We have vacationed on North Captiva three times in the past four years, the first time being at the Lazy Dolphin (North Captiva Island Club unit 121) in 2004, when we had a wonderful time. The house's layout, amenities and proximity to the beach were ideal and we decided we definitely wanted to visit the house again. The next time we came to visit was in 2006; we had tried to book The Lazy Dolphin but it was unavailable. So we rented another house, and though it was nice, we were always comparing it to the superiority of Lazy Dolphin.

In February 2008 we returned to Lazy Dolphin. Compared to our first visit, we were quite disappointed in the condition of the house. Obviously, with a house as popular as Lazy Dolphin, we would expect a degree of wear and tear, but we would also expect a house which rents for several thousand dollars a week to receive better maintenance than was evident. Among the problems we discovered upon our arrival:

· Sugar ant infestation in the kitchen
· Swimming pool cloudy and full of sand upon arrival, and there was no pool cleaning service during the week; twice a week pool cleaning is specified in placard by pool
· Swimming pool heater never heated the pool, despite two service calls to correct
· Sliding glass doors throughout the house were difficult, almost impossible to operate
· Electrical problem in pool bar; we got shocked a few times
· Two smoke detectors in the house were removed from their mounts and found hidden in closet and TV console
· No less than 18 light bulbs throughout the house were burned out, which made the house quite dark at night
· There was impact damage to walls in the mezzanine and in the second master bedroom
· The Play Station was inoperative; one connector was physically broken
· Lid on blanket chest in master bedroom was damaged
· We found dust, dead insects and many places in the house that were not cleaned properly
· One of our children experienced insect bites in bed during our first two nights, this ended when we washed her bed linens
· No balls for foosball table by pool
· No darts for dartboard
· All board games had missing pieces
· Most of the CD's and DVD's were missing; no discs in cases
· Several kitchen area windows were inoperative or damaged
· Direct-TV remote in second bedroom inoperative, even with new
batteries
- Telephones not working because of lack of DSL filters
· Lower floor vacuum didn't have a bag and was clogged

I delivered this list to the North Captiva Island Club office the day after we arrived. from this entire list, we received a can of ant killer spray, six light bulbs, a chlorine tablet was thrown in the pool (but the sand was left) and a technician came out look at the phones (but he was unable to fix them without the proper filters). According to the Island Club personnel, the house was vacant for several days prior to our arrival, which would have been adequate time to inspect, discover and fix most of these problems. Some of these problems were mere inconveniences, while others were serious safety hazards, and still others affected the advertised amenities which any guest would expect to be in working order.

While most Island Club personnel were kind, there was no sense of urgency or accommodation to having the house ready or fixing the problems we discovered, even though we were spending thousands of our hard-earned dollars to rent the house. Almost every problem had an excuse, and few personnel seemed to really care enough to make sure the house was acceptable.

After returning home I contacted the owner to let him know of the disappointing condition we found his house. Knowing that he depends on North Captiva Island Club to maintain his house and keep it in good condition for his customers, I felt obligated to inform him of what had transpired. Only after this were we assured that "almost everything would be fixed," which is fine for future guests, but why couldn't these items be fixed prior to or during our stay? The manager/owner of NCIC, Bryan Brilhart, offered us 20% off our next stay plus an extra golf cart & boat slip, but we would have prefered a partial refund...since he was offering a 20% discount, we asked for a refund of that amount. Sadly, it has been almost 2 weeks and we have not received a reply.

Based on this experience, we're not even sure if we would go back to North Captiva. if we do go back, we would definitely avoid choosing a house operated by North Captiva Island Club. We expect more professionalism, better maintenance, and better service when spending thousands of our dollars.

All this said, I would like to give special recognition for outsanding service to the personnel of Mango's, everyone there was mighty friendly and willing to help out. One young man was very helpful...I had arrived just seconds after the store closed, needing to buy matches for the grill (none in the house) and his manager had just locked up and he couldn't get back into the store, so he just gave me his lighter.
Also, at one point my wife was unwell, so we asked the firemen/medics to come by. They were quite professional, helpful and friendly, and I am glad to say she was feeling better the next day.

Loved the Lazy Dolphin. Spoke to the owner Bill and booked through the club. Maybe not the easiest system (no online reservations) and logistics are tough - but definitely worth the trouble. Make sure to plan out your meals and bring own food (we brought too much). Lazy Dolphin had everything we needed to cook/prepare our meals. Lots of extra dishes, silverware, pots and pans (were just adequate) Enough towels, blankets, books, things to do. We forgot music cds but didn't really need the extra entertainment.
We spent mornings at the club (tennis courts are great BTW) and at the pool (one heated the other not so much - I only went in once). There was never anyone there until afternoon and it felt like our private club.
Home for lunch and then afternoon activities (bike rides, other side of island park, golf cart tours) until sunset. In December the sun set pretty early so we were home by 7-8pm every night and would eat dinner together then listen to the water crashing all night long. The beaches were great too (a little cold for me, but I saw plenty of people in water).
One more good thing about the Lazy Dolphin is that all of the terraces are screened in (pool, first and second floors). So big french doors stayed open all day and breezes cooled inside with NO BUGS!
I did not want our week to end - and would go back in a second.

We rented the White Pelican Watch and got a nice off season rate ($3,400) for the week. The house itself is fabulous, 100 feet from the beach. Ah, the beach. I've been to many (see my profile), but this was lovely. Many miles of perfect sand covered with numerous shells, replete with dolphins, spotted eagle rays and hammerhead sharks swimming by at reasonably close range. You could count the other people strolling the beach on one hand. The weather was perfect.

The Pelican watch is pretty new and pretty nicely furnished in a crate and barrel kind of way. 4 bedroooms down and big living area with lots of wide open sliders and two big screened in porchs. Small heated pool and hot tub round out the ameneties. Very nice.

The Club itself is OK. The staff wasn't exactly unfriendly, but not particularly welcoming either. There are tennis courts, two pools, kayaks (falling apart), bikes (more so) and a very off season feel. I guess mid Feb - to mid July is the hot season. The restaurants were either closed or so slow as to not inspire. Renting a boat is a great full day activity.

I wouldn't book based on the resort, but would instead make sure you like your rental house and bring your own entertainment. Replenishing food and booze on island is expensive. I recomend the island whole heartedly.

Bill

We travelled from England via a 5 day stay in Orlando and Tampa doing the parks. we wanted a quiet week and we found we had arrived at a paradise island and a a magnificent accomodation (Hidden Harmony) my wife daughter and her friend were blown away by the size and luxury of the house.

We plan to book again next year. With the £/$ echange rate a four bed house can comfortably accomodate 4 couples or 8 people at a bargain cost in the summer season which is good for Brits.

If you have a large family I would recommend paying that little extra for a private water taxi to the island as we had an enormous amount of luggage and shopping.

Be prepared to bring everything you can think of for the week as the ferry/ taxi to the mainland is expensive. The small store on the island could do with enlarging to hold more goods but that is our only gripe.

The fishing, beachcombing, boating anf views were fantastic.

Try the frozen cocktails at the pool bar that the lovely gal form Georgia makes to her own recipes. We had a couple at arounf 5pm every evening. Great after a long day in the sun.

the holiday was topped off by a friendly dolphin who popped its head up mere feet off the stern of our rented boat as we fished and spent a good few minutes looking us over!

Truly an island paradise