My family of 5 stayed at the Holiday Inn Sanibel Island June 17-20. With 3 teenagers we booked 2 rooms that were connected. From check in to check out our stay was very pleasant. The Inn is beautifully landscaped with a relaxed, friendly,tropical atmosphere. We visited all of the beaches in Sannibel/Captiva/Cayo Costa and my 16yr old daughter stated "our" beach was the best.

Our family of 4 stayed at the Holiday Inn. Our trip to Florida was my son's birthday gift. My daughter is 18 and my son 16. We had a great time. The place is clean and my husband loves shade (the garden was a beautiful place for him to relax and read a book - with plenty of beach chairs). Every day we went to Jerry's market and brought wonderful food back to the lawn and had a picnic under the palm trees looking out over the beach. Everyone was very kind and met our every need. The staff was very friendly. My daughter and I slep in one bed and my husband and son had the other - both are over 6' and they were a little crowded but not uncomfortable. If you can't walk the 2 minutes from the front of the hotel to the beach - you are in sad shape + it is a lovely walk. The pool is small but was never crowded and we only went for quick swims. There is a laundry room right off the pool - so I did some laundry and sat by the pool and had a drink (can't do that at home). I would recommend this for anyone. It was a very good bargin.

My family of 4 had a great stay here mid June 2008. Room was very clean, looks as it was recently overhauled. I actually remember going to this hotel in the late 70's with my family when I was young. Coffee machines in the room, free coffee in the lobby and 3 meal Restaurant with "kids eat free" for guests and I didn't have much reason to leave the property at all, especially if it was raining during meal time.

Some of the nice touches are they have beach chairs for guests, and they put them out in the AM for you, so you don't have to drag anything but the towel and sunscreen to the beach. From the furthest point on the property, it is maybe a 2-2.5 minute walk to the beach, most areas of the hotel it is a minute or less. Pool is small but very nice, and hey why bother with the pool when there is an absolutely gorgeous beach out there? Nice tiki-sorta bar next to the pool where you can order drinks and food. One table tennis table was near the pool area as well. Also had a sandy area off the beach if you didn't want to deal with the beach crowd and surf, but wanted to lie out in the sand and sun. Also has a rinse shower and shell washing sink near the pool. Guaranteed you will find shells on the beach. Wife found the top and bottom attached large and colorful clam style shell, about the size and shape of a baseball, digging blindly out about 10-15 feet into the surf. Grounds were kept very clean, very nice.

The rooms were standard size rooms, pretty much. Coffee maker was nice, hair dryer in the wall. TV's had front A/V jacks so you can bring games/gear for any rainy times. Hi speed net access in the rooms was via RJ-45, cable is attached and in a drawer near the jack. A/C worked great, all fixtures worked fine. The curved shower bar was great, it really gave you a lot more elbow room in the shower. The entertainment and storage unit was great, we stored most of our luggage and knapsacks in it no problem. Ice machines were on each floor.

Housekeeping and other on site staff did a great job. Staff walked the property regularly, I remember saying hi to them at several points in the day, including 7AM when I went to check something in the car, as well as 11PM on my way out to the beach to do some metal detecting, and several times throughout the day. Staff was also very responsive to our needs. I had a persistent problem with my key, and after trying to resolve it with a new key, and not have it work, they made a whole new set for my wife and I and had it delivered to our room, and they worked perfectly. Also, after we left and we realized that our little one left her favorite sleeping mask in the room, I emailed the hotel and asked them if they could look for it. They did look and they found it! Much to the delight of my little one, her mask is on it's way back to us right now!

A few things to note: Their TV service is satellite, so during very heavy rains, the channels tend to go away. We only had that issue once during our stay, and it cleared up by the time we were back from dinner. Double beds in the rooms are a bit small for two adults (My wife likes her elbow room and sleeps on her back).

Overall highly recommended, it has everything you need to maximize your time out at the beach, and the provided chairs on the beach make it quite comfortable and easy to stake your area out and just hit the surf. Well designed property, enhancing the key points of being there, and doing a great job of it. You can tell there was thought put into it all.

Just returned from Sanibel after a two night stay at the Holiday Inn. We did not encounter any of the problems noted by others. Someone complained about the "long hike" to the beach which is actually a pleasant 50 yard stroll through a lovely garden area. Give me a break! That's why we Americans are among the least fit in the world!! Beautiful beach. To see the sunset drive north to one of the many pleasant restaurants, eat dinner and make it to the beach by 8:15PM.
Enjoyed the small pool, too!