Longboat Key

Best Things Nearby:
The best things nearby! The beach is across the street (two-lane road) and through an access area. Not a long walk at all. There is a grocery store very close by. Restaurants all around, and the great thing is that they are mostly locally owned. Not many chain restaurants at all, which we love! Close to Sarasota, so you have G-Wiz science museum, the zoo, movies, putt-putt courses, dog track, fishing, parasailing, and many more water activities. The G-Wiz museum was great and was only $5.00 to get in. Very good value. There are some great restaurants too. The Salty Dog and the Rod & Reel Fishing Pier in Anna Island were our favorites.

Best Things About the Resort:
The units! Wow... 1600 square feet! Huge! We had one of the end units, 205, which had a balcony that stretched the length of the unit, one in the back and also one in the front that had a view of the ocean. We watched every sunset from it! The location is good! The lagoon was fun, and they have two manatees that come around every afternoon.

Resort Experience:
The units were great! Huge living room, with big master bedroom with garden tub, walk-in shower, and double sink area with large mirrors. Fully stocked kitchen, with washer and dryer, sweeper, etc. The balcony has a table and chairs for evening dinners, or even in the morning, that overlooks the bay. The resort has a small swimming pool, but the resort has only 15 units in the whole complex. The whirlpool wasn't working while we were there, but it was a warmer temperature. They have bicycles, fishing poles and buckets, pool toys, and sand toys that you can use for free. They also have videotapes and board games that you can check out from the main office. They also have a big rack of excursion pamphlets that you can thumb through. The staff was great about offering suggestions.

I would have liked to see: Internet access - no business center. You had to go to the local library (5 miles away) and pay to use the internet ($3.00 for 30 min). Also, there are no planned activities for kids. No concierge service, and their office closes before 5pm each night. We had issues with our microwave, and it took them 2 days to get us a new one. Small staff (I think only three people that I saw), so it was harder to get things done.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Good

This restaurant is on a pier that you have to walk out to on Anna Maria Island. You walk out on the ocean on the pier, and it's a two-story building. The restaurant is upstairs and is quite small, 6-10 tables. But you overlook the ocean, and it’s an excellent place to watch the sunset. The food was EXCELLENT! We had two appetizers, four main dinners (the ahi tuna was VERY good), two desserts (Key lime pie was GREAT), cocktails, and drinks, and our entire bill was $72 with tip. The staff was excellent.

This is a two-story museum that has over 100 hands-on science experiments for kids and adults. Our five- and eight-year-old LOVED it! The adults did too! You get to try out some really fun stuff! Make paper airplanes and shoot them out a tube, sprint off a starter block and race the person next to you, play an electronic harp, push pedals to create electricity, make shadow pictures and SO much more. Only $5-$6 to get in, which was a great value for what you get. You can usually find coupons on the brochures!