Entire visit was OK, nothing came out of it as outstanding or bad. First time here with my wife, no kids came along. We were looking for a quieter resort, but some activity to keep us from frying on the beach all day everyday. Family oriented atmosphere, lots of kids around particularly at the pools.

Generally, resort service staff was better than these reviews... suppose that I was prepared for less and hence, these reviews were helpful. I did happen to run into a couple employees that were not quite up to snuff, just not paying enough attention to the details of what I was interested in. But found more that were the opposite, very accommodating and willing to make me happy. Had a couple things that needed to be addressed and they were quickly.

Extra curricular activity wasn't quite as robust as I expected. Walking the beach all the way around the golf course to the north end pool was "not allowed" ... though we did anyway; getting to North Captiva was only an option via a cruise (hoped to kayak there); Wind surfing looked like fun, but didn't see it available for "rent". Tennis was not quite what I hoped for... not quite as active as you might think with so many courts and guests around the resort, the staff found it hard to find me a match and the hotel staff told me that there were clay courts, but there weren't any. I did still manage to get enough in, just wasn't overwhelmed with options like I had hoped.

The Captiva village just a quarter mile outside the resort was always crowded and became inconvenient, service wasn't as good at the village restaurants as it was at the resort restaurants. Sanibel was crowded too... seemed better for the nightlife, but a bit of a drive. Obviously, a lot of good options for fish, we didn't have a bad meal anywhere. Food was good inside and outside the resort.

Resort main pool had a lot of activity... height of the day was noisy with kids pool. They should have separated the kids pool with a wall or more space around it. The Pointe was located right in front of the kids pool and it was noisy for one lunch... evening drinks at the Pointe was a good find because the view was stunning.

Grounds were beautiful, almost every area was very well maintained... not into landscape and don't care about it, but it must have been good because I continually noted how beautiful it was. Dolphins, manatees, and pelicans were interesting and entertaining.

Beach wasn't as impressive as I expected from these reviews. Shelling was good, but otherwise nothing outstanding given that the shells also have the disadvantage of making it tough on the feet going into the water. Recall Northern Fla gulf beaches as nicer.

After all the bad reviews, we went to South Seas not expecting alot. We wanted a family condo on the beach, also with restaurants and pools. What a nice surprise! We were in the Plantation villas, right on the beach, and everything was better than expected. Everything was close by (you really don't even need a car), the trolleys were convenient, the grounds beautiful, and the condo was in great shape with a nice screened in porch for sunset watching. The pools were beautiful, with every service you could want------and, big surprise, the best , friendliest, and most plentiful towel service we have ever seen in many, many years of travel! All in all, it is a great resort for families, plenty of activities for the kids, and plenty of luxury for the adults. Don't hesitate to go there.

I want to go back to this resort so I'm writing in the hope the management (I think they're owned by a well-funded private equity group?) will read all the comments and get their act together.

As a competent world traveler, you think you have all the bases covered right? For our arrival at South Seas I had EVEN phoned the concierge the day of arrival to say we'd be in late so PLEASE make up the sofa bed for my kids. We arrived after 1 am and not only was the sofa bed not made up but neither was the bed. There were no pillows in the condo and the times on the clocks indicated the unit had not been touched since the clocks changed a week earlier! Pillows and cases were dumped on us 15 minutes later so I made my own beds and we got to sleep around 2am. I had also phoned to check whether we would be affected by construction at the resort (because of you tripadvisor reviewers) and was told no - we were awakened at 8 am by demolition in the condo next door!!! It seemed like it was going to be a Fawlty Towers experience.

HOWEVER, our polite but angry arrival back at reception was greeted with a generous discount off the night's rate and the offer of a new condo. Funny thing is - the new condo was at the north end of the resort where I had wanted to stay but was told it was all booked. It also contained the fancy furniture and granite kitchen displayed in the ads - our first condo was nice but had Miami Vice colored wicker and thin beds. Note to resort management - put a line in your website and ads that says ( if this is the case) "most condos are privately owned and furnished at the owners' discretion. The beautiful furniture you see here is only available in a fraction of rooms we control." We also found they had upgraded us to a two bedroom from a one bedroom and we were thrilled with the exquisite space (yes the twin bedroom is small but the mattresses are top-end and it had its own bathroom). So a good response - though moving rooms wastes precious vacation time.

SO WHAT"S SO GREAT about the resort? We were in a Marina Villa overlooking the boat harbor and discovered that the docks were full of resident manatees. I could stop right there. Suddenly we needed no fancy pools or restaurants. We just wanted to sit on the grass and watch for manatee noses snorting. Then the dolphin came by. Then we went to the beach and learned how to shuffle our feet in the water to harvest brown King Crown conch shells - that took several hours since it is an addictive activity. At the crowded 'signature pools' we couldn't get a lounger but it was lunchtime and so we got a great half day deal ($50) on a private cabana that someone else had booked for the day and then failed to show up. We sat on our comfy sofa right by the bay and watched dolphins and brown pelicans go by while the nice lady brought our frozen drinks and food and ran a tab for us. Then we took a walk along the beach and around the north tip of the island and watched at least six ospreys diving for fish from only a few feet above our heads.

Great resort facilites include:

1) The new 1950s ice cream, candy and pizza shop had excellent pizza (and we're from NY), was never crowded and I thought the service was excellent (the staff is new to their job but were all pleasant and trying hard). Other restaurant and pool bar are pretty but food is below par (order more drinks and you won't care so much).

2) The signature pools are lovely. They are crowded because all the other pools, at each group of condos, are plain square pools fenced like a motel. Go early and don't be one of those awful people who leaves a magazine and towel to hold the chair all day - you know who you are and we despise you!

3)The two beach areas are beautiful and very nice men will set up the loungers and umbrellas for you (tip in cash). However the beach villa beach has no facilities - surely the resort could give the beach staff a cooler of soft drinks to sell? Best shells are in the water - Gulf of Mexico seemed superb for safe swimming and there were plenty of kids on inflatables.

4) The arcade is fabulous for kids/teens. It has big, fancy machines and the $20 bracelet lets them play all day/night for free. I can't see why anyone paying $500 a night and up would quibble at $20 - my kids thought it was a bargain - especially if you fire two machine guns at once!

5) The yacht harbor shop is a delightful place with fresh sandwiches, groceries and all the stuff visiting yachtspeople need. Grab lunch and sit on one of the many green lawns or out by the boats.

I guess I would go back here because we loved Captiva and if you want a luxury resort experience this is the only one for miles. The resort fell short in some service areas but the facilities will hopefully continue to improve and there is nothing else that even tries to be in this category (they are also building a Golden Door spa!). I was impressed with the way they fixed our problems and if you go with a flexible attitude, you'll have a great time. I hope the deep-pocketed owners will try to step up the pace of refurbishment - I'm sure their own families always demand the best of service and facilities.

Finally, we often badmouth hotels and resorts but what about what the resort staff have to put up with in us? I sat next to a very affluent-looking couple and their six year old daughter at breakfast. The mother and daughter visited the buffet and returned with two LOADED plates. When the waitress stopped by and said "two buffets?" the mother said "No, just a kid's buffet. She's hungry, I'm not. I'll just pick off of hers." The stunned waitress dutifully marked down one kid's buffet and left. The mother and child made no less than three trips! With guests like that, who deserves smiling service?

We read the varied reviews for south seas and were a bit worried at first. But many were written after the hurricane when the place was open and probably shouldnt have been. They suffered immense damage and just now "officially" reopened. They have new owners (Hilton) which I am sure will imrpove the service over time and a lot of venture capital money is also being infused. But for the right now review, here goes.

Room
We stayed at a time share unit which we exchanged for so I have no idea about the regular hotel rooms. But my time share unit was great. Newly updated with all the ammenities one would need. A full kitchen and 2 baths with plenty of towels. A wonderful screened in porch overlooked the golf course and gulf. Outstanding accomodations. But we also saw some other hotel rooms which were sort of old so we can understand some mediocre reviews. But mind you, this place is HUGE. 330 acres with lots of rooms, some owned outright, some condos, some timeshares and some hotel owned. Our timeshare came with its own dedicated heated pool and jacuzzi. I heard that the harborside rooms werent that nice so its hit and miss

Hotel Food
Now for the restaurants. Avoid. Most do as they were empty. Food is grossly overpriced and the people we spoke to that went said it was the worst food they ever had. And I spoke to at least 10 people and all said the same thing. And if you read the posts you can see that. Its sad because with good food they could really clean up as people like to stay on resort grounds. South Seas is missing the boat here.

They opened their new scoops and slices which serves ice cream and pizza. Ice Cream was good and prices reasonable for a tourist spot and pizza wasnt that bad. I think a pie is $17. People are a bit unfair about the service at scoops and slices, i mean it literally just opened a few days ago. People have to get acclimated to working there. Issue is that they, like others, have a lot of people working there from abroad so many workers dont understand some customer questions. More on that later.

Drinks. wow. at the hotel bar/restaurant a mixed drink is $12 plus tax and gratuity. Wife had only 2 LI iced teas and tbe bill was $25.50 plus I gave a $4 tip. Almost 30 bucks for two drinks in a small plastic cup.

Coffee--starbucks right outside main gate. thank goodness!

Pools
There are lots of pools and the lagoon pool is the nicest. overlooks the gulf which is literally feet away, gorgeous.When we were there it was chilly and the pools are supposed to be heated. they werent. it was too cold to go in at first. When people complained they were told it would be fixed. we learned from others that they have been saying that for weeks and it never is. Not an issue if warm but many patrons didnt appreciate being lied to. I think issue is a warranty or something--a licensed person needs to be flown in to fix it but my point is to just tell people that and not just try to appease them which makes them more mad. Also kids. Now I heard this was a family resort. Fine. I dont have kids and went with my wife. But the resort is literally 80% kids. I think all of the countrys kids were there when i was there. The pool was almost impossible to go in because of it and we waited until 6 pm when all the brats (i mean kids) went to dinner lol. But it can get overwhelming with the kids screaming so if you go to south seas for R & R that may be a factor in your decision. Like I said, i went to my timeshare pool a lot and that was better--more quiet, heated and secluded. One other thing, it would be nice to have a band or something playing at the pool area or on the grounds and they dont have that anywhere. some nice calypso or something. instead they have horrible muzak.

Golf and Tennis
First rate. No one hardly uses them. Golf is a short 9 and one of the best in the country. Newly redone and so well maintained it looks fake. Tennis courts equally good. This, for many, could be worth staying here alone.

Grounds
330 acres. lots of nature. birds, manatees, even dolphins in the waters. Gorgeous flowers. I loved it. I never felt isolated in the "resort". its so expansive its like a city. And they are restoring alot of the wetlands destroyed by hurricane charley. Go for a walk in the am, you will love it. The grounds are so big that they have a free trolly that runs the entire grounds and into the town! a nice touch. i was very happy it took you to town so that you could go to some of the restaurants without taking your car. They dont charge you for it .trolly runs from 8 am to 9:30 pm and is a godsend. they also offer a free tour called uncle bobs troilley tour which was great. 1 1/2 hours with a detailed tour with history. our guide was marilyn which is a naturalist for the resort--real nice woman and very well versed. driver equally well versed (dan). and again, it was free. resort gets my kudos for that. But the views of the gulf and sound are outrageously beautiful and the beaches are fine. and in the end, thats mainly what you go for. and they deliver the goods. At sunset you just stare in awe.

Internet
bring your laptop as a lot of the resort is wired for wifi. they only have 2 computers for general use and they are always taken. for a resort that size they badly need more computers for people to use.

The Help
Ah this is a problem. Like I said many foreign workers who have no idea whats in the area. Many dont even know anything about their own resort! And even the amercan workers are no great shakes. Many are not overly friendly and they are slow and plodding. They make mistakes at check in and check out so be careful. We needed to call security for a parking issue and had to call 3 times and they finally came in 45 minutes! another time we needed to call for a code to get into our pool and the woman when asked told us she "had no idea what it was". we asked her to find out for us and she got all huffy. Not customer servce. And when you ask others on the grounds you often hear "i dont know". They need to address that and I am told they are. I hope so. but i will give them the benefit of the doubt since again they are newly reopened. One note: the people who work the beach area are great. helpful and friendly. free chairs, umbellas and towels. I am pretty confident that with new owners who have a history of good service, the customer care will improve.

Nightlife
none. if thats what you want this isnt the place for you. There are no real hang out bars and restaurants close early. that stands true for all of captiva. this is strictly r and r. beach, views, some golf and pools. thats it.

Some suggestions
if you have an efficiency bring your own food and drink. I was never one to do that until now based on others recommendations, but again the food on captiva, in general, is terrible. So we cooked in 2 nights and ate breakfast in. We bought beer and wine and soda. all at the publix in fort myers. If you go to the store on sanibel you wil pay a amall fortune if you go to the one in captiva you will pay a ransom. I also snuck a few beers into the pool area instead of paying $7 for a small beer in a plastic cup. But mainly my wife and I just enjoyed buying some cheese and having wine and cheese on our deck at sunset. Also if you dont like screaming kids this isnt the place for you. they are all over dress--shorts and tees are the unirform of choice. nothing is fancy so save the outfits. Also cars. more cars than i thought. have to be careful a bit. the roads are narrow.

Conclusion
This isnt a 5 star resort. But I dont know if they market it as such. But 4 stars aint bad. But it is beautiful, largely redone, with some of the best views you will ever see. Its relaxing, with 2 1/2 milkes of private beach. It has a great trolley system for getting around and enough to keep the kids busy if you have any (again there are loads of kids so if you arent kid friendly dont go). Its big and i like that. i never got the feeling of being closed in. My wife and i took a brisk walk each morning and still didnt cover the entire resort. I like that. Lots of birds of prey to see, flowers and yes, manatees in the hotels docks! also dolphins right off the pools in the water. Again you wont find fine dining anywhere in the resort or town BUT one honorable mention. Not too far from the gate we found cantina captiva---very good mexican food. We found it to be the best restaurant we went to on captiva--by far. serivce is so so but food is god and very reasonable. bubble room was a dump and key lime and mucky duck was just very so so.

Overall i would rate it an 8 out of 10 and with the new management i think you will see that improve to a 9 shortly. Help desperately needs to be trained though. One fantasy i do have is a south seas resort for adults only! lol. will never happen i know, but hey, i said i was just fantasizing. I think i will go next year as well. But new owners, a grand re opening, millions of new improvements with a few more to go (hotel shops need to reopen), its on the right track thats for sure.