Florida West Coast exchanges

[jag90]

We are thinking about doing an exchange for the July 4th week. We have done Vero the last 2 years and since we live on the east coast of Florida we are looking for a change. Has anyone stayed at or heard anything about any of the Fla west coast exchanges. Good or bad I would like to hear..

 

[Dean]

There are some good resorts on Captiva/Sanibel but other than that, I can't think of any I'd trade my DVC for other than Maybe Bay Point (Marriott Legends Edge) in Panama City. It's a golf resort and not a Beachfront. Maybe Galleon or Hyatt's at Key West or you could consider HH. For other East Coast options, consider the Marriott's at Ocean Pointe or Beachplace. Just remember there are only some 30-40 resorts in II that are truly comparable to DVC and some of them aren't on the DVC exchange list.

 

[travelbug]

One year while vacationing on Ft. Myers Beach, I drove around and checked out all the exchange resorts in that area. I decided I wouldn't really care for either resort offered on Ft. Myers Beach. Both seemed clean and well-kept, but were small and sort of crowded onto their pieces of land. I also drove to the Sanibel Island resorts on the list. Judging only from the grounds and outside impressions, I'd certainly consider staying in any one of them (some more than others, of course).

Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[jbthi]

I own at Hurricane House on Sanibel (which is my favorite) and at South Seas Plantation on Captiva. Both are great resorts but I don't think I would trade my DVC for a week at either in July.

June

 

[jag90]

Thanks for the replies, it looks like we will be going to Vero again. I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

[trainfun]

We explored the west coast last summer in July. The beaches we visited on Sanibel and in Naples were not all that inviting. The water was a very deep green, and very, very warm.

I understand it is a lot different at other times of the year. Maybe we caught an algae bloom or something. We did drive into Captiva and the grounds of the South Seas plantation looked very lush. We didn't go into the resort itself.

We were very happy to get to Vero after our 4 days on the west coast. I'm sure a quick 4 days didn't do it justice, but we did drive through Sanibel (OK, not as beautiful as expected), Captiva, (We liked Captiva, very lush, but very private, not much access), Fort Myers Beach (tacky, kitschy, one resort after another, lacks the well manicured look of anything Disney) and Naples. Olde Naples is very beautiful. There was lots of traffic on the Tamiami Trail, the main north-south highway if you don't want to spend your life on interstates.

Overall, sandwiching our west coast visit between stays at the BWV and Vero may have set us up for disappointment...few places match DVC resorts!

 

[vbfamily]

The only place we go on the West Coast is the Sheraton Sand Key(we were married there)-not a timeshare-but the only thing that seems equal to Disney as far as service, looks of the grounds, etc.

Anyway, I always thought Disney should build a DVC resort on the west coast-I think they could really make a great one-I know they probably won't because a few people on these boards said Disney got burned financially when they built Vero.

The west coast appeals to a lot of people because of the calm waters and bigger beaches. I checked out the exchanges and none seem on par with Disney.

Just a note-I think the waters are always greener than on the east coast-every time we have been there-the water is more emerald color than blue.

There is also a road you can take across-I don't remember the name-you go through a lot of small towns and it's not very busy.


We also love Vero Beach