Mark the big birthday or anniversary in a private backyard instead of a booked-out restaurant. A pool, a fire pit and string lights for the group, room for ten to stay, and Fort Lauderdale's beaches and dining minutes away.
Big birthdays and anniversaries are the reason most groups book Turtle Nest Bungalow whole. It’s the adult child throwing a parent a 60th, the couple gathering the family for a 25th, the friend group turning a milestone into a weekend away. Instead of a booked-out back room and a two-hour window, you get a private home with a pool, a fire pit, and room for ten to stay.
Renting the whole house changes how the celebration feels. Nobody scatters to different hotels at the end of the night. The guest of honor isn’t performing at the head of a long table; they’re floating in the pool, laughing at the fire pit, opening cards in the kitchen while coffee brews. You control the music, the timing, and who’s there. The party runs on your clock, not a venue’s.
A weekend here usually looks like this. People arrive Friday and settle in over drinks in the backyard. Saturday is the main event — a pool day that rolls into a cookout on the griddle, then a toast around the fire pit under the string lights. Sunday is slow: breakfast together, one more swim, and a relaxed goodbye. The house does the heavy lifting so the group can just be together.
String lights, a turquoise pool and a fire pit make the yard a private venue for a milestone — space for the group without taking over a restaurant or booking a hotel block.
Three bedrooms and two sleeper sofas host the celebration overnight, with a full kitchen for the group and self check-in on your own schedule.
A full kitchen and a griddle for a group meal, or bring in catering or a private chef — the backyard sets the scene either way.
Turtle Nest sleeps ten across three bedrooms and two baths. The three bedrooms hold six, and four more guests sleep on the two sleeper sofas. For a milestone, that usually means the guest of honor and their partner take a bedroom, family or the closest friends fill the other rooms, and the sofas cover the overflow.
Talk through who’s coming before you book. Ten is the ceiling for staying overnight, and it’s worth mapping the sleeping arrangement early so nobody’s surprised. If your group is larger than ten and some people will stay elsewhere and just come by for the party, that’s a conversation to have with us — head over to /contact.html and we’ll walk you through it.
The backyard is where a milestone actually happens here. There’s a private pool with a shallow sun shelf for standing and sipping, a fire pit for the toast, a covered patio lounge for shade, outdoor dining, and string lights that turn the yard warm after dark. A hand-painted sea-turtle mural gives you a good backdrop for photos. It’s roughly 3,000 square feet of private backyard, so a group of ten has real room to spread out.
Because it’s your own space, the celebration isn’t on anyone else’s schedule. You can decorate, run your own playlist through the day, and move from pool to dinner to fire pit without packing up and driving anywhere. If you want to bring a cake, balloons, or a banner for the guest of honor, the yard is yours to set up.
You have options for the food, and none of them require a restaurant reservation. The house has a full kitchen and a laundry setup, so cooking for ten in is easy if that’s your style. There’s a griddle for a cookout — burgers, breakfast, fajitas — which tends to be the natural centerpiece of the main day.
If you’d rather not cook on your own celebration, that’s common too. Groups often bring in catering or hire a private chef to run the big dinner in the backyard, then handle the lighter meals themselves. A few ways people usually split it:
A milestone is worth a little production, and the house helps. String lights and the fire pit set the mood after sunset without any extra rental gear. There’s a large screen and TV inside for a slideshow of old photos, and the property has on-site A/V — a PA and a projector — if you want music or a montage for a bigger moment. Ask us about the A/V setup and we’ll tell you what’s on hand.
Keep the flow simple. A daytime stretch by the pool, a shared meal as the light drops, then the toast at the fire pit is a proven order for a milestone here. It gives the guest of honor a real evening without anyone feeling rushed to the next thing.
One way to shape it — bend it to your own plans.
Let the group land through the afternoon on self check-in, drop bags across the three bedrooms, and open the weekend with drinks in the backyard under the string lights. If anyone flew in, FLL is about 15 minutes away.
Breakfast on the griddle or in the full kitchen, then an easy morning on the sun shelf and the covered patio lounge. Save the energy for the evening.
Fire up a cookout or bring in a chef for the milestone dinner at the outdoor table, then move to the fire pit for the toast. Run a photo slideshow on the TV or projector if you want a moment for the guest of honor.
A relaxed breakfast together, a last dip in the pool, and a slow goodbye. Ask us about timing so you’re not rushing the last morning.
A milestone deserves more than two hours at a table. Spread the celebration across a weekend — a pool day, a cookout, a fire-pit toast — in a home the whole group shares.
Ask about your group →Fort Lauderdale gives the group plenty to do around the celebration.
Book a table along the signature strip for the big dinner, minutes from the house.
A scenic Intracoastal cruise past the yachts to open the evening.
A daytime beach session before the night's plans.
The Guitar Hotel's dining, shows and casino in Hollywood for a bigger night out.
A green stretch between the Intracoastal and the beach for a walk or a picnic before the evening plans.
Open fields, courts and paths if part of the group wants to stretch their legs or the kids need to burn energy.
There’s a water-taxi stop close by, so the group can ride the Intracoastal to dinner or drinks and skip parking downtown.
Beyond the big dinner, it’s an easy afternoon of shops, galleries and cafes for people to wander in smaller groups.
The Guitar Hotel’s restaurants, shows and casino if the group wants a bigger night out at some point in the weekend.
The house sleeps ten — three bedrooms plus two sleeper sofas across two baths. Six sleep in the bedrooms and four on the sofas, so it’s worth mapping who goes where before you book.
Yes. It’s roughly 3,000 square feet of private backyard with a pool, sun shelf, fire pit, covered patio lounge, outdoor dining and string lights, which gives a group of ten room to spread out through the day and into the evening.
Groups do celebrate here, but ten is the overnight count and we don’t quote a set event headcount online. If you’re thinking about day guests beyond the ten who stay, ask us at /contact.html and we’ll walk you through what works.
You can. Plenty of groups bring in a chef or catering for the milestone dinner and use the full kitchen and griddle for the casual meals. The backyard sets the scene either way.
We don’t list the pool as heated. It has a shallow sun shelf that’s great for standing and lounging. If pool temperature matters for your dates, ask us and we’ll be straight with you.
There’s free parking on site, and check-in is self check-in, so the group can arrive on its own schedule without waiting on anyone.
The house sits in the quiet Lakeridge area near Victoria Park, so being a good neighbor matters. We’ll walk you through the house rules and any quiet-hours specifics when you book — just ask us.
Check dates and book the nest through our checkout, and for group or celebration questions reach us at /contact.html so we can help you plan it.
Great environment! Beautiful place for my family and I. As I celebrated my bday before coming but was about to see family they helped accommodate to any and all requests. Would definitely recommend for a time well spent. The backyard and pool area was amazing!
Dominic was very responsive and was very helpful when we needed him. We loved staying at his place!!
We stayed at the turtle retreat for my 23rd birthday celebration! The pool and backyard were absolutely stunning and very well kept! The amenities inside and out were everything we needed and more for a great weekend :)
Reviews from the nest's Airbnb listing, where guests rate it 4.86 out of 5.
Tell us who's coming and when — we'll help you make it work.
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