I am here to update my review of South Seas Resort because last week my family and I were able to…read morestay for the first time since 2022 and Hurricane Ian as resort guests. South Seas is a resort, but has many buildings that are privately owned which is how we originally began staying here via Air BNB. As a family, a trip to Captiva has been something my parents started doing when they were dating, and now it is a family tradition that is 3 decades strong. We have been keeping an eye on the progress of the island after the devastation from hurricane Ian and we were THRILLED to see the resort reopen and the island making strides to welcome folks back. Our family of 7 booked a 3 bedroom beach villa which had ocean views with a quick walk to the beach. The villa featured a master bedroom, guest bedroom with a twin bed and two bunk beds, and a loft with a queen size bed. It also had three bathrooms. There are a ton of options when it comes to room sizes and villas, but we like ocean view for the ease of going to the beach. We were in the 2600 building which is right at the entrance. The kitchen was brand new, and looked out at the living room and screened in balcony. For a group this size it is a comfortable space, and the kitchen makes it easy for you to not have to eat out every meal. I will say one piece of feedback would be to have a sheet pan and chef's knife as part of the appliances, in the past with our Air BNB there were definitely more kitchen utensils included - however I know that they are just getting back on their feet so it was totally fine. Now onto the pro reason you should stay as a resort guest - the amenities. We got to enjoy the pool with access to their restaurant and bar, as well as the shell city burger food truck on the sand. Service at every venue was amazing and everyone was so friendly. If you are not a resort guest, you cannot enjoy these amenities as the charges are directly to the room and they don't take cash/card. They currently have Red Fish Grill which is a restaurant but also poolside bar, Shell City Burgers which is a food truck, and Harborside which is a fancy steakhouse. It goes without saying vacation is all about ease and relaxation - so opting to dine on property when we didn't feel like cooking was awesome. I also enjoyed the resort gym - the equipment is phenomenal. It is also very clean. Overall, you should note that as of right now they are still working to rebuild. You should expect some construction as South Seas 2.0 is being worked on, but it is all for the best for something truly special. In the works is new hotel rooms, a water park, and a beachfront restaurant. I am so happy to see Captiva Island rebuilding and open for folks to enjoy. It is such a special and beautiful place. Thank you to South Seas for continuing to make our family vacations so special.

Rooms are very dated and in need of repair. Toilet did not flush properly, shower fixtures loose,…read moremoldy grout. Just after taking a shower, and walking across the wood floor, noticed bottom of my feet were black as I was putting my shoes on. Floors were filthy. I don't think the sliding glass door locked either. With the room fee and taxes and all the other "fees" room was close to $700. Outrageous for the quality. View was the back of the pool house. Not appealing.

Amazing resort with everything you need on property! Fine dining? Check. Casual pool bar? Check…read more Umbrella service? Check. Daily maid service? Check. Pizza parlor for late night eats? Check. Spa for relaxing? Check. We rented a golf cart for a couple of days to see some sights too far away for walking, but other than that, we didn't leave the property! No need to, when everything is right there! Everyone on staff was incredibly friendly. Room was nice & clean with a beautiful ocean view! The Captiva vibe is very low key, natural, and stress free. Loved this place - can't wait for a return visit!

Tween Waters was our first-ever resort experience, and it set the bar high. We flew down from North…read moreIdaho/Washington in search of warm weather, and this place delivered in every way. The guys at the marina were some of our favorite staff--so helpful and genuinely friendly. They pointed out birds, gave us great tips on who to talk to for fishing trips, and even showed us a small barracuda swimming right in the Tween Waters area, which was such a cool experience. We used the shuttle quite a bit, and it was always fantastic. We also took full advantage of the kayaks and bicycles and loved having so many amenities right on-site. Our room overlooked the Gulf, which meant absolutely stunning sunsets every evening. Anytime we needed anything, the staff was happy to help. We would absolutely recommend Tween Waters and are already excited to come back again!

Love it love it love it!!!!! My husband and I booked Jasmine…read moreCottage for 3 days and we are super satisfied how it turned out: - pretty big nice cottage with amazing bedroom garden view and patio - free parking - free breakfast in either Keylime Bistro or RC Otters (you can get one food item and one drink for free!) - 3 minutes walking from the beach with the best Sunset ever A 5 minutes drive from the best shelling beach in America Highly recommend!!! Thank you owners

This is something I've never had to do but due to the lack of response from their management, I'd…read morefigure I'd make this post public. But, sadly the roaches are more responsive than the management/staff. After 2 emails and no response. The location is phenomenal but the actual conditions of the "Gardenia Suite" were very poor. The bathroom had signs of mold and mildew, corners of the bathroom were deteriorated due to moisture and soft and plaster was falling. The actual shower had a mix of grout that had broken off and sand from a prior guest. Every morning, I'd be greeted with a roach in the common area/kitchen. I can understand being close to the beach and pests can be an issue but over a short weekend stay, it was about 5-6 roaches that I had to dispose of. Location was amazing but the actual inn was disappointing.

My wife and I had a really relaxing and peaceful visit at Periwinkle Cottages. The cottage itself…read morewas cool, clean and comfortable. It had clean linens, towels and various beach accessories. There were bicycles on the property to use, a charcoal grill, laundry room and a shell cleaning station. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner and she was very kind and sweet. We will definitely be back and be reccomending this location to our family and friends!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! We stayed here for our honeymoon. Mark and Kathy are relaxed, laid back, and…read morehave a lovely place for the right price! We stayed in the Sandpiper. It has a single bedroom with a queen bed, a living area, kitchen, and bathroom. The kitchen had all the necessary equipment so we were able to eat in and save a lot of money on our trip. The decor is beachy and welcoming. Mark paints and did a lot of the artwork in the cottage. I can still remember the koi picture in the bedroom. Very nice touch! There is a private gazebo out back that overlooks the pond. There were many birds, turtles, and a small alligator in the pond, though the alligator left after a couple of days. There was a cardinal bird that came to the sliding glass door every morning and would tap on it with his beak. There is a grill out back by the gazebo, laundry on-site, books that they have available to borrow, and a shell washing station. There are also bikes that are available to borrow so you can bike around the island. There is private beach access at the end of the block. Sanibel is famous for its shelling and the beach at the end of the street by far had the best shells we found on the island. You get a card so you can park your car at the end, but it's so close you can just walk down there. It's quiet, clean, and was the perfect place for us to stay. Thank you, Mark and Kathy! Next time we come to Sanibel we will be staying again!

Really pleasant and helpful staff. Offers parking for $10 for nearby beaches. Offers a host of…read moreboat tours in the am/pm of the nearby islands and scenery.

Too bad I had to choose a star. We have been going to Captiva Island for 15 years and we've always…read morerented from Jensen's - next door to McCarthy's. Because things were busy over spring break, we stopped in to McCarthys to see if they could help us out. An employee there (wish I knew his name) was so incredibly rude, I actually couldn't believe it. A man that heard the way this employee treated me commented on how pompous he was. We will never give them our business because of this one individual. Jensen's all the way from now on.

Great place to relax on Sanibel Island!!…read more This is a perfect location for you if you like peace and quiet. Located in a small subdivision, you can use the neighborhood private beach access. You even get a parking permit, which is necessary on this island. The beach access is down the street, about 1/4 mile. The complex is only 2 miles west of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Amenities include complimentary bicycles, on-site laundry room (completely free, including detergents!), and lots of well-maintained common areas with seating. No pool on-site (which is why it got a 4 star). Plenty of parking in front of the complex. This is not a luxury hotel, so don't expect it to be. It is very clean and everything is well maintained. You will see Darwin, the owner, every day fixing and cleaning. He is very personable and a great host. We stayed from October 2-6, 2015 for our wedding anniversary and he let us check in early since no one was using our unit the night before. Nice! We stayed in Unit 4. It has one bedroom with a full bed, one bathroom, down the hall, a full kitchen, dining, and living room, as well as a large screened-in porch. Everything worked well and the decor was beachy and nice. Tile floors throughout, even on the porch. The entryway closet is full of beach toys, including a small cooler, noodles, chairs, shelling stuff, and umbrella. They also store an inflatable bed in a spare closet. Very affordable - you get an entire apartment for what you would normally pay for a hotel room. We'll be back!!

what a charming place to stay in sanibel!…read more we had a party of 6, and it was difficult to find a place to accommodate us. darwin had us covered! we stayed in unit 2 (2 bdr/2 bath with a queen blow up). very clean. stocked kitchen (dishes, cups, coffee maker, etc... not food). beach goodies galore (chairs, umbrella, towels, noodles, shell collecting bag, scoops, cooler, etc...). beach is 1 block away with parking permit available. grounds are beautiful. we rode bikes to and thru ding darling. darwin was on site during the day, and very nice and chatty. wish we would have seen a gator, but we'll be back for sure!

We loved our stay in cottage #7. You're staying on the beach. Wake up, go out your front (back)…read moredoor and you're on the beach. That's paradise. Here are some tips mixed in with the review, if you are planning on staying at one of the cottages on the beach. The #7 cottage is at the end, closest to The Mad Hatter. This cottage is really cute. Everything looks fairly new - five years. The cottage was surface clean, if you don't look at the ceiling fan blades, vents, under the sink. Bring suction cup hooks to hold your clothes while you shower. There weren't any hooks in the bathrooms. The covered lanai had four chairs and two small end tables. It also has a clothes line set up (bring hangers of clothes pins) to help dry your bathing suits. Although the screen door was torn, there were barely any bugs in the lanai. We watched an incredible lightning storm one night. There's a bbq grill outside the lanai. You need to bring your own bbq briquettes, lighter, fluid, and bbq utensils, but then you can enjoy chargrilled hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken.... There's also a picnic table outside your lanai, next to the bbq. Bring a sponge to wash dishes. It's not easy washing dishes with paper towels. This isn't as well stocked as a time share. However they have most of the basics. We weren't planning on cooking this weekend. Bringing premade meals, much easier. There's a toaster, blender, coffee machine with basket (not the cone type), microwave, electric range. No dishwasher. There is no table to eat at, there is a small island in the kitchen with stools. Bring water shoes if you have sensitive feet. There's a lot of small shells and the sand gets HOT during the summer afternoons. For just walking on the sand, Dollar Tree flip flops will protect you from the heat. There's no outdoor shower, not even a hose, to rinse off prior to going inside the cottage. Someone was kind enough to leave a plastic tub, that we filled with water and a bit of dish soap (maybe left by the owners or a previous renter?). That did help to at least wash off our feet before showering. With every precaution taken, sand will get in the cottage. There is no vacuum or mop. We were able to sweep most of the sand away, but I wish we brought our stick vacuum. The driveway is for one car only and it is tight (we have a Yukon)! Get friendly with your neighbors, because you need to share the entrance/exit to your parking spot and if they don't park exactly in their spot you'll need to ask them to move their car to either enter of leave. The entrance to all of the beach cottages is in the back of the house. The walkway is all sand. Keep that in mind when packing. Rolling luggage will get stuck, and if you roll anything you'll be bringing sand into the cottage. I called ahead and asked about beach towels, they said bring your own beach towels or you can use the bath towels. Although we never needed any beach towels. We usually stayed in the lanai looking at shells. until it was shower time. I hope they replace the mattresses soon. None of us slept well. Although if you spend all day in the water, you'll be too tired to notice. The air conditioning worked perfectly. Nice and cool. Especially when it was almost 100 degrees outside! Bring a couple of carabiners to attach your room key to your bathing suit or bag. If you need ice for your cooler, they have ice across the street (marina side). We brought our own beach chairs from home, but they have some you can borrow (leave a deposit and get it back when you return the chair). Bring itch cream, the sand fleas are ferocious in the evening. The sunsets are stunning. The town is only a 15 minute drive away. We weren't phased by having to drive to town, however our neighbors thought town would be in walking distance. Bring buckets or mesh bags for shell collecting. There were lots of pretty, small shells to choose from. We had an incredible stay in cottage #7.

I've been to better beaches…read more To start off, to even get on the Island they charge you $6. $6? Where is this money going to? It obviously isn't getting spent on upgrading the island. And by upgrading... I mean this next part. Half the island where all the shops are have phone data reception. The other half where you actually live, doesn't. Need to call 911? Good luck. You won't have any data. You will have to find a local Wi-Fi hotspot to get data. The WHOLE island is infested with noseeums. If you sleep in any house or cottage, you will get bitten by these tiny little bugs. It's annoying and ruined my stay. It's so horrible that businesses sell products to prevent them from biting you. The beaches are nice, but the water is dirty and murky. We stayed at a cottage across the street from the beach, it was a nice little walk. The cottages were decent with a flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi, but the outside shower didn't work and you have noseeums that come into the cottage at night. Most cottages have a little dock where you can park your boat, Jet-ski or kayak. Resort staff come in the morning to get your old towels and bring you new ones, and they take trash out of the bins. Another flaw of this cottage is that restaurants are 25 - 30 minutes away driving a max of 15 - 20 MPH. That's also the same distance to the local grocery store. They have everything you need on the island. If not, you have to across 3 bridges and pay $6 again to re-gain entry back on the island. Sanibel is a bit overrated, I heard people come here annually, but for me, it's not a place where I'll go again.

Two Fish Inn is so many things. Clean! Lovely. Quiet. Charming. Relaxing…read more We so enjoyed our stay. Our accommodations were spotless and well decorated with great little personal touches and a true feel for old Florida. It was great having a working kitchen and separate bedroom. The patio area for our room was secluded and a nice little oasis. The owners could not have been any nicer! We felt so at home. Can't wait for our next trip back.

This is such a vibe! Love this place and the thoughtful owners…read more The rooms are clean, there is a great tiki seating by the canal for our morning coffee and nightly cocktails , clean screened in heated pool and boat docks! The rooms are appointed with all you need and a quick shop to the grocery and liquor store and we were set! The gift shop is super cute and Steph is so helpful and friendly She even recommended an outing with Captain Randi and we got to see So much of the beauty in the surrounding islands. Will come back!!!