My husband and I rented this home the week after Thanksgiving for a quiet, much needed vacation. Overall, this home was everything as described and the photos were an accurate representation. While we would have preferred to stay on the gulf side of Captiva (nothing was available), this home sits on the bay side and has the most AMAZING views!! The location was perfect as it was an easy walk to the Village for dining and to the beach for watching the most beautiful sunsets! And although we didn't plan it, there was a full moon the week we stayed and WOW, was this beautiful shining on the bay ... the water just glistened with the light from the moon. This was a special treat for sure!
Because I rely heavily on reviews when booking vacation rentals, I am going to share some disappointments with this property. However, I did rate this home very good because OVERALL this is a great home for a vacation. I believe that it is good to share our concerns/issues so you can make an informed decision or ask the owner if they fixed the problems.
The disappointment we experienced was with the pool/hot tub. One of the main criteria in my search for this vacation was a 'heated' pool and hot tub (especially in late November when the temps drop down at night). Unfortunately, this pool was very cold upon arrival and when we followed the directions to heat ... it still did not get warm enough to enjoy. We contacted the owner on Monday morning and within an hour someone was there to check it out (very fast response time!) and he made some adjustments so that the pool finally did get warm enough to enjoy during the day but not quite warm enough to enjoy for a night swim and the hot tub NEVER did get hot enough to enjoy. Again, since a heated pool/hot tub were one of our primary desires in a rental home ... this home failed to deliver.
The home also advertised free 'WIFI', however, I was not able to connect to it because it required a password and when I contacted the owner, they did not know the password so that was not very helpful.
Overall, the kitchen was well stocked, however, the fry pan/skillets were in terrible shape to the point that frying bacon 'stuck' to the pans. The handles on the kitchens cabinets were 'sticky' ... which did not give me a great sense of cleanliness in what was in the cabinets! We also had the unfortunate luck to experience tiny little ants in the kitchen during our stay. The first morning I was going to toast a bagel and there were ants crawling all over them! When I checked the pantry where the dry goods were stored ... yep, ants everywhere. Luckily, most items were sealed so that we did not lose it all and from that point on, I had to store all these items in the microwave because no counter space was safe from the ants. When I contacted the owner about the pool heat and WIFI questions, I mentioned the ants and they told me that the house was sprayed right before we arrived. I do understand that these things happen as I am a homeowner and have also experienced ants from time to time and they are hard critters to get rid of ... just wish I didn't have to deal with this on my vacation.
This home offered great space and would be ideal for a family or several couples. One of the best rooms was the screened porch which offered beautiful views of bay and pool area. The only downside to the porch was the furniture ... while a nice dining table, the chairs could have used some cushions to be comfortable (they were a hard metal with a scroll pattern) so we used towels to try and cushion the seats.
I do want to close by saying that this owner was very responsive and apologetic to our concerns and provided a refund with our returned deposit as a token of his apology ... this was unexpected and appreciated.
Some tips for Captiva ... we LOVE this area and recommend vacationing on this island! We recommend dining at the Key Lime Bistro ... great food, live music, and the BEST key lime pie!! Also, dine at the Mucky Duck ... not only can you experience the most beautiful sunset from their beachside area while enjoying a cocktail and live music, the food inside is great too! We rented a boat one day from 'Tween the Waters Marina and enjoyed a day trip on the water to Cabbage Key and had lunch at the famous "Cheeseburger in Paradise" restaurant at Cabbage Key Inn. Also recommend renting bikes to tour the island.
Todas las reservaciones son directas con el propietario 