First Visit to Florida March 2012

Hi - again would really appreciate any help/advice anyone could give me regarding accommodation in Florida next March. Firstly, I have never visited Florida before so am not familiar with the geography! However, have spoken to friends and the general idea for an itinerary is as follows:-

Stay 3 nights in Miami (hopefully Mandarin Oriental - we would probably not want to stay on South Beach as we are not night owls!) - then my idea is to find a really nice, luxury villa with private pool for 7 - 10 days. I am thinking the Naples area which seems a good place to use as a base for visiting places on the Gulf Coast. Does anybody have contacts, good websites or knowledge of where to stay around that area? Although it is just the 2 of us travelling, I'd rather have a larger property which will give us good living space, and don't mind price (within reason) as long as it is clean and luxurious!

Many thanks in advance
Sally

Hi Sally

We are off to Florida in Feb 2012, a week in Orlando then we have booked a 2 bed condo on Marco Island for the 2nd week. We wanted somewhere with a sea view and on the coast there don't appear to be many villas.
I just did a google search and there were lots of sites where you can enter your requirements/dates and it brings back a selection of properties.

Hope that helps ?
L2H

Hi Sally,
We are also off to Florida our first time in March. 2 adults +13 year old twins though, so doubtful if our holiday will be as relaxed as yours. We`re staying at Fairfield Inn, very reasonable on the price for 4 of us, and has their own pool and jacuzzi, ideal to relax evening after a hard time round the parks. Private villas sound beautiful but for our first time in USA hubby didn`t want to drive, so we needed somewhere close by I-Drive to get to everything easy. Where are you travelling from? We`re going from Manchester on 28th. Don`t know if anyone else on V-flyer will be there on this day, nice to put a face to the name. Have a lovely time in Florida.

Hi Sally, I own a villa in Orlando and it's a VERY different market on the gulf coast, especially around the Naples/Marco Island area. Many in that area will be for long term rental as snowbirds tend to use them from Jan-March and will pay handsomely and re-book every year when they find a property they like. Any villas you find will mostly be 2 or 3 beds, larger ones are rare, and usually without pools.

However, if you're happy to be around the Rotunda West, Bradenton, Cape Coral area then you'll find lots of luxury villas with pools but they won't be on the beach, more like a 20 min drive. Some are situated on waterways and have very pleasant views.

If you want to be in central Naples/Marco island then I'd consider a condo as those will be much easier to source. If you can't find one suitable then, hotel wise, I can recommend The Bellasera in Naples and The Marriott on Marco Island.

I can give you some contacts for accommodation if you need them, just let me know.

Jilly

firstly you have chosen a great month. march is beautiful, it should be dry sunny warm but not blazing hot.

Naples is gorgeous but quite pricey both renting and eating out. I would suggest try and find a villa in or around Lely which is a few minutes drive from Naples beach.

Going further up the coast Fort Myers beach -you can get some amazing vilas right on the beach- but NOT cheaply. Avoid Fort Myers itself and Cape Coral.
Next up is Rotonda (where we live) villas here will cost you aroudn £450 a week. you are 15 mins from everything yet in a nice quiet area (hence why we love it). Boca Grande Beach is very nice (its where George Bush Snr Vacations) as are Englewood and Manasota Key Beaches.

next decent place up is sarasota. big city but very nice. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world (siesta key) again pricier.

with all due respect to Jilly Cape Coral and Bradenton are areas I would avoid as they can have some less desirable elements.

for websites try FRVBO.com ,villas direct, myfloridacoastal.com
or villas2000.com

any more info -especially on the Rotonda area please ask.

One last thing picking up on tigerlees post. Driving is EASY in Fla and in my very humble opinion a villa with private pool is ten times better than a hotel and makes the holiday.

good luck

I'm no night owl any more (I'm too old these days ) but I would reconsider the choice of hotel in Miami. Whilst the MO is nice you may feel a little isolated up on Bricknell Key. The whole point for me about staying in Miami is to be on the beach (it doesn't have to be SB) and being able to walk the boardwalk and surrounding area viewing the stunning architecture that exists, people watching on Lincoln Rd Mall/ SB and being eat and drink in one of the many eateries/bars without having to drive or catch a cab.
I'm not sure when you are going in March but be warned that Spring Break can be somewhat wild in Miami and there is also a music festival in March which is REALLY noisy and generally focused around SB (I've been there for both and got very little sleep either time :0 but was staying in the thick of the action LOL).
DL

Thank you all for your advice - very much appreciated.

DragonLady - I have heeded your advice re MO - could I ask you if you have a preferred 4/5 star on Miami Beach? We are going on 12th March and looking to spend 3 nights there to look around. I am now hoping that date doesn't clash with the events you mention!!

Will be in touch with jilly and flabound, if I may, when I have researched the areas you mention.

Thanks again
Sally

Hey Sally

My wife and I have just come back from the Naples area a couple of weeks ago and can agree with the posters above that say it is a gorgeous place.

I do, however, disagree that there are not many 4/5 bed villas for rental around this area as we look at a substantial amount prior to booking. The villa we stayed at was in a secure, gated and very pleasant community called Briarwood. This is conveniently situated close-ish from the I75 (5 mins drive), 15-20 mins drive from the town and beach and close to the Coastland Centre (center!) Mall.

The Villa we stayed at was good but I am not going to recommend it to you as I am not sure of what kind of luxury you're looking for!! The website for the house is http://www.venetianpalmsnaples.com, if you want to have a look anyway.

Have stayed in Miami but not for a few years, so no recommendations there. The drive from Miami took us around 2 hours direct on I-75 but I love driving over there anyway!

Enjoy y)

Mark

The Loews is nice and very central to all that SB has to offer (and a bit too high end for the vacationing students/ music revellers).The Tides is rated highly too and probably where I'll stay when I'm next in Miami (not cheap so a more selective crowd too as above). There are some great smaller art deco hotels too.
Miami is fabulous (it's just the airport that is truely vile v( )
DL
PS I think the music festival is at the end of March next year but you will probably catch some spring breakers .

I have stayed in the Tides which is fab......but we coincided with some beach music festival and sleep was difficult. I have also stayed in the Brickell Bay area and loved it. There is a free train from there to SB .......just a couple of stops. So to me the best of both worlds.

Sarasota has so much to do and is beautiful.....but I am biased as I have a home there

There is so much choice in Florida and it is not all about the Mouse ):

Sunshine 8D