Thursday, April 12, 2012

Song of the Sea, Sanibel Inn, or Sundial Beach Resort - HELP

I have narrowed our search for a room to these 3 properties, and they all look good to me. We would want to be right on the beach with a beachfront view, if possible. Any advice would be appreciated to help me decide where my husband and I could spend a few relaxing days in August before driving down to Key West for a few days. (Any advice in Key West is welcome too!) Thanks in advance. Trip Advisor members are always so helpful!



Song of the Sea, Sanibel Inn, or Sundial Beach Resort - HELP


right on the beach - or just about





Buildings A, E and K only at Sundial. Building L to T have deep setbacks from the beach. Other buildings between B and J are various distances from the beach, so with mostly blocked views or views between buildings.





Sanibel Inn - beachfront suite. Just be aware that second floor rooms there and at Song of the Seas require climbing stairs. Ellington%26#39;s has live jazz.





Song of the Sea - beachfront suite- is next door to Sanibel Inn but I believe you%26#39;ll find the square footage of the units might be less. Ask on both.





If you select Sundial be sure to confirm a true one bedroom or you may find yourself with a large studio instead. I doubt you%26#39;ll get closer to the sand than there, but it will have the most kids. It will also have the most pools to choose from, not just the main pool. Largest, liveliest and noisiest. All units privately owned and decorated.





Sanibel Inn is larger than Song of the Sea and have a broader range of accommodations. Song of the Sea is widely regarded as a good adult choice, but is so small that families with kids can be disruptive to other guests. Luckily, that does not happen all that often. No restaurant, but you can go next door to Ellington%26#39;s for food and entertainment.



Song of the Sea, Sanibel Inn, or Sundial Beach Resort - HELP


Thanks, Tourmaline, for the info. Looks like any one of them would be great! Any other advice out there? Accomodations, restaurants?




Thanks, Tourmaline, for the info. Looks like any one of them would be great! Any other advice out there? Accomodations, restaurants?




Restaurants:





Fun, good food and well priced is Doc Ford%26#39;s. More %26#39;upscale%26#39; would be Trader%26#39;s, Sunset Grill and Mad Hatter on Sanibel and Old Captiva House on Captiva. Good bad type food - Sanibel Grill and Lazy Flamingo. Good take out - Andrea%26#39;s and East End Deli. Good breakfast - Sanibel Cafe in Tahitian Gardens and Anmy%26#39;s Over Easy at the end of Periwinkle Way. On the water - Grandma Dot%26#39;s [closes early off season, no a/c and very informal], Thistle Lodge at Casa Ybel, Mad Hatter.





see www.cuisine-scene.com for sample menus.




Our stay at the Sundial in mid-June was quiet--even with a kid along for part of the time! The beach was never what I would call crowded and in the afternoon the beach was often nearly empty. Aim for buildings A, E or K and you will be steps from the beach. The main resort area--where the guests have booked through the resort and get beach umbrellas and other guests services provided--looked to be more lively but we heard no noise.





Doc Ford%26#39;s is a great place for for an evening meal. The proscuitto wrapped shrimp are barbecued and very good. We really enjoyed McT%26#39;s as well. Andrea%26#39;s has an incredible upscale take-out selection. Think gourmet deli although there are also a number of hot entree selections too. We packed a couple of spur of the moment picnics from there and ate on the beach. We liked the Island Cow too. It%26#39;s busy and bustling but has good food and a fun island atmosphere.




We stayed in building I at the Sundial last September and had a great experience. It was a ';Gulf View'; and worked perfectly for us, but we weren%26#39;t adament on having the beach view.





Unlike most posters, we weren%26#39;t enormous Doc Ford%26#39;s or Bubble Room fans. To each their own. We really enjoyed the Lighthouse for breakfast, the Sanibel Steakhouse, and the Lazy Flamingo. Can%26#39;t wait to go back and try more.





We%26#39;re planning on taking the Sea Key West Ferry from Ft. Myers to Key West for our honeymoon. We%26#39;re staying at the Angelina Guesthouse in Key West, but thats probably not the best place for kids if that is what you%26#39;re looking for (nor is it beachfront). Good luck!




For a quiet less resort oriented stay in terms of fees for service I recommend Sandalfoot, Sanibel Moorings, or Sanibel Arms West.





Basically they have awesome staff in the office but no staff on property like pool or beach staff, maids, and such. They are fully equipped and in some cases decked out condo units. You can view the individual units online at the sites.





All have pools, tennis and other distinguishing amenities, like sun deck, screened pool, shuffle board, dock space on the canals, canoe, kayak, library, wireless internet, laundry rooms or washer/dryer in the room, dvd%26#39;s, screened balconies, some are all beach view rooms.





Worth checking out. All rent for as little as three and two days.




and dont forget about the $25.00 per day/per adult resort fees



that LXR is charging to access that BIG pool....





I wish george was around with the BIG salad!




At LXR Sundial Resort



No comments:

Post a Comment