We stayed in the 3 bedroom Penthouse unit facing the gulf. The room and view was spectacular! We ate dinner at our dinning table on the patio and ended our days watching the amazing sunsets, it was breathtaking. My favorite spot was the massive patio
it wrapped around the side of the building, had two lounge chairs, 6 chair dinning table, 2 couches, 2 end chairs and coffee table! The sliding doors throughout the entire space was great, when opened it was as if there were no barriers and the breeze flowed thru the rooms. The bed sheets and pillows were extremely comfortable, we were all pleasantly surprised. Every room was decorated nicely and extremely clean.
HUGE THANKS to ANGIE and KEANE from the Crystal Shores!! They went above and beyond in helping our every need when we were there! Our daughter fell ill and they helped in every way that they could in making sure she was okay. Keane is the medic on staff and was in our room the minute we called for assistance. He followed up with us throughout our visit giving her ice pops and even a stuffed kitten to keep her company when we took her to urgent care! One staff member offered to let us borrow their humidifier during our stay. My husband had already purchased one at a local pharmacy, but it was an extremely thoughtful gesture. Angie walked us to our room and helped us get settled and followed up during our entire stay to make sure we had everything we needed. I cannot say enough about the EXCEPTIONAL customer service!! They went above and beyond ANY hotel that we had ever stayed at, we are truly thankful.
The pools were quite and the kids LOVED the zero depth section, allowing them to play freely without the fear of deep water. The other pool was a bit shaded and cool with the breeze so we did not spend much time there (this is the pool with the waterslide). You can rent a poolside cabana for $50 a day, which are quite nice. They have a wall mounted flat screen television, L-shaped couch, end chairs, refrigerator and sink. There is also, a pool table and ping pong table located outside near the pool that always seemed to be available!
Stilts is the hotel restaurant located poolside. They had an amazing view of the beach and sunset (better than any other restaurant in the area). The food was good, but a bit pricey.
There was always something planned for hotel guests and kids. We did one of the craft activities and had a lot of fun! The indoor activity room for the kids was great too :o) Every day they would post the daily activities on the board near the pool along with the weather, sunset and tide information. We found it very informative!
You could rent an umbrella and chair for $90 a week or
$12 for ½ day umbrella or $19 for full day umbrella, each chair is $7. We only did this one day and spent a lot of our time at the pool.
For those traveling with children we rented bed rails, car seats, beach toys, etc
from Twinkle Twinkle Little Store of Naples (http://www.twinkletwinklelittlestoreofnaples.com/fun.html) They were the only rental company that would work with our car rental and drop of the car seats so that we would have them when we arrived at the Fort Myers airport. Nobody else would drive to Fort Myers and Philip from Twinkle Twinkle was very accommodating!
GREAT local park for kids.... MACKLE PARK. There is a great wooden structure that accomodates kids ages 2-12. There is even a splash area for the little ones, so bring your towels! If you have a basketball bring that too, they have the cutest little courts for the kids, too cute!! When leaving the hotel parking lot turn left onto Collier. Take Collier to San Marco and make a right. Take San Marco to Heathwood and make another right. Take Heathwood to Analisa (just past the library) and make a left. The park will be on your right hand side. Wish we would have known about it earlier in our trip, the kids LOVED it. Just go earlier in the day or on a cloudy day. There is little shade and it can get a bit warm, especially the swings!
If you are looking for a great deal on a car or minivan rental and dont mind a slightly older model Tom from Regal Car rentals was GREAT (http://www.regalcarrental.com/rates-51-1031.html). He was waiting at baggage when we arrived at the airport. Assisted us with our luggage and drove us back to his office to sign off on paperwork. We were on our way in only a few minutes, not to mention he had the car seats already in the car when we arrived. The minivan rental was SO AFFORDABLE!
Hope this helps and makes your stay in Marco a bit more enjoyable!!