Vacation Rentals by Owner

Mini Family Reunion

Guest: Mike (Overland Park, KS)
Date of Stay: 05/04/12 Review Submitted: 05/16/12

Our recent stay with 7 adult family members was very nice. The home contained all of the essential items that you would need. We were treated to fresh Mangos and limes from the fruit trees in the yard. We particularly enjoyed the oversized screened veranda with a nearly new Ping-Pong table. The home was short walk to the beach and close proximity to Ding Darling. While this is not our first stay on Sanibel Island it was our first time renting a home. We would certainly consider staying at this home again in the future.

Owner response:Thank you for your comments. Guests like you make it all worthwhile.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Wonderful Place to Enjoy Sanibel

Guest: Carmeltravel (Carmel, IN)
Date of Stay: 03/31/12 Review Submitted: 04/16/12

This home had everything we needed for our week stay - beach chairs, coolers, bikes and plenty of room to relax at home when we weren't on the beach. The owner even called to make sure we had everything we needed while we were there- he also provided a list of local restaurants and favorite spots. The home was very clean and a new couch was delivered while we were there which shows the attention to detail the owner has for his guest's comfort.

Owner response:Thank you for your kind comments! We always try to do better each year.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing.

Sandy Bottom was great.

Guest: john g.
Date of Stay: 03/10/12 Review Submitted: 03/25/12

A tree frog and a small lizard greeted us when we arrived at Sandy Bottom. While some would not find this a great start to a vacation, these little critters foreshadowed the mulititude of wildlife that we encountered on our glorious vacation! Sandy Bottom is a terrific house!! While a little dated, it is spacious, well equipped, and very comfortable. It became our home-away-from-home in a matter of hours! One of the most wonderful features of the house is the lanai where our family spent most of our "house time." We enjoyed leisurely meals, played games, and made our plans while enjoying this spectacular outdoor living space. A highlight each day was the glorious private beach which that is a short walk or bike ride away from Sandy Bottom. My family enjoyed the beach from morning until evening. It was especially fun to explore the beach and search for unique sea shells to take home. We were also treated to numerous "pelican parades" and "dolphin dances" while soaking up the sun and relaxing on the beach. We experienced a minor hiccup when the washing machine broke. While this was inconvenient, I was extremely impressed by the owner's responsiveness and quick attention to getting things taken care of in a manner that did not negatively impact our vacation. The homeowner was quite thoughtful and sensitive to our inconvenience and my family greatly appreciated this. Sandy Bottom and the property are well maintained and in a comfortable residential neighborhood. The yard is just as wonderful as the house! We were treated to a fruit tree filled with fresh kumquats in the yard. The were a great addition to the at-home meals that we enjoyed on the lanai. In addition to kumquats, there are other fruits that were not yet ripe when we left. I hope to get to sample them on a future trip. This trip was a celebration of my wife's 50th birthday. She is a avid cyclist and rode for many miles each day along the spectacular biking paths that weave through Sanibel and Captiva Islands. She had said that she will happily turn 50 every year if she can do it in Sanibel! Our entire family loved everything about the trip and agrees that this is the best vacation that we have ever had!! I happily and highly recommend Sandy Bottom and Sanibel Island to anyone looking for a glorious, sunny, laid back vacation. We definitely hope to return!

Owner response:Thank you for your kind comments. We are always trying to improve our service and our guests Sanibel experience. Your comments really help us know that we are "getting it right" in our efforts achieve our goal.

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Enjoyed our stay.

Guest: KY Traveler (KY)
Date of Stay: 10/18/11 Review Submitted: 11/01/11

Just got back from a week stay here and had a great time. The house is huge and met our needs. It is close to the beach and we rode their bikes everyday! It was well equipped with everything stated in the details of the house. It does need an updated kitchen and baths. The property was clean and well maintained. We would rent again. The Shell Museum was very interesting and well put together. Shopping was fun. Eating out even better; favorites of ours were Trader's Cafe, Doc Ford's, Over easy Cafe, George & Wendy's and the Bubble Room in Captiva.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Great location!

Guest: Kirstie (Austin, Texas)
Date of Stay: 08/06/11 Review Submitted: 08/25/11

PROS: Home is in great location, short walk to beach, nice back patio, fairly large, great washer/dryer. Plenty of bikes. Lots of linen/towels. Really liked Sanibel. CONS: Home was very outdated. Rollout bed was broken (head dropped downward) and wires stuck into back. This created a real problem since we were two people short of having somewhere to sleep. Very uncomfortable. Ceiling fan in guest room made horrible noise, guest room TV hung from top of wall, but there was NO REMOTE! Not relaxing jumping up and down to change channels and stretching to reach TV buttons. No cable - could have gotten better amenities in hotel. Nice time though.

Owner response:It is very important to us that our guests enjoy our home and their vacation experience on Sanibel. We rarely receive any complaints and always act on any issues immediately. Had we been contacted, our maintenance people would have remedied the sleeper sofa and fan immediately. Now the TV remote. that would bug me too, particularly now that its football season! As it turns out the cleaning staff found the errant TV remote lodged between the bed frame and bed. Don't understand the "no cable", the home has cable and wireless internet. We are always happy to receive guests comments and these comments will help us "step up" our monitoring of our service! Thank you for your comments.

Recommended for:Families with young children, pet owners, sightseeing.

Our best Sanibel vacation yet!

Guest: Barbara (Kings Beach, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/02/11 Review Submitted: 07/26/11

We’ve stayed on Sanibel many times over the past 10 years or so. My family stayed two weeks this time, and we can’t wait to come back. What a great vacation experience you’ve provided in your wonderful home. The kitchen was fully outfitted with everything we could possibly need. I think my favorite part of staying in your home was its layout….The kids slept in one wing and adults in another….very nice. The huge patio, BBQ & ping pong table was a winner too! Enough bicycles for our entire (6 adults & 4 kids) family. This was a great savings for us vs. renting bicycles! We had a lot of fun biking the bike paths every morning to all parts of Sanibel & Captiva. (The Mucky Duck for lunch is our favorite....right on the beach! ) The wildlife we saw along the way was phenomenal! We like this end of the island very much. The beach close & not as busy as the east end beaches…miles of white sand and so many shells. Birds everywhere. Gorgeous sunsets. Thanks for providing so many great beach toys! The guys went fishing on the beach almost every day. We had a great time and we’re looking forward to our next stay in your home!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Great time!

Guest: Barney (Charleston So Carolina)
Date of Stay: 06/03/11 Review Submitted: 07/27/11

We were two families and it worked great, the house is huge, clean and well laid out. The kitchen had everything we needed. The library of cook books instigated a cooking contest every night while the kids had ping pong turneys on the very cool competition table. Big yard with lots of fruit trees. We caught the tail end of the Lechee Nut season and had them and Mangoes every day. The beach was beautiful and my kids are still inventorying their incredible shells. We used the bikes every day and had a ball at the rec center. It was an awesome vacation!! We will definitely be back!!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Great Family Vacation Home

Guest: McLeod Family Reunion (Orlando, Fl)
Date of Stay: 05/07/11 Review Submitted: 05/23/11

Our stay at this property was great, the desriiption of the home was very accurate. The beach was only a short walking distance and was as private as described, we only ran into a handful of people and more times than not we were by ourselves. You do need to bring a few frying pans but other than that it had absolutely everything needed, including an abundance of linens & towels. The house was laid out perfectly for familys, with bedrooms on each side ot the house, it was great for putting the little ones to bed early. Everyone enjoyed the 9 bikes.

Owner response:Thank you for your thoughtful comments. No need to "bring your own" frying pans, new ones have been purchased.

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, pet owners, sightseeing.

Seven days in heaven

Guest: lisa (Germany)
Date of Stay: 05/20/10 Review Submitted: 12/19/10

We rented Mike's house this May for seven days. And this seven days we loved every day. The house was really huge - we had a friend with us, 89 years, she couldn't find her room even after seven days. The house offered everything we needed, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer und 8 new bicycles. Going to the beach took us 5 minutes walk, going to the village was a great pleasure, many good restaurants, a perfekt library - don't miss it. Duty is also a boat ride - the dolphins follow you. Our dog loved the house and the island also. I think Sanibel and specialy the house is the best way to enjoy Florida.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, tourists without a car, pet owners, sightseeing.

Sanibel retreat

Guest: Wi girls (Wisconsin)
Date of Stay: 05/01/10 Review Submitted: 05/14/10

We spent a beautiful week in May. The home was everything and more than we expected. The rooms are spacious, the kitchen well stocked and the lanai was incredible. Its just a short walk to the beach where you will find amazing shellling. We would go back in a heartbeat.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway.

Great house, Great Layout

Guest: WholeFamOhio (Cincinnati)
Date of Stay: 01/10/10 Review Submitted: 01/24/10

The house is perfect for families who need to have separate spaces for many people. There are 2 family rooms, and the 4 bedrooms are split into groups of 2 at opposite ends of the house with each having a family room, which is really great when you are traveling with a 2 year old who goes to bed early. The house has everything you would ever need to stay busy including bikes, a ping pong table, a grill (with all the tools), beach chairs, even movies and books and games for rainy days. Our only complaints are that the twin beds had old mattresses that were not very comfortable. The master bed was new, and I understand the 2nd master (queen) was replaced the day we left. Also, the hot water heater was not big enough to accommodate 6 adults taking showers every morning (which with 3 full baths is not un-realistic). It is not luxurious, but it was clean, comfortable, and for a large family, it was great.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children.

Guest: Claire St.Leger (Hingham, MA)
Date of Stay: 12/01/09 Review Submitted: 12/01/09

We loved our stay in this home. The home was spacious and clean. Plenty of room for our party of 9. We especially loved the bikes and being able to ride to the beach and other areas. The beach was great and shelling was awesome!

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Guest: Nonda Meng (-)
Date of Stay: 08/15/09 Review Submitted: 08/15/09

We loved the ROOMS! What a spacious house! Clean and very close to the beach! Bikes were great (New) and we loved the yard! This house fit all our needs!

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Guest: Anonymous
Date of Stay: 07/14/09 Review Submitted: 07/14/09

Just returned home from 6 nights in this lovely home. There was more than enough space for our family of six. The home had everything we needed. We have already recommended it to family and friends who also love Sanibel. The beach was nearby and very private. Shelling was great!! Beautiful Captiva is also just down the road. We are already making plans to return next year. Jane Brausam

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Guest: Sandi Powell (-)
Date of Stay: 07/08/09 Review Submitted: 07/08/09

We needed a place for 6 people requiring 4 bedrooms. This home was perfect. Large, comfy, and 3 bathrooms which made a big difference. The beach was incredible, CLOSE, with few people and great shelling. The house had everything you could need including new bikes. We loved it.

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Guest: Mary Ann Cole C. (-)
Date of Stay: 07/08/09 Review Submitted: 07/08/09

We stayed a week in June. What a place, spacious, clean, well appointed. Big bedrooms. I think of myself as a gourmet cook and this kitchen had everything I needed. We picked some Lechee nuts and Mangoes from the yard for our daily fruit salad. The beach is beautiful & private. One of our kids caught 3 Sea Trout & a 6 Lb. Snook. The bicycles are new and we used them to ride down to the new Sanibel rec center for a day of exercize and the kids had a ball in the pools. We'll be back!!!

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Guest: Barbara33 (Incline Village, Nevada)
Date of Stay: 01/02/09 Review Submitted: 01/02/09

This is our second stay. After paying $495/nt. for a 2 bedroom & a crowded beach, this is unbelievable. It's big & clean w/ the best beach on Sanibel & private. On our first trip we saw nesting turtles, this time, nesting Great Egrets and a pair of Bald Eagles.

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Guest: George18 (Atlanta, Ga)
Date of Stay: 01/01/09 Review Submitted: 01/01/09

Stayed over Christmas. Very spacious, clean, huge inside. Beautiful beach with very few people. I'll be back

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