Hurricane House, Tortuga, or Casa Ybel?

[jcrist]

I've got a 5 and 6 year-old. We are used to going to Hawaii for Winter Vacation. Usually stay at a Marriott timeshare. Thinking of trying Sanibel this year for a change. The three places that keep coming up as being the closest to a Marriott-quality resort seem to be Hurricane House, Tortuga Beach Club, and Casa Ybel. Considering we have a 5 and 6-year old, which resort would be the best, money no object, and which resort is the best value?

Also, what's the best way to get a good deal on one of these places (places to look for good rental rates?)

Haven't decided on dates, either mid Jan or mid Feb.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Steve]

A few ideas

Of the three resorts, Hurricane House has the nicest villas. It also has the advantage that all of the villas are directly Gulf Front. I would rank Tortuga 2nd of the three for villa quality, and Casa Ybel 3rd.

However, when it comes to activities...I would reverse the order. Casa Ybel would be best, IMHO, while Tortuga would be 2nd, and Hurricane House would be 3rd. These are all small resorts compared to a Marriott, but Hurricane House is really small with only 15 villas.

One other resort worth considering on Sanibel that is high quality is Sanibel Cottages. I would say the villas are on a par with Hurricane House, although your view may not be as good (depending on the villa) and, like Hurricane House, there aren't many activities.

It's very hard to get a good deal during the prime winter season, but January rents are a little more reasonable than February. You could try one of the local Sanibel offices of HGVC or www.floridagrandvacations.com Casa Ybel has their own website at www.casaybel.com where you can see some pictures and where individual owners have weeks for rent and for sale.

Steve

 

[jcrist]

Thanks much for the information. The question really becomes then are the additional activites at Casa Ybel really beneficial to a 5 and 6-year old? Typically, in the past couple years, these have been are priorities as far as accomodations on vacation listed in order:

1. Nicest, least crowded beach with calm waters for kids to swim in (I assume all three meet this criteria)
2. Nicest pool area, not crowded, perferably some view of ocean from pool. We end up spending most our time at the pool and at the beach.
3. Best view. We hate getting stuck in some 'garden view' unit or some unit that was advertised as Ocean View but you have to go out on the lanai and turn your head, or advertised as Ocean Front, but come to find the view is blocked or there's lack of privacy or lots of crowds.
4. Nice units, with a large preference over units with Washer and Dryer in unit.

So with those priorities what would be your recommendations?

 

[Steve]

All of the resorts meet your 1st criteria. Wonderful, quiet beach with mild waves and a gentle slope. (You may want to get water shoes for your kids, however, as Sanibel is famous for sea shells and they can be sharp at times.)

Casa Ybel has the nicest swimming pool. No contest. Unfortunately, they took out the slide due to insurance concerns a couple of years ago, but they still have the best pool of any timeshare on the island.

As for view, I would rank Hurricane House #1, then Casa Ybel #2, and then Tortuga and Sanibel Cottages tied for #3. All of the resorts have nice views, but some units particularly at Tortuga and Sanibel Cottages have better views than others.

When it comes to villa quality, Hurricane House and Sanibel Cottages are tops. The new interiors are really classy...especially at Hurricane House. Tortuga wasn't as badly damaged by Hurricane Charley and has older interiors. Casa Ybel has been completely redone, but the villas are older, smaller, not as nice, and they do not have a washer/dryer.

So, there isn't a clear winner on all fronts. If the swimming pool is most important, choose Casa Ybel. If having a washer/dryer in the villa is tops on your list, then cross off Casa Ybel and choose one of the other three. If you want a great villa with a great view and don't care about having a small pool and no activities, then Hurricane House is an excellent choice.

All of these resorts are very nice...so there's not really a bad choice among them.

Steve

 

[jcrist]

How do the pool areas and the dining options (both in quality, and proximity/selection) compare between Hurricane House, Sanibel Cottages and Tortuga?

 

[Steve]

Casa Ybel is the only resort of the four with an on-site restaurant. Of the other three resorts, dining options would pretty much be the same. You would need to drive to most restaurants from any of them.

As for swimming pools at Hurricane House, Tortuga, and Sanibel Cottages, I would rank Tortuga #1, Sanibel Cottages #2, and Hurricane House #3. None of these resorts have pools even remotely comparable to a Marriott beach resort, but that's the order I would put them in.

I love Sanibel...and I particularly love Hurricane House...but it's a different experience from Marriott. It's like having your own private condo at the beach. Very beautiful and very relaxing, but very low key.

I wish I could say that one resort is hands down the best but, for the things that you listed as your priorities, there isn't one that really stands out above the others. Still, from what you have said, I think I might suggest Tortuga. It's a little bit bigger and has a little more action than Hurricane House...and it has a nicer swimming pool. The villas aren't as nice, but they are nicer than Casa Ybel. In your situation, I think that's the resort I would pick.

Steve

 

[jcrist]

Thank you so much for the quick advice. I'm going to focus on what kind of rate and unit I can get at Tortuga and Sanibel Cottages. If unit types and rates are pretty close, I'll go with Tortuga.

 

[sandcastles]

I agree with everything Steve said. Hurricane House is my far my favorite, but the pool there is very small.

As far as rentals, I imagine Casa Ybel has a larger amount of rental properties than the others. Not sure, but I think some of the newer phases there have washer/dryers in the room.

 

[rapmarks]

I find the water temperature in Jan and Feb too cool to go into and don't see that many people swimming in the gulf that time of year.

 

[wrxdoug]

It can be chilly in Jan. and Feb. for swimming especially with young children. Spring break time is usually better weather and warmer in the gulf for young children. It is taking a chance during the winter. I love sanibel myself but if you want to be certain of warm weather I am not sure that Sanibel is your best choice for Jan. or Feb. Many people chose Aruba because they want to be sure of warm weather during winter break and they have some great resorts there as well.

 

[dvc_john]

I own at Sanibel Cottages and Casa Ybel, and have stayed at Hurricane House, and I agree with most of what has been posted. I may be a little biased, but my overall preference is Sanibel Cottages. They certainly have the nicest and largest master bedrooms and balconies. In all of these resorts, the 2nd bedroom is rather small, with 2 twin sized beds.

If size of resort makes any difference to you, they are:
Hurricane House: 15 2-br units
Sanibel Cottages: 28 2-br units
Tortguga Beach Club: 56 2-br units
Casa Ybel: 74 2-br units and 40 1-br units

I don't know if it applies to rentals or not, but Hurricane House also offers free golf (at least for owners and exchangers).

 

[sandcastles]

Hurricane House and Tortuga both offer the free golf.

If you have an upper unit at Hurricane House, the second BR is larger than most master bedrooms. It has a king size bed and a small window daybed. The lower unit does have a smaller second BR with 2 twin beds. The owners have first choice, most want the upper units, some that don't want stairs prefer the lower.

Hurricane House does have an elevator for each of its 2 buildings, Tortuga has several building, onlyh 1 has elevator. I don't remember about Casa Ybel.

Sanibel Cottages has the most open, airy feeling of any.

 

[dvc_john]

Casa Ybel: no elevators
Sanibel Cottages: 7 buildings, only 1 has an elevator.

 

[Sea Six]

I find the water temperature in Jan and Feb too cool to go into and don't see that many people swimming in the gulf that time of year.

Exactly right. Gulf temp this time of year will be around 62 degrees. Some days the air isn't much warmer than that in the middle of the afternoon. You won't get any snow down here, but you can't always swim during the winter.

 

[Steve]

I haven't been in the lower units at Hurricane House since the renovation, but the office told me that all of the 2nd bedrooms in the resort now have king beds...there are no more twins.

Steve

 

[X-ring]

I like to meet people so HH is too small for my liking but it is the only one of the three that provides a direct view of the setting sun.

We stayed at TBC last year and enjoyed it very much.

I'm looking forward to being at CY in December for its active tennis program with on-site pro - I don't know if they have anything for 5 & 6 year old though.

 

[JLB]

Historically high season has started sometime in January, like the 15th. That is because the snowbirds waited until after the holidays to do their migrating. That includes a sizeable number of snowbirds from Europe, as SW Florida has been a strong winter area for them.

I was on a gulf coast rental site last week and rents were peak for Weeks 51 and 52, then lower until January 28, when they went back to peak. We have been there weeks 1 and 2 for years.

In recent years, things that offer discounts to attract business, like golf, have stopped doing that January 1.

 

[collinsc]

Here are some photos of the Casa Ybel resort, in case it helps.

 

[Sea Six]

Casa Ybel: no elevators

I had a "second floor" unit at Casa Ybel a few weeks ago. The main living area was actually the third floor and the bedrooms are on the fourth floor. We got a bit tired of walking up all those steps!

 

[X-ring]

I had a "second floor" unit at Casa Ybel a few weeks ago. The main living area was actually the third floor and the bedrooms are on the fourth floor. We got a bit tired of walking up all those steps!

Ditto for Tortuga Beach Club (and I imagine HH too, as I believe the units are identical).

But it's not only the bedrooms that are on the the 4th floor - you need to walk up a flight of stairs every time you need a bathroom.

 

[sandcastles]

Each of Hurricane House's building has an elevator.

If you have a lower unit the master bedroom and bath are on the main floor so there are no stairs at all involved here with a lower unit.

 

[onlyholly]

We've just returned from Tortuga and stayed in unit 101. This particular unit is very dated and in bad need of renovating. The twin beds upstairs had blood stained sheets (Yuk) and the 'fitted' sheets didn't fit - too small for the beds so they kept pinging off the corners. The main bedroom had a tiny balcony and the little table and 1 plastic chair provided was filthy and needed to be thrown away. The insect screen fell off it's runners, the bedroom closet mirrored doors did the same, the fridge wasn't clean - oh and the list goes on.

Although we had a good week (only because we spent most of our time off site) we wouldn't return. The resort was very 'clicky' as it was used by owners who had owned for +-twenty years. We felt like outsiders and no-one spoke to us, even though we tried. At first we thought the place had been booked by one big family as everyone knew each other but we soon found out that these people go every year during the same week. We were told not to sit on certain sun loungers/chairs/tables etc round the pool because they were used by owners who came the same week year after year. How sad is that ! Maybe we just timed it wrong and landed a bad week. It would be interesting to see if anyone else had the same experience.

The beach wasn't too great either as there was a dirty water outlet which ran between our resort and the apartments next door, right outside our unit and down the beach - it was full of stagnant water, which attracted insects and not to mention the smell. The only time I went on the beach was for sunrise every morning and spent a couple of hours collecting shells.

I would highly recommend Billy's Bikes though as the cycle paths run all over the island, and the Island Cow was one of our favourite restaurants.

Sorry to paint such a bad picture of Tortuga but it was an experience we wouldn't like to repeat or recommend to anyone. Holidays/vacations are precious and expensive so personal experiences should be shared. If you need any more info, don't hesitate to ask.

Onlyholly

 

[JLCEA]

Anything new about these resorts?
This thread has been very useful (as usual with TUG)
We are planning to travel this summer to Florida. Were thinking about Hurricane, Tortuga or South Seas. But we have two children (4 and 6) and we are looking for a resort with lots of activities for them.
From the previous posts I think the best option would be a Marriot.
We want to go for two weeks.
Any recomendations?
Thanks and greetings from Spain.

 

[sandcastles]

Hurricane House has no activities for children.

South Seas will have by far the most activities. There are a lot of changes being made at South Seas right now. Depending on where you stay, you may have a $12 per adult per day amenity fee. This is optional, but if you want to use the trolley, the large swimming pool, the children's activities, some of the restaurants you have to pay the amenity fee, or be staying at one of the resorts that have it built in to the Maintenance fees.

Tortuga has some children's activities but I have never had children with us there so never paid much attention to what they have.

 

[wrxdoug]

I do not believe there are any marriotts in sanibel? HGVC aff. resorts yes and other rentals but not marriotts. If you are looking to keep children busy at a resort...with a club, casa ybel has the only one of those which people above mentioned... but many many more activities are offered at the island further out. If you drive over the bridge to Captiva island they also have hgvc resorts at the south seas plantation within it's gated community. It is like a disney like version of sanibel and they have huge.. huge amounts of activities for young children within a gated community, trolley, etc. Expensive to rent but might be more what you are looking for. Last time I was there it was being totally redone after the hurricanes and I think they are finally complete pretty much ...last time before the hurricanes ...children were running from one activity to another pool activities, face paintings, treasure hunts...you name it. Doug PS Marco Island further south also may have more at there resorts not sure.