In May, 2008 we made a quick overnight trip to Sanibel (my elderly mother and my 3 year old son). I had been visiting my mother in South Florida and we wanted to take my son to do some shelling. Although it is an older property, it has been recently renovated.

When I had called to make our reservation, I had clearly stated that we wanted a beachfront room, not "oceanview". We were pleased to see that our request was honored. Even though we were on the 1st floor (I believe it was only 2 or 3 stories tall), we overlooked the pool and the beach. Our reservation had been made rather last minute, so we felt lucky to get the oceanfront room.

Due to the size and age of the hotel, I should note here that the way the property was set up, there is only 1 building that has oceanfront rooms. The other buildings sit behind the beachfront building; therefore, as far as we could tell there were only about 8 rooms with oceanfront view. The others, however, were a very close walk to the beach and pool area. The grounds of the hotel were nice, with pretty landscaping and a little fish pond and waterfall.

The room had 2 double beds, a small table w/2 chairs, a small refrigerator, and the usual hotel accoutrements. The sink area was directly off to the side of the room, with the toilet and bathtub/shower in their own room. The beds were very comfortable and the furnishings were all in very good condition. Floors were tiled, which is perfect for beachfront. This particular room style was not large (especially with the 2 beds in it), but it was fine for a short stay. My 3 year old likes to sleep in a crib when we travel (a security thing for him!) and we were able to push aside the refrigerator to make room for the crib so that it was against the wall and out of the walkway. It worked out great.

Staff was accommodating and friendly. We had room service that evening and the food was absolutely delicious and delivered by one of the most friendly servers.

We did not use the outdoor pool, but it appeared to be nice, yet small. Instead we spent our brief time on the beach "shelling". The hotel offered chaise lounges for the beach, but we didn't inquire about them. There was a small bar in the pool area. Not sure if it offered food, we didn't ask.

We plan to visit there again and for a bit longer stay next time.

The Holiday Inn was a pretty standard Holiday Inn. It was clean and decent. There were some flying bugs in our room at night. The pool was fine and the beach was clean. There were beach chairs available. The breakfast there was fine.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Sanibel Island July 2-9, 2008. We booked a queen suite. It was a lovely, very large room with two queen beds, a big-screen tv, two sofas, table and chairs, and a kitchenette. The room was very clean, comfortable and quiet. The inn itself is lovely with stucco walls and pavers instead of ashphalt in the parking lots and beautiful plantings in the gardens. We enjoyed the pool and the beautiful beach very much. The hotel staff and restaurant staff were very nice. The only suggestion I'd make is that it would have been great if the adjacent restaurant offered more fish on their menu for dinners. We hope to go back again someday. I highly recommend the Holiday Inn on Sanibel.

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.