First off, I can't remember the last time I wrote a review, good or bad. Well after our visit to Family Retreat I had to. We have been back for over a week now and we are all still marveling at what a great time we had.
We are fortunate to be able to travel every year for Spring Break. This is the first time we have chosen not to stay on the beach. Prior to our arrival Danielle was so prompt with returning emails and even called me to answer all my questions. From the minute we walked in and were greeted by Tiffany, we new we had chosen the right place. Tiffany showed us how everything worked and answered questions staying for a short but perfect amount of time.
Upon exploring and the children picking out their rooms we proceeded outside to the screened in pool. So many places to sit, sun or shade, quiet or in a place to watch the boats pass by. We basically lived outside. For dinner several nights we enjoyed sitting waterside down on the dock on the full size table/glider. We watched the boats go by and had several people shout to us, beautiful house(if only it was ours, but we thanked them anyway). We saw dolphins every day except one right from the dock. It is great to be on a point so there is dock frontage on 2 sides.
The pool could be set to our desired temp, and the outside grill area was amazing! One of our best parts about vacationing is trying different restaurants but while we did go out a few times, most nights we ate in right by the pool in our swimsuits.
As far as the house setup or equipment, I can honestly say there was not a single thing we thought of and said oh I wish we had this. It was stocked perfectly, more then I would have expected. There was also ample consumables like toilet paper and paper towel etc.
The area is excellent. So quiet and with no traffic like we had on our island vacations of the past. We took the short drive to Sanibel Island one day but we were back by lunch because everyone wanted to be at the pool.
To sum it up I would love to keep this place a secret all to myself, but it is just too good not to review. It is by FAR the best vacation rental we have ever stayed in and the most relaxing vacation we have had ever(with children along).
If this review does not tell the story, we booked our time for next year before we even left as we wanted to make sure we could come back.