We left St. Pete Beach with a laughing and a weeping eye to travel south, passing a large bridge across the Tampa Bay, down to Sarasota / Bradenton and further to Ft. Myers and Ft. Myers Beach.
Our Travel Agency booked a nice little Hotel with direct Beach access.
We were not too much positive as this Hotel has only a two star ranking.
Fortunately we then were surprised that this ranking is absolutely nonsense in this case.
(Guess what, we have booked again for 2018!)
The only downside was that massive renovation is/was ongoing there and we have not been informed about the situation upfront.
(Well – now that Irma has passed here, I bet they need to renovate again, unfortunately).
The room we got was newly renovated and clean. Had two Queen Size Beds and enough space for us four.
It was absolutely ok for 5 nights and our plans for the next days. The Hotel has a small Café where Breakfast and Lunch is served – across the street you’ll find a place for good steaks – and if you don’t like to use one of the Food Offerings there – just cross the street – get some Donuts from the 7eleven and have your Breakfast at the Beach.
During our stay we had “Stingray season” – so we needed to be careful when stepping into the water – but this was absolutely no problem.
Shuffle your feet through the sand in the shallow water and nothing bad happens! Stingrays will hunt their prey but will move around you and don’t hurt you if you don’t try to touch them. That’s at least what we experienced.
PLUS:
The location is within easy reach of Sanibel Island, Fr. Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Marco Island and Everglades City.
There’s lot to see and to do:
- Ft. Myers offers f.i. some interesting Museums, like Edison´s Home (the guy who invented the light bulb, the microphone, the grammophone and many more things)
- Naples has a wonderful Zoo. A must see if you have children – and also if not.
Shopping: Third Street South – for the rich (get your Gucci….) – or Coastland Center for the lesser rich! - Sanibel and Captiva have beautiful beaches – f.i. Bowmans Beach – with lots of shells to collect
Eating out and getting drunk?
Either stay at the Hotel and enjoy a nice dinner at the Restaurant across the street – or
Travel north on Estero Island Road and visit f.i. the Beached Whale – beautiful outside sitting enjoying Burgers and Fish.
Or travel south to Naples or Coral Gables. Our recommendations – if you are not in fear of a 45 Minutes drive
Michelbobs Place for Ribs – the best ribs in Southwest Florida – Guaranteed – we have tried!
Naples North is also good for Chain Restaurants like Outback (which offered excellent Steaks btw), Dunkin Donuts, Wafflehouse, etc.
But if you are looking for more organic stuff – so better places for decent food is f.i. the Riverwalk Restaurant at Tin City, Naples
Some Impressions:
