Every winter the same question comes up: why are you not on the beach? And every winter the answer gets a little easier, because the beach keeps getting more crowded and Lakeland keeps getting better.
A beach-town winter week now costs what a two-week stay here used to cost, and you trade it for a parking lot, a line, and a view of other people's vacation. A house on Lake Lakeland costs a fraction of that, and you get a dock, a yard, a kitchen, and a 35,000-acre body of fresh water that is the third-largest in the state and, in the winter, mostly empty.
That is the trade. You are not buying a view of the ocean, you are buying a week of space.
Mornings are 70 degrees, which is the exact temperature a winter escape is supposed to be. A boat on the water, a coffee at Black & Brew, a loaf from Born & Bread, a round at the Club at Eaglebrooke, an afternoon at Bonnet Springs Park. None of it is crowded, and none of it requires a reservation you had to make three months ago except the one dinner at Nineteen61.
RP Funding Center runs its full winter calendar, 8,000-seat arena shows, the Youkey Theatre, and the Broadway season that has put the city on the map. If your winter break includes a show, this is the city to be in, because you can be in the house by the time the parking lot opens.
The local tip: the weeks from mid-December through mid-January are the peak of the winter, and they fill first. If you are flexible, the two weeks on either side of that are the same weather for less money.
Send us your dates and your group size. We manage seven houses in the Lakeland area and we will match you to the one that fits a winter escape best, and we will tell you honestly if a particular house is not right for what you want to do.