[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”501,507″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
4 out of 5
This Mother’s Day weekend my family and I went up to the Sundial Beach Resort in Sanibel Island Florida. We made it a combined trip to celebrate my little man’s third birthday and Mother’s Day, for Mimi and I. We try to do that often to help with budget, making two for one events saves on expenses, rather then having to spend money on two separate events. I also as always look for the best deal I can find, this time I found on Trivago, a two bedroom, two bath, with kitchen condo unit for $260 per night, plus a daily resort fee of $30.00. But the bang for your buck on the resort fee on this resort made it more then worth it to me. I found a cheaper place to stay right on the beach in Sanibel as well, but it had none of the amenities this one did. It was a true vacation, I never had to lift a finger to put out a beach chair, unfold a beach umbrella, or pack a towel, all of that was provided at the resort. Also included were bikes (including those with choice of on bike carrier for children or cart style behind the bike, and even smaller bikes for little ones of their own, they also had four person surreys), kayaks, paddleboards, games like ping-pong and arts and crafts projects like the little shark tooth necklace we made. They also have things like bike tours of the island and Friday movie night poolside for the kids, you don’t even need to bring beach toys for the kids they have those too. This is all included in that resort fee. They give you these cute little bracelets with the sundial beach resort marked on them when you check in and it allows you to have freedom to any of the amenities you wish. (The only bad thing is you don’t get to keep the bracelet, I thought what a cute memory of your trip, and frankly advertisement for them. However local people tend to take advantage and use them for mini ‘stay’cations, so they charge you $4 if you take them or lose them, this I think they might be able to fix by color coding, maybe to fit in four seasons)? Our vacation ended up costing, $290 plus tax a couple (my parents and Jeremy and I).
So to our stay, I walked up to the front desk to be greeted by Maurice. (May I say whoever does the hiring and team pep meetings for the Sundial does a great job. The staff as a whole was wonderful, from the front desk, rental desk, to the cleaning staff). Mr. Maurice was so nice and he helped to accommodate us with our early arrival to be able to use the resort amenities and relax while we waited for our room. (If you arrive early the resort will happily hold your luggage till your room is ready. However if it is all in your trunk I might suggest keeping it in there with your car locked, Sanibel is a low crime area and if there is nothing visible it makes it easier when you do get your room, this way you do not have to repack your car to unpack at your condo room later. Also they only have a small refrigerator for food, so if you have a lot of groceries, pack a cooler with lots of ice, it should be fine for waiting for check in, ours was). We always try to go early when we are able to, to get the most time out of our vacation. Late check-ins really annoy me otherwise because you are technically paying for that day.
Maurice gave us our bracelets for the amenities and showed us available bathrooms to change for the pool/beach and gave us a map for all the amazingly beautiful bike paths around Sanibel (the best way to explore Sanibel). We asked about late check out. If it is available you can call the front desk the morning before your check out, if no one has booked your room they will extend a couple hours for free. Which I thought was nice, a lot of resorts charge for those ‘extra’ hours. Maurice then took my cell phone to call when our room was ready and I could come get our room key cards.
We took full advantage and went down to the beach right away. The gentlemen at the beach helped to add two more chairs for our party of 5 to chairs already set up. He also set up two umbrellas to help keep us out of the hot sun. We tipped him (it is not necessary but I believe in doing good for those that give good service, and he has very good, openly joking and giving advice for us to have the best possible vacation, some people did not even crack a smile at him, poopy pants)! We enjoyed the beach all morning and in the afternoon when we received the call for our room it was the perfect time to eat some lunch. So we decided to go unpack and have some lunch in our room that we had pre-packed the night before. (Another way to save, we like having a kitchen on vacation to cook some meals, then save our money for a couple nice or one really nice time to eat out). When we got to our room another super nice gentlemen saw we were looking around wondering if we were in the right building and helped to guide us to the correct condo.
Right from opening the door we saw a beautifully decorated foyer, with fresh paint from its newer remodel. (Ask when you go if your room is a remodel, there are many different condo designs you can see that when you walk by and the patio furniture is different in each of the condos balconies). I loved the beachy bright décor of our unit. The living room was cheery a full of light, the first bedroom was a fun family style, again with bright colors and the master bedroom a bit more classic and sophisticated with the deep-sea tones. Now this is not the resort with the marble bathroom, lush luxury sleep quality bed and Egyptian cotton sheets. But the family friendly, beach appropriate accommodations, it is comfortable, and tasteful, but not what you might think of for top bar luxury. If you have courtyard view ask if it possible to have an end unit near the beach, and you might just get a beach view as well. J Our room had a wrap around balcony with views of the beach and the tasteful courtyards.
The kitchen was nice and equipped with all the amenities we needed. Again not fine china but china at that. One thing this kitchen had that I really appreciated was a blender. Margaritas and Rum Runners anyone, when you are on a beach vacation who doesn’t want some? I do find that many of the places we go with kitchens (including this one) don’t leave enough towels/sponges in the kitchen or dish soap/dishwasher detergent. (I like to do a load of dishes every night so we have all the dishes for the next day). They also do not always give fresh towels in the bathrooms everyday unless requested. I understand this however for eco purposes, and I am happy to reuse my towels in a short stay. There was an angry man at the front desk when I went to ask about having late check out (which the lovely girl gave me an extra hour even though we did have someone checking in to our room that day, you get more bees with honey I say ;)) he was livid that they did not change the towels, maybe if they put signs in the condo bathroom that said, clean towels are on request only to help the facility be more eco-friendly, it may help curtail some angry, ‘towel people’.
After we ate up our lunch, we then headed down for a little bike ride. At the resort there is a ‘rental’ station to get bikes, paddleboards so on. The resort has a release and rental agreement you must sign before using the equipment, one for bikes and one for water equipment. Once you fill these out these you do not need to fill out a whole one again, just an attachment of a signature and date for anytime you take out something else. We noticed with the paddleboards and kayaks, they do not keep a strict eye on the time one is using them. The first day we were there was slow and we got to use boards right away, however the second day we waited for quit a while. One family took a particularly long time; it became obvious, since no one was checking, that they were going to keep the boards all day long. Other people just left their boards and paddles on the beach, instead of returning them like they were suppose to. So other people began just sharing them and taking turns rather then being told each time they went up to the rental station that none were available. This was the only area of lack I found in how things were run at the resort. We still got to use things, and we openly shared with others, but it was unorganized and if we were not as open and friendly, we may have never gotten to use these amenities. I have no problem going up and asking someone if I can use something if they have had it for hours and are just letting it sit. However not everyone is as outgoing and deserves to get what they paid for in their resort fees as well. The staff at the rental desk was again super friendly and welcoming, there was one particularly nice gentleman, Claude. When I found out about the arts and crafts and learned we had missed making the shark tooth necklace with Tristan (he loves sharks) he went behind the desk pulled out a shark tooth wrapped to hang on a necklace and gave it to us. He also spent a good amount of time talking to us and recommending things to do both with the resort and off property.
We took full advantage of the blender in our room, and when we went on our bike ride we stopped at the plaza on Periwinkle drive with Jerry’s Grocery and went to the Spirits store. J We trucked back with our rum and tequila, and stopped at the cute little Grocery store on property Bailey’s to get rum runner mix and margarita mix. (Ps. they have an amazing specialty coffee bar too). That night we also took advantage of the propane grills on property and cooked up steaks. I thought it was strange that they had grills but nowhere to sit and eat outside next to them, however, that did not matter to us because we had planned to eat inside looking out at our amazing beach view.
Alert to parents, I have a soon to be three year old, and he was able to get out the front door by himself in this unit! There are no security locks inside the door, and the ‘dead bolt’ unlocks when you pushdown on the door handle from inside. This was the only major thing I brought up at the front desk when we were leaving along with the bracelets not being souvenirs. A few things they could improve on I mentioned before, extra dishtowels, and dish soap/detergents. Picnic tables out at the grills would be nice, or somewhere close by. Also, having better routines for the amenities (particularly the water crafts) so everyone can enjoy them. A sign in the bathroom stating there are no daily towel changes without request. Also when we went late one day to the pool we also had a hard time finding a seat, but this is to be expected on a busy pool day at any resort, getting there early for a chair on a day planned at the pool would be something I would recommend, same on the beach unless you want to bring your own, which you can in certain areas.
All in all, our trip was a beautiful escape that everyone in the family enjoyed. It is a vacation I actually got to relax on, what a concept. The resort was lovely, the pool was average but clean and nice, and did have a little waterslide, which I thought was a nice touch, my son spent hours on it. The staff was above just courteous; we were made to feel on the most part like guests at someone’s home. There were wonderful amenities to actually go with the resort fee that so many resorts are now charging, with no ‘other’ hidden fees.
Well hope you enjoyed this little review, and get to have some lasting memories like ours with your family. Have you been to Sanibel? Tell us your favorite spots.
Until next time, enjoy the good life,
Woman on the Journey[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDcCUyMGNsYXNzJTNEJTIyc2lnbmF0dXJlJTIyJTNFQW1hbmRhJTIwSmVhbiUzQyUyRnAlM0UlMjA=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]
Tips and Tricks
Beware Trivago and Hotel Club deals pairing together. In my search for the best deal on a nice resort I found a great deal for $260 a night for a 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom at the Sundial Beach Resort on Trivago through Hotels Club. When I went to book this terrific ‘deal’ somewhere along the way my price changed to almost $300 a night (This is with out taxes and fees). I did not notice this with my rush to finish up the details till I got home from my trip and went to put the information into my accounting books. When I contacted Hotel Club the manager was quick to blame Trivago for the miss price information. But told me they would look into it on their side and get back to me in 72 hours. I am still waiting over 3 weeks later. I decided to contact Trivago since Hotel Club seemed to believe this was Trivago’s fault. Of course, if you can guess, Trivago answered me a few days later blaming Hotel Club for the miss information. This was just alot of blaming and no fixing of a valuable clients problem. So beware when booking a good deal on either of these sites and make sure through the ENTIRE process your price stays the one you clicked on.
This is no way was the Sundial Beach Resort’s fault, it was the booking process through Trivago and Hotel Club. We had a wonderful time at the Sundial and will be back, we just won’t book through Trivago or Hotel Club.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”531″ style=”vc_box_border” border_color=”white” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_single_image image=”532″ style=”vc_box_border” border_color=”white” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][vc_single_image image=”533″ style=”vc_box_border” border_color=”white” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row]