Lightspeed Outdoors Quick Cabana Beach Tent Sun Shelter

Larger inside than I even expected - easily room for two adults to be comfortable without chairs, and room enough to fit two very wide low-sitting chairs perfectly. My set up test indoors was a breeze. Very quick set up and take down. Extremely easy actually. Just used it on the beach multiple times and I'm very impressed! Set up only takes a couple minutes - which is pretty incredible.So quick and convenient. The quality is decent - not going to last 100 years or anything, but it will at least last 1-2 seasons I am assuming.The tarp that folds down on the ground in the front gets in the way at times, but we've learned to just cover the edges with sand at the beach, which keeps it from flopping around in the wind (note: never used any stakes or anything to hold it down - we've just used sand in the bags on the sides and that's worked fine). I'd suggest that they should make it so that you can take it off or leave it on - perhaps use a zipper so that you can remove it? However, it was nice to be able to fold it up and close it for privacy, in order to change out of my bathing suit right on the beach. :)Ideally, they could also make the structure a little more SPF-proof! While it provides good shade, there's still some sun that comes through the fabric. After all, if someone is buying this I assume they want shade, so why not make it 100-SPF rather than just 50 SPF? There is one tiny part where the "spray on" of the SPF on the inside is starting to come off already (just out of the box), so that's why I say that it won't last forever.Nonetheless, I'm very impressed with it overall. It was very easy to dump sand into the attached little pouches on the sides, which helped keep it in place without any problems with 5-15-plus MPH winds. When the winds got really strong we left the beach the other day. The structure was folding (being blown sideways because of the strong winds), and while I was able to prop up the side with a beach chair it was uncomfortable because of all the blowing sand with so much wind anyway. I think it was actually protecting us much more than those with simple umbrellas - as the sand was kept mostly outside. My take is that it can do fine even with strong winds, but you might need to support it with something like I did. However, when the winds are too strong who wants to be outside anyway?! We didn't, and gave up after 20 minutes and left the beach (along with many others who were simply using umbrellas).We're kicking ourselves for not finding this cabana sooner! We'll definitely be taking it with us on any beach adventures and plan to take it when we travel too. Easy to carry size. However, they really need a better pouch to keep it in - it's too difficult to get back into the bag once it's out - particularly on a beach when you're trying to tear down your gear and head back to the car it's certainly not a one-person job to get it into the bag, but it should be!Here I am complaining, but that's because it's not 100-percent perfect. The thing is, it's ALMOST perfect! It was certainly worth the money, and if this one breaks down for some reason one day I'll likely be back to buy another one!UPDATE: This one did finally break down after years of (intermittent) use. The double-jointed legs gave out and finally would not stand up without support. Thus, we did buy a new one. The new version does not have strings to pull on the top, which is probably a good change - instead just you just pull the two disks together to put it up or apart to fold. They also got rid of the double-jointed legs near the opening and instead have longer single-folding legs. I assume this means they will be less apt to break. They are a little easier to fold (that was the only complaint with the old version). The color on the outside moved from all blue to grey and blue, but otherwise it seems very similar to the old version - I think they added another pocket inside, which is nice. Only complaint about the new one is that it does not easily close to allow for complete privacy (as the older model did). It does not have hooks inside to latch onto with the front flap. However, you can take the flap and tie it up to the poles, it's just not easy, pretty or completely private (as there are still small gaps on the sides when you pull up the flap). Thus, it's still not 100 percent perfect but it's the best things around that we've seen! They also made the bag larger, so it's much easier to get back into the bag after you've used it - a good change. Already used it multiple times and it's working well.

This tent is absolutely top notch. The photos don't do it justice, but the reviews are spot on - this tent is the best of the best. I spent about a week researching beach tents online before biting the bullet and purchasing this one. I looked at the cheaper tents that required insertion of poles, as well as the pricier ones that open as easily as an umbrella. In the end, it was between this tent and one other, and I feel that I made the correct choice.This tent is HUGE...I was expecting it to be big, but based on the other reviews, was unsure whether or not I'd be able to fit my family (two tall adults - myself currently pregnant - and two young children, including beach chairs for each of the four of us AND a cooler. We put it up in the family room last night to test it out prior to our beach trip and it can indeed hold all of the above, without feeling cluttered or cramped. Inside, I really like the three "windows", as well as the option to zip up the front "porch" and close off the tent to make it a changing room or other private space if necessary. The placement of the three roll-up windows means that whichever direction the tent is facing, you'll always be able to see what's going on both behind, in front, and on both sides of the tent. That was an important distinction for me over some of the other tents that I looked at. Even on a public beach, I still need to be able to see what is going on on all 4 sides of me, not just in the front and back, or the front and sides! Also inside this tent are two pockets, convenient for storage of small items that you wouldn't otherwise want to blow away or get lost during a day at the beach.Set up was a breeze, once I'd read the instructions and viewed the online video. This company had an ingenious idea in printing the instructions on a flap that is connected to the storage bag. Essentially, this means that as long as you hold on to the storage bag to keep your deflated tent in, you will never actually lose the instructions. Disassembling the tent was just as easy as assembling it, again by following the simple instructions. I must admit that I was a little nervous to try to fold it back up to get in it's storage bag, as that seems to be a common problem for all the beach tents I've reviewed. To my pleasant surprise however, I ran into no problems and getting it back into it's bag was as following the instructions and sliding it right back in. With this tent (and as with most, I suppose), the first time you do it, it takes maybe 10 minutes to read through and figure it all out, but now that we've done it, once we're actually at the beach it should take no time at all - TRULY as easy as opening and closing an umbrella!Which is really honestly the main reason that I went with this particular tent over others...if your family is anything like mine - two small kids aged 4 and 2 - you likely don't want to have to fuss with poles and rods once you get to your destination, be it the beach or the park. You want something that will be quick and easy for you or your spouse to throw together so that you and the kids can get straight to the fun stuff - frolicking in the sand and water! I have no doubt that this tent will be a wonderful asset to our future family trips.My only negative is that there was a rather strong chemical smell that filled the room once we set up the tent at home...I'm assuming that this probably couldn't be helped, as it was a byproduct of the plastic material it is made of. And, to be honest, my supersonic pregnant nose may have been the only one that detected it...my husband and kids didn't seem to notice! Still, to be cautious, you might want to put this up outside in your backyard to let it air out a bit before your actual first use, especially if you'll be using it for a baby, an asthmatic, or someone with an otherwise sensitive respiratory system.All in all, don't hesitate - go ahead and purchase! If you'd like to read more reviews on this item, it is also sold at Costco (and searchable on their website) with about 60 reviews for it posted there - all just as positive as these. However, Amazon does have the better (and best that I've found) price.Enjoy!