Our second year to stay at the Indigo. Of all the places we have tried in the Gulf Shores-Perdido Key area over the last ten years, this has become our favorite. This year we had a 6th floor unit 2 bedroom unit right above the truly awesome resort type pool. The area has less hustle bustle than Gulf Shores or Destin, yet you are only minutes from all the activities. A nice balance between relaxation and activities. We like it enough that we are buying a 3 br unit in the west building. Happy vacationing!

We just got back from Indigo West (#602) and had an awesome week! The complex is really nice. Beaches are beautiful and our particular condo was well cared for and clean. We love the laid-back atmosphere in Perdido.....you are ten minutes from Gulf Shores and all the restaurants, etc, but Perdido itself is very lazy. We would definitely stay again. Here are a couple of pointers for first timers:

- If you are checking in at 4:00 on Saturday, remember that 100 other people are as well. The lobby is crazy and there is not a luggage cart to be found. You might be better off waiting a bit....go to the store, out to eat, whatever and check-in around 6:00 if you want to avoid the crowds.

- There is a Walmart about 10 minutes away in Perdido. It is crazy Saturday because everyone is trying to stock-up for the week, but it isn't terrible. Just takes a bit of patience.

- There are a lot of places to eat between Perdido, Gulf Shores and Pensacola. Here are our thoughts on a few that we visited:

Shrimp Basket - Great local place in Perdido. The oysters were really good. Everything tasted fresh. This place was all about simple, Gulf Coast flavors. Nothing fancy but good food. We would definitely go back.

Sunset Oyster Bar - Also in Perdido. Great view of the Intracoastal but that is the only good thing I can say. We took some friends out and it cost us $180 dollars for 6 of us to eat not so good food. We did see some dolphins so that was cool. We would not return.

Geno's - This is in Gulf Shores where Zeke's used to be. GREAT experience at Geno's. We ordered oysters, several different fish dishes, etc. For the 4 of us it was $150, but we had a bottle of wine. We did not at all regret the money we spent there, because it was delicious. You could go and do it less expensively.

Jellyfish Bar - Sushi in Perdido Key. This is definitely NOT a family place in the evening. We took our two girls (10 & 16) assuming it was a restaurant, but it was very much a bar. We stayed anyway because we were hungry. The sushi was really good and my husband and I enjoyed a martini. We would definitely go back but not with kids.

Maria's Seafood - this is a seafood market in Pensacola. We bought a bunch of shrimp and some fillets to cook at the condo. This is a great place for fresh fish and the people were really sweet.

The Indigo property is nice. It was crowded around the pools. Chairs are very difficult to come by if you come down late and they do not allow you to save chairs at all. I would recommend getting beach service. It is $20 a day, but you get nice chairs and an umbrella. Someone comes by periodically to adjust your shade. The West tower is quieter because you do not have to deal with the pool noise. I would recommend this complex for a laid-back, family vacation.

We did not use ResortQuest, but rented a condo in the Indigo direct through the owner. The Indigo has beautiful grounds, a great pool and the beach is perfect. The resort is very relaxing and is 1st class.

I have to say that overall the condos were beautiful. We stayed in the Indo east and my aunt and uncle stayed in the Indigo west. The condos are located right on the beach. The pool was excellent after a long day in the sun. I enjoyed the private entrance to the condo. The elevators were never full do the limited access. Check out time is 10am and check in time is 3p. There is not a lot of time to clean a 3 bedroom 3 bath condo. The floor in our condo was all tile. When we arrived and walked in, we could still feel sand from the previous renters. My aunt and uncle had to have their carpets recleaned because they were so dirty. After the first night their socks were black. My sisters bed didn't have a sheet on it when we arrived. Overall the condo was perfect. My sister fit my nieces crib inside the closet of the second bedroom. There was never a parking problem. They would run out of chairs around the pool very. We left our tent out in the beach for three nights and it was never a problem. The people are very trusting. We did encounter a problem towards the end of our stay. The power went out on Thursday night. We it came back on the elevators and the water didn't work. It didn't take very long for the water to return, but we had to walk up 12 flights of stairs with 2 small children. My parents waited until midnight downstairs before they finally made the 12 story climb. We had to use the service elevators until we left on saturday because the main elevators never started working. I think that this was a freak incident. As long as you have power, I highly recomend!