore is worse than packing for a week at Disney! You have to bring your chairs, the umbrella, the cooler, don't forget the food and beverages that go in that cooler, all your clothes, linens and the list goes on and on. At least when you travel to Disney you are limited to one checked back and a carry on! So what do we recommend? Here is the list.
Linens and Bedding
Most vacation rentals will provide the bedding but not the linens. This is a rather new change to most rental policies as a result of Covid and also because check out times are so early, it doesn't leave enough time to do a full load of laundry and still get out on time. So that leaves it to the renter to bring their own sheets. There are a few solutions to this.
You could bring your own from home. This is the cheapest most economical approach. If you already have sheets for the bed sizes that are in your vacation rental, then you could pack those up and be done. That is though one extra piece of luggage that you now have to pack (the downside).
You could purchase new and bring them along. There are always sales on sheets at Costco, Macy's, Christmas Tree Shops (my favorite), and Amazon (to name a few). Just make sure you double check the bed sizes again before buying them in case the owners changed any of the beds out since you rented the unit.
You could rent them. There are several companies on the island that will rent everything you need for vacation including bed sheets and comforters. Some will even go in ahead of your arrival and put the sheets on the bed for you so that you are walking into a fully prepped rental (the most stress-free option). If this sounds appeasing to you - here are a few companies that we would recommend:
Islands Best Rentals - They offer weekly and daily rentals for anything you could possibly need at the shore. For sheets, their rates run from $13/week for a twin set to $16/week for a king set. They will drop the sheets off for your at your rental and pick them up again when you check out but they don't have the option to put them on your bed for you ahead of time. Delivery charge of $30 does apply.
Wildwood Rental Supply - They also offer weekly rates for bed sheets. Their rates start at $12/week for twin sheets and go up to $17/week for king sheets.
By The Shore Linens - By The Shore Linens will either drop off the sheets for you at your vacation property or they will not only drop off but make your bed for you! The prices are great too at $8/week for any size sheet set which includes the fitted sheet, regular sheet and one pillowcase.
Linen Fairies - Indulge in the ultimate experience of walking into your vacation rental and literally just unpacking your suitcases - no beds to be made. For an extra $14/bed, Linen Fairies will drop off and set up all of your beds for you. Prices for twin sets are $17/week and $21/week for king size sets.
Towels - Bath and Beach
Bath towels are normally included with all vacation home rentals but if not or if you don't feel comfortable using the towels provided, you could rent those as well. Beach towels are never included and always take up so much space when packing up the car! If packing light is your goal this summer, you may want to consider renting these as well. Sunkissed Concierge offers a full bed and bath package that includes bar soap, dryer sheets, laundry detergent, liquid hand soap, luxury linens, tissues, toilet paper and bath towels (2 Bath: 1 hand towel and 1 wash cloth - per person). Linen Fairies also offers towel service with bath towels at $8/per towel for the week and beach towels (xl) at $11/per towel for the week. These can all be set up in the vacation property for you upon arrival for $25. We found that Islands Best Rentals though offered the best rates on towels at $7/set for the week which includes a large bath towel (27" x 54"),
hand towel and wash cloth. They also offer x-large beach towels for $6.50/towel for the week.
Food
As someone who likes to save money, we normally buy our food at home, pack it up and bring it with us on vacation. Doing this helps save money by eating in at least two meals a day and also saves money by not buying super overpriced groceries at the stores in Wildwood. However, it takes a lot of prep time, space in the car and it's a pain to have to load the groceries and unload them twice! So.....we have started buying our food through Walmart's delivery option and it's been great! I've found prices to be competitive with the prices at home and I've found their customer service to be excellent. They text me when they start prepping the order, when they have a question about a substitute, when they leave the store (with an estimated time of arrival) and then when they arrive at the house. You can place your order about a week out from your arrival date at the shore and select a time. Once you place the order, you can edit it up to 24 hours prior to the delivery date and time. I recommend this service to all of our guests. It's a huge help!!
Beach Chairs and Umbrella's
Beach chairs and umbrella's are a staple of the Jersey shore vacation. They are also a huge pain to pack. Depending on where you are staying, some condo complexes (like Seapointe Village) will offer daily and weekly rentals and will even set up the chairs and umbrellas for you every day and take them down. You don't lift a finger except to point where you want to sit. If you are staying at Seascape, I highly recommend this service. Prices at the Deli Hut are $8/chair and $11/umbrella but if you rent them for 5 days or more, you get a 15% discount. If you are not staying at Seapointe Village, then you have a few other options for beach chair and umbrella options.
Island Best Rentals offers both the low and the high beach chairs for $15/week. They also offer beach wagons ranging from $37-$100/week. Umbrella's are $36/week. These can all be delivered to your door, making vacation so much easier. The delivery fee is $30.
Wildwood Rental Supply offers beach packages that include a beach wagon, umbrella and two beach chairs starting at $80/week. If you don't want a full package, you can rent just the chair for $19/week and the umbrella for $33.
Beach Toys
For those families like ours with small children, you can't forget the beach toys and unfortunately this is not something that looks like it can be rented. I haven't seen any sites that offer a beach toy rental option so save room in the car for the bag of toys. You don't want to buy them on the boardwalk - you will pay a fortune!
Baby Gear - Strollers, Cribs and Pack and Plays
There are a few options for strollers. Of course you can bring your own but if you wanted to pack really light, you can rent these for the week too. Islands Best Rentals offer single and double stroller rentals as well as pack and plays for sleeping. Prices for the single are $50/week and $60/double jogging strollers. We found though that Wildwood Rental Supply had a larger option of baby gear to choose from including high chairs, strollers, cribs, pack and plays, gates, baby walkers and more. The prices were a bit lower than Island Best Rentals too when comparing jogging strollers. They rented out at $47/week for the single and $60/week for the double (same as Islands Best).
Discounts and Coupons
If you decide to rent through Islands Best Rentals - here is a coupon for 5% off your total. I know it's not much, but it will help. If you decide to rent through Wildwood Rental Supply, here is a $5/off coupon if you spend $50 with them.
So depending on how much you want to want to spend and how much you want to pack, you can rent just about everything you need for your vacation at the beach and travel as if you were headed to Disney for the week!
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