Spent a couple of days at this hotel on a very short family beach vacation and I can say we were all very satisfied with the experience - for reference, we stayed a one of the 1 bedroom beachfront suites:
- Location:
This one was not surprising as this is a beachfront property, but that didn't make it any less impressive once we actually got to the hotel. The building is right on the beach, and pretty much all the common areas offer a great view of the gulf. Extremely convenient if you want to save the drives back and forth from the beach to the hotel. Very close to dining and shopping as well (including a Publix less than 5 minutes away, perfect as most rooms seem to have kitchens)
- Service:
Even though we were there for only a couple of days, I can say that everyone we interacted with was helpful and seemed to enjoy working at the property. We traveled with 2 small dogs and preferred not to have housekeeping entering the rooms to clean, especially for such a short stay, but we were always called to make sure we had all we needed. Requested early check in upon booking and had a room ready by 1pm (vs. the advertised 4pm time), as well as a late checkout (12 vs. 11) which allowed us to enjoy the beach on the morning of our departure.
- Room:
The beachfront rooms are extremely nice and definitely worth the price and were big enough to be there comfortably even with our 2 dogs.
Kitchen is decently sized and comes equipped with 2 stove top burners, microwave, great fridge, small dishwasher and coffee maker. A basic set of supplies (including a few pots, a pan, spatula, dish washing soap, sponge and other small items) is provided along with enough plates, glasses and utensils for a group of 4.
Living room is ample and is furnished with a large sofa bed that increases the room occupancy by at least 2 more people. Nice beach furniture and the balcony overlooking the beach make this the best area to be in while resting in the room.
Balcony is larger than I really expected (as it stretches for the entire length of the room) and a great place to sit down to enjoy a meal, read or just relax watching the ocean and great sunsets. Worth the upgrade from the Gulf view rooms, at least if you have never stayed at a beachfront property.
The bedroom itself, as the rest of the room, was quite large and nicely decorated. A second flat screen (first one is in the living room) is provided for those days when you want to just stay inside a relax in the room. Same as in the living room, the top to bottom glass windows/sliding doors allow you to enjoy the view 24/7.
The bathroom is dividing in 2 "areas": a bigger one with the vanity and plenty of closet space, separated by a door from the shower and toilet.
While the room was in great shape, here is where I will bring up a couple of the (very few) issues I had with the hotel:
1. While the room was very clean when we checked in, we did notice some candy wrapping and a cookie under the dresser in the bedroom, along with an empty beer bottle in the bathroom closet (this one was very far in the very top part of the closet, so not as easy to see as the other stuff). I am sure that the hotel would have made sure to clean this up if we had brought it up, but we decided to just let it go at the time.
2. While the shower is really nice, I believe there was an issue with the glass door that allowed a lot of water to "escape" the enclosure and could result in a lot of water on the bathroom floor if not properly covered with a bathroom mat. Not a big deal but definitely something I would look into.
- Beach:
While we didn't make use of the pool or restaurant (hence you won't see me commenting about either other of those), we did spend most of our time at the hotel beach. The staff makes sure to set up the chairs and umbrellas pretty early (8/9am), and is always around in case you want to ask for a drink to counteract the heat. As some other reviewers mentioned, the beach setups are stored at around 6pm, but you are allowed to remain on the beach past that if you'd like (same in the morning if you are an early riser).
As in the prior section, a couple of points I want to make sure I mention:
1. Umbrella rentals: The resort is pretty clear on their website and I knew this well before I even decided to book, that while chairs are provided as part of the resort fee, the umbrellas are an extra charge. I understand there is a business reason for this to be the case and I am sure hotel management monitors guest feedback when setting up pricing, but I just wanted to bring up that even for those guests that are aware of the charge it leaves a bitter taste on their mouth when they have to pay extra for this service. Just in case you are wondering, you can also request the umbrella to be removed and avoid the charge if you plan to spend most of your time in the water.
2. Red Tide: as in number 1, I was well aware of the red tide issues affecting the west FL coast, so this isn't so much for me as it is for the resort itself and future guests. While there is note at the check in desk about the red tide issue, and plenty of information online from government/news outlets, I would like to see the hotel presenting either a link or even just a short sentence or 2 about it on their website. Again, I understand that this will probably have a negative impact on bookings, but at least it gives some advanced notice to those guests (especially those that do not reside in FL) about an issue that could directly impact their experience at the hotel.
As an aside, we were in the hotel during the first week of August and other than the water being very cloudy experienced no issues with red tide - you can monitor any changes by going to the Florida Fish and Wildlife website or the Mote Marine Laboratory as conditions can change quickly.
- Pet Policy:
The property is pet friendly and charges $75 per pet, per night as of the moment of this writing. Although we did receive a little "Welcome" baggie with some treats and waste bags I believe they forgot to set up the dog bed and bowls advertised under the Opal Paws program (not an issue in our case as we brought our own).
The pet policy was one of the biggest selling points for us, so we are thankful for the opportunity to travel with our dogs.
Didn't expect this to be so lengthy, but in summary we had a great first experience at Edgewater and it will definitely be in our consideration next time we decide to visit the Naples area.
Thanks for reading if you got this far!