It’s nice having a lanai attached to my ground level condominium.
I have set up a grill on the piece of sidewalk attached to the lanai if I ever want to have a little barbecue with friends or family members.
This is perfect if you’re someone like me who enjoys entertaining guests at least once a week most months. I insist on having friends and family over like I did when I had a private dorm room on campus during graduate school. When I took a job in another state for a few years, I was isolated because I failed to make any friends and didn’t know anyone in the area to begin with. So when I finally came back to my hometown, I essentially established an open door policy with all of my friends, family, and work associates. It’s nice having holiday meals here especially. Sometimes I’ll even host a Thanksgiving dinner if I can rely on my siblings to help me with the cooking. The first year we had thanksgiving here I decided to put a ductless mini split in my lanai and set up a large table there so we’d have a wonderful view from all angles. It’s nice knowing that I can have guests in the lanai at all times of the year because I have a ductless mini split air conditioner that also has a heater built in. There are many ductless mini splits that only offer cooling features. If it ever gets below freezing I can always add a space heater to improve the warmth out there. Otherwise, the heater in the ductless mini split is more than sufficient at keeping me and my guest warm at all times.