logo-print

Plan Your Catalina Island Getaway Now!

While you may be thinking, “It’s only March—I have months to plan my summer getaway,” the reality is vacation rentals are already being snapped up for not only the prime summer months on Catalina, but every holiday and weekend in between! The earlier you make a reservation for your desired vacation week/weekend, the better chance you have of staying in your favorite home, condo or villa—and let’s be honest, we all want the property with a deck and view of Avalon Bay or Hamilton Cove.

Travel trends over the past few years have indicated that more and more vacationers are choosing a vacation rental as opposed to a hotel when staying in a beach town (or island!), so do yourself a favor—book your favorite property now and avoid that last minute planning stress!

Catalina: The Family Friendly SoCal Destination

While Catalina has been nicknamed the “Isle of Romance,” many of our visitors make their yearly trip to the Island a family tradition. With Catalina’s proximity to the “mainland” and safe, family friendly atmosphere, it is the perfect place to hang out at the beach and build that sandcastle with your family!

Catalina, and Avalon specifically, is charming and tranquil—where you are able to unplug and unwind.  But don’t worry, there are plenty of activities to fill an itinerary whether you come for a week or just a quick weekend getaway!  Personal favorites of ours are hanging out at the beaches on “Front Street,” kayaking down the coast towards Frog Rock, going zip lining or rock climbing, seeing a movie in the historic Casino Theatre and having a fun family dinner/barbecue on the deck of one of our vacation rental properties.

We love hearing from you, our guests, about what you enjoying doing when you’re on the Island, so tell us, what are your favorite things to do when you’re vacationing on Catalina with your family?

To stay connected to CIVR, check out our Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube pages!

The Island of Romance

Love is in the air! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, and the spring and summer wedding season not far off, now is the perfect time to start planning your romantic getaway or honeymoon to Catalina, or making travel arrangements for an upcoming Catalina destination wedding or celebration!

We’ve partnered with Honeymoonwishes.com to make it easier than ever to plan your honeymoon to Catalina and with the registry function, wedding guests can give you the gift of travel by contributing to your vacation package. For more information on planning your honeymoon to Catalina with us, please click here.

With countless picturesque and historic locations, Catalina plays host to hundreds of weddings each year. With the Island being a favorite Southern California wedding location, guests often make a vacation out of the festivities and rent one of our Avalon properties or Hamilton Cove Villas for the week, rather than only staying the weekend of the event. After all, attending a destination wedding is the perfect excuse to sneak in a vacation filled with relaxing and making lasting memories.

To stay connected to CIVR check out our Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube pages!

Download The New CIVR App!

What would we do without our smart phones these days?  For many of us, making a phone call on our phone is just an after thought – it is our camera, email, internet, and music source – essentially a mini computer we take everywhere.  With information consumption at an all time high, we are happy to announce the debut of our very own Catalina Island Vacation Rentals app!

Using the app is simple, easy and FREE!  If you are a future guest staying with us, we’ll send you an invitation to download the CIVR app.  But the neat thing is, you can download the app even if you haven’t made your reservation with us yet!  Simply search “Catalina Island Vacation Rentals” in the app store or use one of these links to download from the Apple Store or the Google Play Store.  Once you’ve downloaded our app, you can Log In (if you have an existing reservation) or explore the app as a guest.  Now it’s time to explore and begin learning about your specific vacation rental, activities to do while staying on Catalina, our Loyalty Program, and other useful information to know when staying in any of our properties.

The app is your one-stop information source for all things CIVR and vacationing on Catalina, so if you haven’t already, make a reservation for your next Island vacation and happy downloading!

To stay connected to CIVR, check out our Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.

A Vibrant Green

We aren’t used to getting much rain in Southern California, and when we look outside and all we see is grey skies, dark clouds, and raindrops pelting the windows, we can’t help but feel a little down due to the weather. We live in the land of sunshine and warm weather after all, but once the skies have returned to their normal vibrant blue with puffy white clouds, we are left with a vibrant green landscape to admire.

If anyone has been to the Island in recent weeks—on a nice winter day—they have been rewarded with the natural beauty that makes our Island home so unique and special. With the recent holidays, we’ve all been going at hyper speed to get everything on our to-do list done, but now with a new year upon us, we can all take the moment, no matter how brief, and enjoy the natural beauty nature has given us.

To stay connected to CIVR, make sure to check out our Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube pages!

Happy New Year from CIVR!

We can’t believe 2012 has come and gone—time really does fly! While 2012 was an amazing year for us here at CIVR, we are looking forward to all that 2013 has to offer. We are excited for you all to visit Catalina Island, see the new, amazing attractions and eateries Avalon has to offer, and memories to be made. We wish you and your families a Happy New Years from CIVR—cheers to 2013!

CIVR’s 12 Days of Giveaways

As a thank you to all of our guests who have made 2012 such a wonderful year for CIVR, we’ve teamed up with our Loyalty Program partners to present CIVR’s “12 Days of Giveaways.” Beginning Monday, December 10, through Friday, December 21, we will have a fantastic giveaway once a day on our Facebook page.

You will have the chance to win anything from tickets to the legendary New Year’s Eve Gala at the famous Casino ballroom to a delicious dinner at the Avalon Grille to the grand prize—a two night stay in one of CIVR’s vacation homes!  It’s easy to enter – just check our Facebook page daily between December 10 and December 21 and enter to win one of our wonderful giveaways to enjoy on your next trip to Catalina or even a one-of-a-kind Island souvenir!

To win the GRAND PRIZE, a two night complimentary stay with us, please leave us a comment on this post and tell us why you choose to stay in a CIVR vacation rental home when you visit Catalina Island. The winner will be announced on December 24, Christmas Eve at noon.

Happy holidays!

CIVR’s Loyalty Program

Who doesn’t love a vacation?  Especially when you can receive special perks for visiting Catalina year after year and staying in one of our unique vacation homes!  As a way of saying thank you to all our loyal guests who have stayed with us four or more times during their trips to Catalina Island, we have developed the CIVR Loyalty Program.   Our loyal guests receive generous savings from participating businesses—from restaurants and spa treatments to golf cart rentals and island expeditions.  This card has something for everyone!  If there’s something you’ve always wanted to try during your stay in Avalon, like para-sailing, snorkeling or chartering a boat, but have never gotten around to doing it, now’s your chance!

To be eligible for the CIVR Loyalty Card, you need to have stayed in a CIVR vacation home at least four times.  The great thing is, it can be any property—a villa at Hamilton Cove, a charming Avalon Home, or an Avalon Condo.  We’ll let you know when you are eligible for the card and mail it directly to you—just remember to bring it with you on your next trip to the Island and score some great deals!

 

To stay connected to CIVR, check us out on Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Island Lingo

(View of Avalon from Stagecoach Road)

Every town, city, state, etc., has its own lingo—words that local residents use to describe something else—that they have incorporated into their daily vocabulary.  Catalina Island is no different. We “Islanders” have our own lingo you might have heard on your trips to the Island and always wondered about the meaning behind.  Some are obvious, others might not be.  Below are some terms we frequently use, and now you’ll be “in the know” the next time you visit!

Some Island Lingo:

Islander:”  Someone that has grown up on Catalina Island, often being a 2nd, 3rd or 4th generation resident of the Island.  Loves to spend days off out in “the hills” or at the beach.

the hills:”  The interior of the Island—basically any area past the gate at the intersection of Stagecoach Road and Chimes Tower Road. You must have a car to go past the gate—but now there are plenty of tours and options available to see the natural beauty of the Island beyond Avalon.

the isthmus:”  Two Harbors, the little boaters’ village at the other end of the Island. This refers to the natural geographical nature of the ½ mile strip of land that connects the two larger landmasses of the West End.

over town” or “the mainland:”   Local terminology for the rest of Southern California. A common phrase you might hear from locals is “I’m headed over town/ to the mainland for the day.”  This means they are headed over to Long Beach/Los Angeles for the day.

front street:”  Crescent Avenue—the pedestrian walkway separating the beaches from the shops.

 

To stay connected to CIVR, please visit our Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube pages!

Perks of Staying in a Vacation Rental

(View from Hamilton Cove Villa  2-48)

Who doesn’t love a vacation?  A break from the daily routine and demands of reality is very rejuvenating.  Many can’t wait for their trip to Catalina, and whether it is that inaugural visit or an annual family trip, the excitement of arriving at the boat terminal and waiting to depart for a getaway off the coast of Southern California is incomparable. While only a little more than twenty miles from Los Angeles County, it feels a world away.

Catalina may be small, but it provides a variety of accommodations depending on traveler preference. We might be biased, but we think staying in a vacation rental is the way to go—who wouldn’t want the comforts of home while on vacation for ultimate relaxation?  Being able to get away together, cook some or all of your meals at home, barbecue on your own patio or balcony with a view of the Pacific Ocean, or curl up on the couch after a long day at the beach are only a few of the perks of staying in one of our vacation homes.  We pride ourselves on making our guests’ stays as fun, relaxing and memorable as possible, a little something we like to call the “CIVR Difference.”  We could go on and on about the benefits of renting a villa at Hamilton Cove, a historic home in Avalon, or a condo with a pool, but we’d rather have you tell us your favorite part of staying in one of our homes.  Head over to our website to view all of our properties and find the one that is right for you.  We love hearing from our guests, so please leave a comment in the section below with your top reason for choosing a vacation rental for your stay on Catalina!

(Deck view from 114 Marilla Ave #1)

To stay connected with all things CIVR, check out our Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube pages!