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South Seas Island Resort – reviews, photos

4.0 of 5
5400 Plantation Road, Captiva Island, FL 33924
Special offer
Summer Escape Package
South Seas Island Resort
4.0 of 5 stars 1008 Reviews
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1,008 reviews from our community

What travellers say about this hotel
  • Beach villa(32)
  • Golf cart(28)
  • Main pool(28)
  • Very nice(25)
  • Water slide(24)
  • Bubble room(22)
  • North end(21)
  • Great Place(15)
  • Great time(14)
  • Grocery store(13)
Traveller rating
    431
    273
    153
    88
    63
Only show reviews for Family (528) | Couples (256) | Business (36)
Date Rating
France
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
11 helpful votes 11 helpful votes
“Over-hyped and expensive”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 12 February 2012
10
people found this review helpful

According the the literature this resort is the next thing to paradise. However this paradise comes at a price. The beach, whilst being "shell strewn" is not really much different from most of the other beaches in Florida facing the Gulf of Mexico.The hotel rooms are siutated a 20 minute ride in an antiquated bus with no suspension which run at only half hour intervals. There is adequate parking and the rooms themselves are well decorated and comfortable. However the room cleaning service leaves something to be desired as items such as toilet paper, face cloths etc are not repenished on a regular basis. For a hotel costing a least $200 a night one would expect china rather than paper coffee cups and metal rather than plastic spoons and tea/coffee creams rather than powdered creamer. Each guest is charged $15 a day apparently for the use of the antiquated shuttle bus, towels around the swimming pools and the use of chairs on the beach and at the pool. A major drawback is that there is only one restaurant open after 8.00 p.m. Therefore you are obliged to eat in this restaurant unless you venture to one of the restaurants outside of the resort for which you need a car. The menu in the restaurant is exceptionally limited to chicken (undercooked), steak (passable), overcooked and over salted battered fish and chips and for some reason sweetened butter was provided. Most of the dishes were over-salted and generally were not good value for the prices charged. There is a shop that has a limited supply of clothing, alcoholic and non-alcholic drinks as well as a delicatessen section and sandwiches, coffee and tea. All of these items are more expensive than one would find in a normal shop. There is a well-manicured 9-hole golf course attached to the resort and club hire is available at a price. While scenically impressive, this course barely qualifies for more than a pitch and putt experience. Unlimited 3 days of golf at $125 per person is not unreasonable. Not having had previous experience of sea side resorts in Florida, it would be difficult to rate this resort as one of the most "stunning" experiences that we have had. We were there for a famly wedding but we would not go back again.

  • Stayed January 2012, travelled with family
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask DonitaFrance about South Seas Island Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
GMSouthSeas, Manager at South Seas Island Resort, responded to this review
20 February 2012
Dear DonitaFrance,
Thank you for sharing your experience at South Seas.
In your case it seems we failed to get enough information to you about the resort. We have two separate beach areas, one on the north end and one on the south end of the resort; at both locations we provide chairs and towel service so from any of the units on the property a beach is within walking distance or a short trolley ride. The items that are included in the daily resort fee are.
Daily Trolley Service throughout the Resort
Pool/Beach (South Beach and Sunset Beach) amenities including poolside towels and lounge chairs, beach towels and chairs.
Unlimited local and 800 phone calls
Guest room wireless high speed internet
Fitness Center access
Nature Center access
Weekly New York Times Newspaper
Cable with free movie channels (includes HBO)
Participation in special Resort activities
Our trolley operates on the half hour from 7am-9am and 7pm- 11pm but every 15 mins from 9am - 7pm. We do have both Harbourside (open until 10pm) as well as Holly Smoke (open until 9 pm). We are currently working on expanding the service in Holly Smoke until later with table service and should have that up and running mid March.
We will continue to review and expand our means of communication to our arriving and potentially arriving guests to minimize the amount of time it takes to get settled in and start enjoying.
With kind regards
Shawn D Farrell
Resort Manager
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
West Hempstead, New York
1 review
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“Great for family, business conferences and couples”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 February 2012
2
people found this review helpful

I was there in January 2012 for a 6 day Sales Conference with 80+ members of my company. When you have that many people, each with their own specific requests it can be difficult, but the event planner there, as well as the resort staff, were both friendly and accommodating. Our schedule was tough to plan and execute, with daily meetings with different set-ups, day meals and snacks, and of course our beautifully set dinners, but everyone there hustled to make sure everything was done to perfection. As for the scenery, well, what else can I say but BREATHTAKING! We had each of our dinners in a different location of the resort, each more beautiful than the last. It was a flawless event, that the staff still thanks me for!! I thank the Event Planner at the resort and the staff, and of course the beautiful view!! I will be back with my sweetheart in the Spring for sure!!! Kudos!!

Room Tip: If you are a couple Harborside on the water!!! Great view of the sunrise!!!
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  • Stayed January 2012, travelled on business
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Ask rockell333 about South Seas Island Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Saint Michaels, Maryland
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Best Family vacation”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 10 February 2012
1
person found this review helpful

visited in February 2012. Great place that has everything you need for a family vacation. The rooms vere clean and pretty. We had a view of the water and saw dolphins every day! The beach is just beautiful with lots of shells and the hotel (of course) provides with umbrellas, loungers and towels. Our 16 months old loved to play with sand and they even had sand toys that we could just borrow to pay with. Pools vere nice and clean, we just wished the restaurant was open not only for lunch. The restaurant near marina was fabulous. There is a trolley that runs from one end of the resort to other end and gests are free to use it. They have programs for kids and they also have a playroom with toys ( we didn't really use it because we were outside all the time, but I guess in the rainy day, you could use it). I am from Europe, but living in the US and I have been all over Europe and visited Africa. I must say that I do want to come back to this resort and to Captiva. We had a great experience there. Everyone was so helpful and nice and the place is clean.

  • Stayed February 2012, travelled with family
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Ask LuckaP about South Seas Island Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Portland, Maine
Senior Reviewer
9 reviews 9 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
4 helpful votes 4 helpful votes
“Good fun for a family with toddler”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 7 February 2012
3
people found this review helpful

Really enjoyed our stay at South Seas on the whole. A few glitches but we would return. We stayed at Lands End section, very pretty, well-kept and secluded feeling. We'd booked a suite on the North-East side but there was very noisy construction involving a couple of back hoes going on 30 yards away which the front desk neglected to tell us about. We have a toddler who naps during the day so there was no way this was going to fly. The front desk first tried to assure us that it was ONLY going on from '8-5pm', but when we insisted on another room they put us into an even prettier suite, better furnishings and more interesting view. Jay, the bellman, was incredibly helpful and quickly moved all our luggage. The rooms were not perfect, but I'm particular about quality control - we had problems with plumbing (quickly resolved) the windows were not clean (quickly resolved), and there were no screens on our bedroom windows (quickly resolved). They were updating the Lands End villas to Direct TV while we were there and I'm glad for their sake that they were because the reception we had was really fuzzy. But the unit was VERY clean and the couch was cute and comfy.

Everton was our waiter several times, very friendly, quick and helpful. As other reviews commented, this is not the place to go if you are looking for a gourmet meal unless you are prepared to cook it yourself. At best the food is filling and good portions. But the beach and pools were pristine with lots of great amenities for kids - free use of buckets and shovels at the beach with helpful staff everywhere keeping things tidy and clean. One pool manager even offered to bring us a pack-n-play so that the baby could hang out with us while we lounged - that was a first! And we loved that several of the pools have extremely shallow entries so that little ones could hang out. Puppet shows, craft activities, fishing for kids etc etc. They try really hard where kids are concerned.

There were live animals to pet, and the most amazing natural experience I've ever encountered in a resort - in one day we saw dolphins right from the grounds, a bald eagle flew over our heads, spotted manatees during lunch, dozens of butterflies in the many many flowering plants, and numerous gorgeous white and blue herons everywhere. I rented a bike with a seat for my little one and we had a lot of fun riding around the resort. I felt very safe.

Restaurants off resort - the Bubble room is great for kids and kids-at-heart, best food of our stay. The Cantina is atmospheric and pretty good mexican food, the closest feeling to being in the Virgin Islands. The Island Cow was very noisy, so-so comfort food and the staff looked like they were worked a little too ragged but they did seat us pretty quickly on a crowded day.

If you like birdwatching, definitely do the drive-through tour of the Ding Darling Reserve - we spotted hundreds of beautiful birds and at least one alligator - big thrill for us Mainers!

Room Tip: Lands End is the most expensive villas but they are private, with BEAUTIFUL landscaping. The suites...
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  • Stayed February 2012, travelled with family
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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See 3 more reviews by mainewaterbaby for Captiva Island
Ask mainewaterbaby about South Seas Island Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Sylvania, Ohio
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“2nd trip - 2nd great time”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 6 February 2012
1
person found this review helpful

Second time we have visited. First time 2 years ago when 6 of us (grandkids and their parent and us) stayed in Land's End section. Great place with plenty of room. North end has best access to big pool, beach, and marina. Plenty of possibilities for activities from the property including kayak, water sports, and boating excursions.

Just returned from 2nd trip. This time just the two of us (kids in school). Stayed in Marina Villas. Not in class of Land's End but very nice and in same area for access to facilities.

We rented golf cart on the property and used for out whole stay. Enjoyed the places to eat just off the property in Captiva - in golf cart range

Room Tip: North end seems to have more activities. Renting from South Seas ensures access to all resort facil...
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  • Stayed January 2012, travelled with family
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Additional Information about South Seas Island Resort

  • South Seas Island Hotel
  • South Seas Island Captiva
  • South Seas Resort
Address: 5400 Plantation Road, Captiva Island, FL 33924
Price range (per night):* INR8,626 - 20,556

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