Gulf Coast Holiday

[Guest]

I agree with tspill - I can recommend The Hilton Longboat Key - had a 2 week holiday there in 2005 with wife and kids - absolutely loved it!

[mrsstitch]

Originally Posted by Rotonda Girl

There are 3 dibb advertisers with villas in Rotonda West, there are some guide book pages and this thread will give you an idea of the area and things to.

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/show...otonda+boating

Rotonda Girl

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DH is very taken with these villas but we are torn between staying in Rotonda or Bradenton. Is rotonda too quiet? We have 2 girls 8 & 4 and as much as they enjoy beach days it's nice to do some other things too-is Busch gardens a long drive from Rotonda?

[mrsstitch]

Originally Posted by DebsMK

We have stayed in Bradenton and Rotonda and much prefer Rotonda. Bradenton is much nearer the Ellenton outlets and Sarasota, but much further from the beaches (we stayed in Sabal Harbor). We think Rotonda is a nicer area but it is a further drive from the 75. I guess it all depends what you are looking for, both have their plus points . Both have easy access to restaurants and supermarkets etc.

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Thank you, this is very useful as we are torn between rotonda and Bradenton- is there plenty to do and see in Rotonda other than beaches? We have 2 girls 8 & 4 who adore the beach but it's nice to have a little variety for odd days when you just fancy something different

[Guest]

Busch is about 1 hour 30 minutes so doable for a day trip.

Rotonda is quiet but that is the beauty of it, there is a children's playground in the community park, lots of wild life, we are opposite the Rotonda River, where they may see the odd Alligator. Being central between Sarasota and Fort Myers, it is easy if you want to explore. Sanibel is an easy day trip, the Shell Factory, Myakka State Park, are fairly close by. In Port Charlotte there is the cinema, 10 pin bowling and crazy golf. If you take them to Gasparilla Island you can hire a golf buggy and explore the island and this is what the locals do.

Rotonda Girl.

[DebsMK]

Originally Posted by mrsstitch

Thank you, this is very useful as we are torn between rotonda and Bradenton- is there plenty to do and see in Rotonda other than beaches? We have 2 girls 8 & 4 who adore the beach but it's nice to have a little variety for odd days when you just fancy something different

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I guess it depends how far you are willing to drive. We always find plenty to do in the Rotonda vacinity, but obviously we need to drive. As my girls are 12 and 17 there is a lot of shopping involved and Rotonda is between Ellenton and Miromar outlets so it suits us fine. We have driven to Sarasota to visit the Jungle Gardens and up to Tampa to Busch Gardens in a day. There is the Myakka State Park not too far. I guess if you stay in Bradenton you will be nearer the Sarasota attractions but Rotonda is nearer the beaches. Personally we prefer being nearer the beaches so that driving in beach clothes with all the paraphenalia for the beach such as cool box, chairs, umbrella etc is not too far. As Rotonda Girl has said there is the Shell factory and Sanibel in easy driving distance to Rotonda too. The villa is such an important part of our holiday, we like to be in a nice quiet environment and love the wildlife around us. We would choose Rotonda now every time .

[cheekytink]

We are heading to Naples for 2 weeks in August this year, mainly because it worked out cheaper () than the Algarve!
We are renting an amazing villa via VRBO, on the homeaway.co.uk site, from a lovely lovely lady in the states.
Just because it would be rude not to, we have stuck in 2 nights at the beach club in the middle to say hello to all things magical!
The benefit of Naples in the summer months is that it's their low season (the rich "seniors" in the US tend to go there over the winter months), and therefore the accommodation is cheap and restaurants do some spanking deals to maintain their income.
Our 4 bed villa, with pool, jacuzzi, large garden backing onto a canal area where turtles swim up is costing us just under £1400 for 2 weeks. There are 6 people going (me, DH, DS, DD and my parents) so its only £700 for us for the accommodation for the 2 weeks (not including beach club stay).
It looks like there is lots to explore in that area, the Everglades, beaches, Marco island, Busch etc etc, so we are über excited!
Definitely worth a look.

[tiggers friend]

We love Sanibel, very laid back, but with a number of attractions (Shell Museum, Ding Darling Preserve, boat trips) and a nice selection of shops and restaurants (no chains). But most of all very relaxing.

[florida girl]

We have stayed in Hudson, Spring Hill and New Port Richey in villas booked on VBRO,s.
They are all close to Tampa airport or only just over an hours drive to Orlando. They are all close to the 19 which is the main road through the area with lots of shops and restaurants. We found plenty to do lots of amazing beaches, you could visit a different one each day if you wanted to, Hommasassa Springs,Busch Gardens all a short drive away,fishing trips.

We have 2 girls and they always enjoyed our holidays in this area.

[Sunshinekid]

I've been lucky enough to stay in a few Gulf Coast areas ; Clearwater Beach, St Petes, Fort Myers Beach, Lido Key, Naples, Tampa Bay, Marco Island and Cape Coral.
My absolute fave area is Fort Myers Beach. I've stayed in a hotel once, the Diamondhead which was really good and a villa on the bayside which was lovely (if you want the details send me a pm as the villa owners were lovely).
In 2011 we stayed in Cape Coral in a lovely big villa with our family as it was close enought to enjoy Fort Myers but you got a bigger villa on the river for your money.
The restaurants in Fort Myers are really good and the beach and pier are lovely. The little town has a some nice shops and some souvenir shops. There's a great Kilwins for ice cream.

[Ariel's Mum]

Originally Posted by DebsMK

We have stayed in Bradenton and Rotonda and much prefer Rotonda. Bradenton is much nearer the Ellenton outlets and Sarasota, but much further from the beaches (we stayed in Sabal Harbor). We think Rotonda is a nicer area but it is a further drive from the 75. I guess it all depends what you are looking for, both have their plus points . Both have easy access to restaurants and supermarkets etc.

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This sums up my thoughts entirely.

We're staying in Rotonda for the second time this year and have rented and what looks to be an amazing villa. We'll be there for 2 of our 3 week holiday. We've already decided that if we like the villa as much as we think we will that we'll stay there for 3 weeks next year.

The drive to the beach is a huge plus for us. We'r planning just to do beach and pool days with some shopping thrown in but also hoping/planning at least one half day's boat rental having been inspired by an article Lynne (Rotonda Girl) posted in the dibb guide book.