Sanibel Island Vacation Rentals  BeachHunter.net

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Sanibel Island Vacation Rental Options

Because Sanibel is such a large island, it offers all kinds of vacation rental options. It has resort hotels, family owned boutique hotels, private rental condos and beach cottages. And there are plenty of great options for rentals a block or two from the beach if you'd like to get more for your money.

Because of zoning restrictions, building heights on Sanibel and Captiva are limited, so you won't find any mega-resorts here. In fact, the only chain hotels I know of on Sanibel are the Best Western Sanibel Island and the Holiday Inn Beach Resort.

We enjoyed our stay at Ocean's Reach condo, but were slightly envious of the more stylish Old Florida style accommodations next door at the Casa Ybel Resort. So we ate our wedding night dinner at the Casa Ybel Resort's Thistle Lodge restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Prices vary greatly on Sanibel by location and by season. Expect the highest rates during January, February, March and April. During the late summer and fall months there are beachfront accommodations to be found for $800 per week.

Be sure to consider the Superior Small Lodgings website for smaller and more intimate properties.

Blind Pass is a small community at the north tip of Sanibel, next to Captiva Island. There are some cute beach rentals there, like Castaways. The only slightly negative thing we noted about that location is that the units are very close to the road, so there would be some traffic noise. It is also next to a public beach access, so the beach isn't as "private" as in other areas. Nevertheless it is worthy of consideration and is within walking distance of several very good restaurants.

Something to be aware of when renting a condo is that the rental companies have fees tacked onto the rental rate. If you make a reservation and give a deposit and then change your mind the next day, they will refund your deposit, less a "cancellation" fee, which is often close to $100. Also, although they processed your deposit immediately into their account, they may well take a several weeks or more to refund it. Read the fine print on their web site and in the rental agreement before you reserve.

When choosing a vacation rental on Sanibel, keep your planned activities in mind. We enjoyed riding our bikes to breakfast most mornings, so we wanted a location close enough to restaurants to allow for that. We did a lot of exploring on our bikes.

We stayed at Ocean's Reach condos for 10 days during our honeymoon. It was very quiet.

This was the view from our second floor lanai at Ocean's Reach.

Beach vacation rentals on Sanibel are heavily landscaped with lush green tropical and sub-tropical plants. There are lots of coconut palms. These units are part of the Casa Ybel Resort next door to Ocean's Reach where we were staying.

The little community of Blind Pass has some really cute rental beach cottages. They are quite close to the main road, so there would be some traffic noise, especially on the weekend. But the traffic is not high-speed so the noise isn't bad. The beauty of the area more than makes up for it for most people.

Beach cottages on Blind Pass Beach. Blind Pass is considered one of the most romantic beach locations on the island.