South Seas

Firstly Captiva is a lovely island - beautiful beaches, relaxed atmosphere and awe inspiring sunsets. South Seas facilities are also excellent. There were multiple pools including two with water slides, a lazy river and plenty of seating. The beach areas were well tended with beds, umbrellas and towels available. There are multiple restaurants, watersports and even a complimentary trolley bus to take you around the large resort (and shout out to the two trolley drivers who are super friendly and helpful). There is some ongoing development but this didn’t impact our stay. The apartment we had appeared recently renovated and was well equipped. Whilst the location and facilities were excellent, the service did let South Seas down. To give a couple of examples: - We arrived at 4pm and were told our room wasn’t ready and that check in wasn’t 4pm, it was “from 4pm”. When I enquired from 4 until when, I was met with a shrug. I was told someone would text me when my room was ready. I came back to reception at 5pm as I hadn’t received a text and was told the room was ready. I asked why I hadn’t received the promised text and was met with another shrug and told “that’s housekeeping’s responsibility”. Sometimes rooms aren’t ready on time - I get it - but just apologise rather than trying to make out that there isn’t an issue. - The housekeeping, as others have mentioned, is basically non existent. They only come every other day and then only empty the bins and replace the towels. There is no cleaning floors, bathrooms, kitchens or making beds. We stayed for 4 nights, house keeping came once and sheets weren’t changed at all during our stay. Given we paid nearly $1,000 a night including taxes/fees etc for a two bed apartment, I expected daily housekeeping to include a level of cleaning rather than just bin emptying & towel replacement. Finally some of the prices are extreme - you know that you are on a resort on an island so expect to pay more but in some cases it just felt like an attempt to profiteer. Finally, when I received our bill I noticed that one of the charges we’d made to our room had been changed - an additional 22% tip was added. Whilst only a dollar, this felt dishonest. I attempted to address this with management twice but didn’t get the promised call back. In summary, a lovely location and a resort with great facilities so if this is important to you (eg our kids loved the pools) then I’d say go for it and just try to minimise spend on resort by hitting the supermarket before coming across the causeway and eating out at the independent restaurants on Captiva or Sanibel. If service is important to you, try somewhere else!

I have been bringing my family here for over 30 years. This year has been the most disappointing year we have ever had. The pool staff (bingo) has been awful. That was my Granddaughter’s highlight of the trip. Twice now she hasn’t gotten to play and the reply was”The early bird gets the worm “. Horribly rude to a 9 Year old. We had been at the pool spending $$$ all day. Ugh!!!! What happened to customer service. My husband went to get a pizza on foot and coming back tripped and fell since the Lights by the road were not On. He just had heart surgery and is on blood thinners. I used to love this place but it has become impersonal and really quite awful. We need to find a new FL experience that is pleasant again.

The hotel is great for families and children. I would have to say if I didn’t have kids, I would never come here. There is really no room service. They take your garbage out and that’s about it. I’m paying $5000 for 6 nights for really what? A one bedroom and a pullout couch. The price doesn’t fit. We won’t be back. The little things that bug me- there is no outlet close to the bed, so my phone is across the room and the lights flicker. I’ll go to Mexico and stay at an all inclusive for $5000 next time. Everything is extremely overpriced as well. I stopped going to the restaurants in the resort area because they’re short staffed and also completely overpriced. We started going to the local Captiva restaurants. The food is better and way better priced! SouthSeas has a long ways to go if they’re trying to be this huge resort they want to be.

Under new ownership, South Seas is just not anywhere close to what it used to be. It used to be a fun, family-oriented resort with an old Florida beachy vibe. The new ownership is trying to completely change the vibe to something more "exclusive" that completely misses the mark for why people come to Captiva in the first place. Examples: (1) The new buildings they have built do not fit at all with the rest of the resort or with Captiva's funky old Florida charm. They are completely lacking in character. (2) They have a lot of nonsensical rules that are unfriendly and degrade the customer experience. For example, I was told I had to pour out my cup of coffee when entering the pool area because I had not bought it at one of their on site coffee shops (instead I bought it at a local off site shop -- gotta support the local economy!). They also restrict golf carts to those purchased from them (at 2x the price of the local vendors off site!). Final example -- no throwing balls in the pool (wouldn't want kids to have any fun now would we?!?). (3) They restrict access to even the most basic amenities to those who rent through the resort (even the fishing pier, and the new restaurants, which makes no economic sense for them). I realize that the new owners bought the resort right before back to back hurricanes caused extensive damage, and I am sympathetic to their financial plight. But if they want to get people back to the resort and start making money, they are going about it completely the wrong way -- with a very unfriendly and offputting approach!

Would appreciate any and all feedback from the community. I have a 3 bdrm 2 bath villa reserved at South Seas starting tomorrow. For the past week, including today, I've made 7 calls to ask what kind of coffee filter is to be used in the villa. The coffee filters available come prefilled with coffee which I will not use. Can anyone help with names and direct phone numbers of staff at the resort with some sense of responsibility and courtesy, who will be likely to answer my question? Imagine how frustrating it is to spend 9000 for 5 nights and receive this kind of "service". Thanks much.