After thoroughly researching resorts in the Fort Myers area, I booked a newer, high-end luxury resort on the southern end of the Fort Myers strip. The resort is lovely, amenities were fabulous, and the beachfront location was ideal.
This is a three-diamond resort that afforded us a partial ocean view; spacious, screened-in balcony; luxurious master bath complete with large Jacuzzi tub; blow dryer; upscale, Ralph Lauren furnishings; and a roomy living and dining area complete with wet bar; cable TV and DVD player; full kitchen (modern, flat-top stove); full-sized, en-suite washer/dryer; and much more. King bed in the master; fresh resort robes hanging in the closet; Bath and Body Works toiletries; outdoor heated pool; and an oversized, adjacent hot tub overlooking the beach. We had paid for a one bedroom suite. However, after check-in, we realized we were going to get more for our money. A two-bedroom, two-bath unit instead of the one-bedroom we were paying for. We were delighted to be paying $139 per night for a luxurious, half-million dollar, two-bedroom beachfront condo!
On our first day out, we took a walk along this extremely wide, striking white beach. We found that the resort rents cabanas by the day or week out at the beach. The cabanas are lovely and include two wooden, oversized, well-padded lounge chairs for approximately $15 a day. We had hoped to find a few nice shells on this beach, but found only a few small shells here. The ocean here is blue green and semi-transparent. The beach behind the resort was not crowded. This beach is so wide that it's almost a hike to get to the ocean.
The staff here is very pleasant, welcoming, and accommodating. At around lunchtime, you'll often find a resort employee or two cooking up free hotdogs and providing ice-cream to resort guests. There is a picnic area right next to the pool, along with a few BBQ pits.
We found the majority of guests to be from various southern states. However, one couple we met at the pool was from Germany. We spent half our week chatting with them poolside.
You won't find a restaurant or room service here. However, there are soda and snack machines just outside the elevators in the pool area. While this resort is conveniently located to many restaurants, the restaurants are really not close enough to be within walking distance.
If arriving after hours, the resort will place your room key in a lock box at the entrance door to the resort. They will provide you with a coded combination to enter next to the lockbox which will open the box, allowing you to retrieve your room keys.
As picky as I am, I could really only find one drawback to this resort...they really didn't make the pool large enough. As a result, we often found it crowded and with no available lounge chairs. Get out there early!