Not many recent reviews on this resort. Anyone been there in last two years? Wondering if in good shape - would appreciate any info - have a unit on hold for next Christmas.
I am fortunate enough to own an EOYO week here so I was there this past summer. (One of these days I need to find time to do a review...)
I think a week at Christmas here would be delightful...Anna Maria Island is nice any time of year.
Not the newest or fanciest place, but clean, well run and maintained, and has a great vibe. (If you are looking for big modern high rise on the beach, you shouldn’t look on AMI anyway).
I think the location is great—across the street from the beach but an easy walk, right near a commercial area, bus stops for both the island trolley and the bus onto the mainland, etc.
The units (there are 12—5 on the “B” side and 7 on the “A” side) are a little dated but otherwise functional townhouse style units with your own garage on the bottom floor. I’ve only ever stayed on the “B” side which has the “upside down” layout—bedrooms below and kitchen/dining/living areas upstairs. Odd but it is fine (The master BR is over the garage so it is up off the ground, although the second bedroom has a slider out to the pool). The “A side units are the more traditional bedrooms-upstairs layout.
which gets to what is probably the nicest aspect of the place..every unit is 20 steps or less to the pool (Unit B4 is more like 8 steps to the pool...) it’s not a private pool but it’s almost as good.
As far as condition is concerned the maintenance is fine—we’ve had no issues. They repainted the exterior a lovely blue sometime in the last year or two. Originally built in the 1980s as a condo (and converted to a timeshare later) some of the place’s 1980s-ness is part of its charm, but it is a bit dated. The kitchens are clean and bright and the equipment works fine it’s just not the newest/fanciest. The biggest dated element is probably the bathrooms which are small and therefore hard to update easily. Again, clean and functional but dated.
The staff is great though-very responsive and help set the vibe for the place. They have a couple events during a typical week—fried chicken roast, ice cream social, that sort of low key stuff, some with the sister resort down the road (Gulfstream/Smugglers, about 2 miles away).
I wouldn’t hesitate to spend Christmas week there if the circumstances permitted.
