Maybe best ever vacation

Guest: jim v.
Date of Stay: 01/22/12 Review Submitted: 01/30/12

My wife and I have traveled extensively over the past twenty five years: Key West, Amelia Island, St. Augustine, Hilton Head, La Jolla, Carribean, DR, etc. but I do believe this was one of the best vacations ever. First of all, Mark and Wendy are great hosts; extremely helpful, courteous, cordial, & professional. Windswept is a wonderful home and everything is as advertised; the pictures do not do it justice and it is better in person. The beach is extremely close, the pool is fantastic as were the views. House is on the edge of the preserve and basically you have no neighbors except for the nature and wildlife surrounding the home. If you have children then you will love the loft with extra beds and the X-Box. Kitchen couldn't be more appealing and useful, and the jacuzzi was just heavenly. What more can I say? 10 out of 10 stars. Jim and Cheryl

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Fantastic Thanksgiving Vacation 2011

Guest: Love2Travel (Alpharetta, GA)
Date of Stay: 11/19/11 Review Submitted: 01/27/12

We had the best Thanksgiving ever on North Captiva Island. Windswept was everything we could have hoped for. Wendy was waiting for us at the dock when we arrived . She had her handyman help us unload our suitcases at the house and brought us cookies. The house was well equipped and had all high end appliances in the kitchen. Everything was well maintained and the furniture and the bedding was super comfortable. The weather was perfect that week, low 80's and hardly any rain. When we had a question about something in the house , Wendy answered her phone right away. She brought us more propane when we ran out in the outdoor grill. We quickly realized that having them on the island meant they would attend to all our needs. Mark and Wendy stopped by on Thanksgiving with homemade chocolates and we relaxed and chatted by the pool together for about an hour. We really enjoyed their company and talking about the island and its history. We are a family of five with 3 twenty something adult children. They loved the house, the HUGE TV in the living room (my son enjoyed this the best), the comfy bedding, couch, outdoor furniture and the privacy of the home. We played tennis at the club and took turns swimming at the club pool and our own private heated pool and going to the beach. We all enjoyed riding the golf carts all over the island . We accidentally left an empty suitcase under a bed at the house when we left, and Wendy was kind enough to mail it back to us at no charge !!! You will not be disappointed at Windswept !!

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Highly recommend a vacation at Windswept

Guest: Michelle L. (San antonio)
Date of Stay: 01/14/12 Review Submitted: 01/25/12

I choose a lot of vacations based on reviews by others, so I wanted to take the time to review Windswept. It is AWESOME!! We had our best family vacation ever. The House: It is beautiful, and is just as shown in the photos in this listing. You can tell that the house is cared for by the owners because every single detail is taken care of. My children are 1 and 4. They loved the upstairs playroom that was stocked with toys, games and books. We loved that they were entertained, and that the house had several high chairs, pack and play cribs, a toddler bed, a safety gate, etc. It is very kid friendly! The kitchen is wonderful for cooking meals; they have anything and everything you’d need to prepare any meal. We loved going up on the deck too, you can see the ocean on both sides of the house. It’s especially great at sunrise. We swam in the heated pool almost every day and my kids loved playing mini golf and using the slides on the play area. The Island: Just like the house, the island is beautiful! The beach access is about a 1 minute golf cart drive down a path. Most of the time we went to the beach, we were the only family or one of the only families there. It was wonderful. My hubby fished off the beach, my kids played in the sand, and I took a million photos of all of the fun. We enjoyed all of the people we met and trying each of the restaurants on the island. We saw tons of wildlife (tortoise, birds, dolphins, and manatee). The island is a very special place. The Owners: Mark and Wendy are extremely easy to work with. They go above and beyond to make sure their guests have a special vacation in a home that they built themselves. One day our TV was having a problem, and Mark was there to fix it (something we had messed up) within 5 minutes. When they say call with anything, they mean it. I’ve always rented from people who don’t live near the house I’m renting, so it was very nice to have them nearby. Also, Wendy helped me a ton before we left. She suggested Sandie’s Grocery Delivery to have the groceries delivered – I highly recommend this! Wendy also told me what we needed to pack, which was pretty much just clothes, they have everything else. All in all, I give this vacation an A+ and highly recommend Windswept.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Wonderful vacation!!

Guest: Tammy (Pardeeville, WI)
Date of Stay: 01/07/12 Review Submitted: 01/23/12

This was the most wonderful vacation. The house was beautiful, much nicer then the pictures! There is a Grand piano in the dining room, which was alot of fun. My 11 year old would play songs and the rest of us would song along. It felt like our house for the week. Mark and Wendy are such gracious hosts. When we arrived Wendy had homemade chocolate chip cookies for us, which was nice because we were all hungry from traveling all day. The first night we arrived we went to the top of the deck and got to see dolphins jumping. We toured the whole Island and this is by far the best house and is in the best location. It's pressed right against the wildlife reserve. We will rent this house on our next vacation.

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

Scottish Family Vacation

Guest: Sun loving Mum of 2 little boys! (Washington DC)
Date of Stay: 07/09/11 Review Submitted: 01/23/12

We had a WONDERFUL vacation at "Windswept" last year. My husband and I, and our 2 sons (ages 7 & 5) spent a glorious week with our sister and brother in law and nephew (ages 8) who had travelled from Scotland to have a very SPECIAL holiday with us. Wendy and Mark really pulled out the stops for us and attended to every last detail. The house was very clean and well maintained and the owners were "on hand" at any time - all we had to do was pick up the phone (but the need did not arise)! The description of the property was perfect and ticked all the boxes for us as a "2 family vacation". It really is a slice of paradise and we would TOTALLY recommend this property - WE WILL BE BACK!!!!

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

THE JAGGERS CLAN

Guest: TRACY j. (MALDON, ESSEX. UK)
Date of Stay: 04/30/11 Review Submitted: 01/23/12

WE STAYED AT THIS HOUSE FOR A WEEK AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT WENDY AND MARK COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WELCOMING INTO THEIR BEAUTIFUL HOME, AND PRIOR TO OUR ARRIVAL THEY HAD ASSISTED US IN ORGANISING A VERY SMALL, BUT EXQUISITE WEDDING FOR OUR SON. THERE IS NOTHING THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT THAT THIS HOUSE DOES NOT HAVE. THE LOCATION COULD NOT BE BETTER, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON NORTH CAPTIVA COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WELCOMING. A SCORE OUT OF 10 ??? 20!

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

Excellent holiday home in a little spot of paradise

Guest: therese p. (England)
Date of Stay: 07/16/11 Review Submitted: 01/23/12

We stayed at Windswept for a week last summer and had the most fantastic time. There were only five of us, ranging in age from 12 to 50s and we all loved both the house and island. The house itself is of an extremely high standard, very comfortable and well equipped and had plenty of space for a larger group. The island is one of the most relaxing places I have been to. No cars, just golf buggies to get you round. It was wonderful to be able to go to the beach for long walks and meet hardly a soul. We perfected the "Captiva Crouch" enjoying our time searching for the beautiful shells that are on these shores. The beach is a couple of minutes drive in your golf buggy and the house has plenty of beach chairs and umbrellas to take with you if you want. We tended to enjoy lazing around the pool and then having walks on the beach. My husband enjoyed early morning fishing trips, both from the beach and by using a kayak from the yacht club, which you have membership of when staying at the house. I had been concerned before going as there are no supermarkets on the island and you have to take everything with you on the ferry. I need not have worried. There was an excellent supermarket on the mainland near to the ferry dock. The staff at the ferry were extremely helpful in helping us put everything on the boat and when we got to the island we were met by Wendy and her family, who were brilliant at helping us with all the luggage and then showing us around the house. During our week there they were extremely helpful if we wanted to ask them a question but otherwise left us to enjoy this special house. At the yacht club there was a store which did sell some essentials - like wine if we had run out! There are a couple of restaurants on the island, which we enjoyed. At the time we went they were not open every evening but we were happy at the house having BBQs and watching the brilliant sunsets from the decks. The views are over the nature reserve, which you are right next to, we enjoyed the tourtoise strolling past. The pictures on the website do give a very good idea of what the house is like. A lovely place to stay.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Fantastic Family Getaway Vacation!

Guest: Jane C. (LaGrange, Ohio)
Date of Stay: 01/21/11 Review Submitted: 01/22/12

this was one of the best vacations we have ever had. our children are grown and we chose to have a family vacation at Windswept. from the moment that Wendy picked us up at the ferry our lives switched from rushed and busy to total relaxation in paradise! Seriously, the home is beautiful, comfortable and really fun. it is so unique and we had a blast discovering all the beautiful things Wendy and Mark have furnished the home with. here are some of our favorite things: Gourmet kitchen, grand piano, golf carts to get around the island, walking distance to the beach, heated pool, comfy beds and furniture, beautiful views from all the windows, fun tower, direct tv, and soooooo much more. Wendy and Mark are gracious and friendly hosts. perfect place for a family getaway.

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Bad VBRO

Guest: mary (boulder colorado)
Date of Stay: 01/02/12 Review Submitted: 01/12/12

Please note that reviews are posted by the owner. The owners posted a false review for our stay. When we arrived the owner met us at the dock. He was RUDE and very accusatory. He wanted to make sure we did not have more than 12 people at the house. I explained that we had rented 3 houses on the island. He also told us that he did not think it was a good idea for us to have our handicap mother staying with us. Every day we were harrassed by them. I am a mature (50 years old) adult with grown children. We had two other families stay on the island at the same time and they felt the same. The pool was not heated, they said because it was too loud for previous renters?? We were told there would be 3 golf carts and were provided two, and the house was very far from the beach. I have rented over 10 homes on VRBO and this was our only bad experience. I have notified VRBO that the owner is posting false reviews!! We received our security deposit back today.

Owner response:This is the only negative review and only bad guest we have had in over 100 rentals of this property. We have a beautiful home and make every effort possible to maintain it in top working condition while providing exceptional, friendly, and personalized service to our guests. She is upset because we tried to enforce our 12 person maximum at any time policy, which was clearly communicated to her prior to her rental booking. She was very dishonest with how she represented her group to us. We feel that 20+ people using our home is just too much. This guest has posted many false statements: 1) Please note that all guest comments posted by us are 100% real. They are directly from the guestbook and comment cards. We have copies to prove it. 2) The pool at the property is always heated and set to 83deg. One evening was uncharacteristically cold, taking longer to heat up the pool the next morning. We responded immediately and the pool was right at 85 each day after that. 3) Our property has 27 steps up to the first floor. Our property is available for rent to all people. We had simply tried to be helpful when suggesting that her mother would have easier access in and out of one of the other specific homes they had rented because it was on the ground level and had no steps to traverse. 4) We provided them with 3 golf carts.... 2 blue carts and 1 pink cart which we and our island neighbors witnessed their entire family driving all week. 5) Beach access is directly at the end of our street (approx. 1000 feet) and takes just 1 minute in the golf cart. To protect and keep the property luxurious and beautiful for all of our guests, we absolutely do not allow more than 12 guests to rent or use our property. This person agreed in writing to our occupancy limit which we made very clear in every communication. She assured us with, "We will be well under 12 people. Some coming and going for a few days." Nevertheless, she had 20+ people congregating on the property for their New Year's week bash. We were not very happy that they lied to us about their usage plans and they told us we should "just get used to it." After 4 full days of work and more dollars spent than their security deposit ever could have covered, we were able to replace all bed linens, scrape up food debris left everywhere, patch marred walls and furniture, plus repair 2 broken golf carts – luckily just in time for our next guests who had a great stay.

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Perfect Vacation

Guest: Rassel Family from California & Michigan USA (-)
Date of Stay: 12/26/11 Review Submitted: 01/01/12

Thank you again for helping to make the perfect vacation. We wish you laughter and prosperity in 2012.

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