Marco Island Resort ?

[onlyholly]

After much discussion we have decided to stay on Marco Island for 6 nights in August and have to choose between:

"The Charter Club of Marco Beach" or "Eagles Nest Beach Resort"

Have you stayed at either ?

Which would you choose and why ?

All info greatly appreciated.

Holly

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I don't know anything about these places, but check out www.tripadvisor.com and there may be comments/reviews of the two hotels.

T&B

 

[onlyholly]

for taking the time to reply - will take a look at your link right away.

Holly

 

[dvc_john]

They are both Hilton Vacation Club managed properties, so you might take a look at www.hgvc.com

I do know that Eagle's Nest is next to the Marriott resort.

 

[Gretchen]

My inlaws lived on Marco for 20 years, have recently moved to Naples. I'll ask them and report back.
Gretchen

 

[Rebecca P.]

The Charter Club is consistently on one of the Top Ten RCI properties on the Tug Board in the US. We have neighbours who own there and love it. We stayed nearby at the Hilton and thought Marco Island was wonderful. Good Luck!

 

[onlyholly]

for taking the time to reply to my post.

DVC_John, we are HGVC owners, and the brochure/website give excellent descriptions - just needed personal reviews rather than just going by the website info. Thanks anyway, still appreciate your time.

Charter Club looks promising - will let you know what we decide on.

Holly

 

[onlyholly]

....I finally booked 5 nights at The Charter Club on Marco Beach (Marco Island) and 15 nights at the HGVC Tuscany Village. Just need to book airport hotel now as we arrive in Orlando around 8pm - don't fancy driving down the Gulf Coast til the morning.

Thank you all for answering my many questions - your help, tips, experiences and links were greatly appreciated.

Holly

 

[sammi]

Holly you'll absolutely fall in love with The Charter Club!

We stayed there a couple of years ago and loved everything about it....especially the location....right on the beach.

I got up every morning and had my cup of tea on the balcony and watched the dolphins play in the Gulf then DH and I always walked the beach and had a few dolphins following us up and down the shore. It was so lovely.

The suites were great and so were the staff. Also they have quite a few activities for kids and adults to do at the resort. My cousin and I and my DH all went down and made gorgeous picture frames with shells and neat Christmas tree ornaments,fridge magnets etc made from sand dollars.

Hope you have a wonderful time.....how I wish I was going with you!

 

[onlyholly]

You have really made my day - I am so looking forward to sitting on the beach and watching the sunrise, dolphins playing, collecting shells ................ ah dreaming away already.

It's good to hear that you were pleased with the Charter Club, and hope it will be the same for us. We are HGVC owners and have never looked back since our first purchase. We have used our points all over the world and never been dissapointed yet.

I'm sure the Charter Club will meet our expectations and hearing comments like yours puts my mind at rest and makes our planning even more exciting.

Apart from relaxing and enjoying the facilities at the Charter Club did you venture off the Island at any time ?

Did you find any good restaurants ?

We are planning a day on the everglades, trips to Naples and other islands for sightseeing and shopping and a boat excursion to Key West from Naples (still trying to get info on that one though).

Thanks again for taking the time to reply !

Take care
Holly

 

[sammi]

Hi Holly We stayed there with my cousins (from Scotland!) who are timeshare owners at Cypress Pointe Resort near WDW and they exchanged to go there and never regretted it either!

If I remember correctly they were also told due to the resorts popularity you can only try to exchange to The Charter Club once every 4 years. We 've been so lucky to have been all over lovely parts of Florida with them in their exchanges but Marco Island has to be our favourite so far.

No we never went off of the island although we did have plans before arriving there to head on over to the Keys and the Everglades but we really got the "island bug" and felt soooo relaxed there that we just soaked up the atmosphere there instead. We did go on a great "dolphine cruise". Here's a couple of sites that may help you with your planning:

http://www.tug2.net/sample_reviews/fl-charc.htm

this one is the company we used for our dolphin tour:

http://www.sail-kahuna.com/

http://www.seaexcursions.com/

http://www.marcosun.com/

this one is a live web cam that will show you the beach in front of The Charter Club! (DH visits this site all the time!)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2184949&BRD=2256&PAG=461&dept_id=455824&rfi=6

Yes you should head to all of your planned touring if you can steal away from the Island!
Sorry I can't remember all of the restaurants but The Snook Inn is great for it's "Island atmoshpere" and the seafood!

Good luck and happy planning!

 

[Gretchen]

I'll second the opinion of the Snook Inn, great fried clams, grouper sandwiches, great place to eat or hang out.
The bar at the pool at the Marriot is nice. There is a couple of good ice cream places, one next to the movie theater (near the Marriot) and one called (I think) Sweet Annies up the road a bit. A real nice (and good) restaurant in the same plaza as the movie theater....When we think of the name, I'll post back! Oh, Rookies sports bar has good burgers..they're in the same plaza with the movie theater. And of course, there is even a McDonalds on island.
Stuff to do in Naples, good restaurants, there is an outlet mall just off island, the regular mall is up the highway. Naples downtown area is beautifull with boutiques etc.
About the beach, we used to go to the public beach, called Tiger tail, and collect sand dollars. I'll ask my MIL if you still can.
Oh, there is a great little zoo called Caribean Gardens in Naples, a butterfly/bird place too....I'll post more, I've gotta go look this stuff up!
Gretchen
Holly, My husbands Aunt still lives on Island, if you want I'll email her with specific questions....

 

[onlyholly]

for helping with my planning. I'll have a look through the links you sent tonight when I have a few moments to myself.

Gretchen, any info you can spare would be of great help. Your Aunt (in-law) is soo lucky to be living there, and again any inside info would be great. Just one question comes to mind - are there any good places to eat breakfast ? I imagine most of the big hotels will do breakfast buffets etc, so will look them up but just wondered if there was the odd place like Golden Corral, Denny's or Ihop ? (probably wouldn't fit in such a beautiful place but worth asking !)

I am looking forward to collecting shells, but unfortunately it is illegal to bring them back to the UK, so will have to leave them behind. Can't even buy from shops and bring them back home. Apparently not a lot of Brits know that, so don't be surprised at customs if you get cornered (just for any Brits reading this). Comes with a heavy fine too if you're caught.

Please, please, please keep your tips flowing.

Holly

 

[Gretchen]

You can't bring shells into the UK? You've got to be kidding? Why? All the states (Florida, California, Hawaii) that grow citrus have a ban on imports of fruit, plants etc. But shells? I'm curious!
I will email Aunt Linda for you for the names of breakfast places. There was one place I really liked, it's been awhile so when I think of the name I'll pass it on. Do you have children traveling with you? We did some fun stuff with my daughter, I'll look up names, cost, addresses if you are interested. Oh, when are you making the trip? Oh, and my In Laws live in Naples...
Gretchen

 

[sammi]

Holly I'm not too sure about places for a good breakfast as we always had ours in our suite....but I'm sure you'll have a great time searching and trying out a few nice places.

No shells you say? That's a surprise as my cousins have never had a problem and when we return to Canada we are asked if we have shells and we always say yes and then we are asked if they are big shells such as conch as we aren't allowed to take big shells into Canada. Maybe that's what the UK means too. The shells are beautiful and we found the best shelling in Marco Island and Siesta Key.

Also I forgot to mention that DH took a deep sea fishing cruise and loved it while we were there. The resort had a wonderful BBQ and fashion show (no charge) around the pool and after the show they told us all about what was available to do on the island and that included special rates for the dolphin cruise and the deep sea fishing so be sure and attend the show as they really did have great rates and DH got to meet other guests on the fishing trip. The captain of the boat cleaned all the fish for them and then they came back to our resort and spent the rest of the evening at one of the guests apt. cooking and enjoying their catch. He had a wonderful time.

Keep us updated on your plans Holly!

 

[onlyholly]

bring shells into the UK but remember seeing a travel programme on the BBC and was surprised to find out myself. I've done a web search and looked at our Customs and Excise site but no reasons are given . I've brought shells home in the past without knowing !! I'll keep looking and let you know when I find out.

Thanks again for your hints and tips.

Holly

 

[abbysmom]

I just returned from a week on Marco, the island is beautiful. I did not stay right on the beach but did visit Tigertail beach a few days, I found the beaches in front of the high rises (resorts) to be quite shelly. Found them hard to walk on barefoot because of all the crushed shells. The beach in front of the South Seas condos were beautiful, nice white powdery sand very soft to walk on much better on that end.

I ate at the Snook Inn a few times, very good. The salad bar was fabulous with fresh warm homemade bread. I also had ice cream at Sweet Annies, very good. Had pizza at LoDucas on Bald Eagle drive, best pizza on the island in my opinion. We also ate at Cocomos on Collier Blvd, that was also good.

One fun thing to do is to go on the Shell Kat (boat) its a 2 hr. tour to dolphin watch and it also takes you to a little island called "Shell Island" were you can pick shells, lots of fun!

 

[onlyholly]

Glad you had a lovely time sounds like a wonderful place - can't wait til it's our turn to go, been hyper since the day I booked.

The Snook Inn seems to be a big favourite amongst all who have been - it's definately on our list of fab places to eat.

Appreciate your feedback.

Holly