4.5 Stars
July 9th - 11th
Backstory
This place goes by many names, Don Pedro Island, Cape Haze, Little Gasparilla Island, but we called it Palm Island because the resort we stayed at is called Palm Island Resort.
It is made up of private houses, villas, and cottages but most importantly... its a very short walk to the beach. My wife stumbled upon this gem while searching on VRBO for a weekend getaway. There were two things that caught her attention
Price: At $289 during peak season, it was definitely worth serious consideration
Bridge: The wooden overpass to the beach was very scenic and desirable
A few days after we booked we received a call from the hospitality team to welcome us and answer any questions we had. I love this type of service, going the extra mile helps guests be prepared for the trip. At this time we were able to find out that we would have to take an actual ferry to the island and that there was very little shopping on the island. Yikes!!! Nevertheless, we were up for a new vacation experience.
Hotel Review(Review starts from the moment we arrive)
Ferry: This was our first time riding a ferry, like literally driving your car onto a boat. It was a little intimidating at first especially because it was night time when we arrived but the staff was helpful in answering our questions and were actually friendly. I saw that the ferry staff has bad reviews so that was a little concerning but our experience was the opposite. They were nice and friendly.
Check in: So we get on solid ground (Thank you Jesus!) and its about a 2 mi drive to the resort check in at the front office. This is not like a franchise hotel or resort, the front office staff goes home around 6pm. If you are checking in after hours you will need to call and let them know. Why? Because when they leave they lock the front office and they will need to leave your keys and check in packet with the after hours receptionist. Sounds like a plan right...except for when we arrived the receptionist couldn't find our keys and didn't see our reservation.
It wasn't his fault, someone forgot to leave our keys and information. He was able to get in touch with the after hours managers who made some calls and was able to find our reservation but still no keys so he gave us a backup key just so we could get into the room for the night. He did a great job handling the situation.
Since cars are not allow to drive the resort, all visitors must park in the designated lot and one of the receptionists will drive you to your villa on a golf cart. Golf carts are rentable if you don't want to call the front office whenever you need their travel services.
Room: We booked a 1 bedroom villa for $289/nt. The room was clean with some nice additions. As you enter the room immediately on the left is a closet containing a stackable washer and dryer. As you walk past the washer/dryer you walk into the bedroom. The bedroom was okay, nothing really stood out as impressive although I did like the bay window. Same with the bathroom. The living room was nice with a god amount of space, which my kids used to run around. The beach themed decor in the living room and kitchen added a very nice touch of vacation vibes. TV, WiFi, streaming services, Kitchen, patio, walk to the beach
Unfortunately we did notice some downsides at this wonderful beach villa.
1. Carpet: needed to be professional cleaned. We noticed spills and stains. No big deal but worth noting
2. Décor: while amazing and fitting, many of the trinkets and what nots were low and within a child’s reach. We moved all low placed décor to the kitchen counter top because we have young children.
Beach: This beach was perfect for us. Quiet, not very many people and the people we did encounter were extremely nice. We even got to see a dolphin, which made my wife panic because she thought it was a shark. lol. Now one huge downside we experienced and hopefully our readers will be prepared for this if they ever decide to visit Palm Island…Noseeums!!! I had no idea what they were until a few days later my wife had over 150 bites on all of her exposed areas which was mainly her legs. Noseeums are extremely small insects (about 0.03in) you can barely see, hints the name noseeums, and they are ferocious blood suckers that live in coastal areas. We were all getting bit but because my wife was standing still she got bit the most. She spent days applying calamine lotion and hydrocortisone cream to help with the itching and yet she still struggled. Because of this experience we now pack a can of Off spray on every trip. I’m starting to itch just typing this, lol.
Check out: The checkout process was smooth. You can tell this resort is run by close knit family friendly people. The two little ladies who checked me out asked was I an American Ninja Warrior, lol!! Turned in our keys and that was it!
Conclusion: Although we had a rough start to this trip, it turned out phenomenal. My wife stumbled upon a gem and we will be planning a family trip to this destination in the future. Since there is not much on the actual island it is the perfect vacation for quiet one on one time or for family bonding.
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