Rotonda West

Hi - thinking of booking this time on the Gulf at Rotonda West? Anyone been - is it a good area? Be grateful for any tips

Lisi

Yes. Nice. Lots of water ( it is canals not beachfront at Rotonda). Nice beach and big houses to look at at Boca Grande about fifteen mins away. Good shopping at Port Charlotte (30-40 mins away). Quiet and not really much to do unless you are into the beach. Would say not more than one week and one week somewhere more hectic unless you are really into relaxing.

Quote:

---

quote:Originally posted by lisi

Hi - thinking of booking this time on the Gulf at Rotonda West? Anyone been - is it a good area? Be grateful for any tips

Lisi

---

Hi Lisi,

Yes we stayed at Rotonda in 1997, its near Port Charlotte. the villa was lovely but the area seemed very quiet, miles to anywhere, or so it seemed at the time, don't know if it has changed much - we were very bored.

Also stayed at Hudson (further north) which was better, but I'm sure there are others on this site with more knowledge re Gulf Coast.

Have also stayed at Clearwater Beach but that was in a hotel, it was nice but I still prefer Orlando as I'm not really a beach person - five minutes and I'm fed up!

Julie R

Lovely area but not much to do except beach, sailing and relaxing (such hardship!).

We always head off to Fishermans Village at Port Charlotte - there are some nice touristy shops, a bar/restaurant right on the water and we have also done boat trips from there. The sunset cruise is a short evening cruise - very relaxing - and we have also done the day trip to Cabbage Key (Cheeseburger in Paradise) - a long way and lot of money for a burger but we will do it again next time. Either way, we have always been lucky enough to have dolphins follow the boats so that is worth any amount of money.

We have stayed at Rotunda and more recently at Cape Haze nearby and have found plenty to do. The coast is really beautiful and we especially like the beaches nearby. The boat trips are fantastic, there is also fishing, shopping, eating, golf. You can visit lots of other places using there as a base. I would recommend it and it is very relaxing compared with Orlando:)

We stayed in a villa on Rotonda last summer for a week. I think that was long enough. Although very relaxing for the adults it was quite boring for 3 teenagers. The beaches were lovely especially Boca Grande. The closest beach was Englewood about 10 mintes from Rotonda. It did get busy in July with lots of local teens.

Hi Lisi,
check out www.sunstate.com and www.emglewoodchamber.com.
apologies if these site are not allowed to be advertised; they are general tourist sites. If they get deleted please PM me.
Also i'm staying in Rotonda next week so if there is anything else you would like to know please ask.
A VERY VERY relaxing place
andrew

Whoops,
that should be www.englewoodchamber.com
andrew

Thanks for all the replies - seems a mixture to me - some of you love it and some find it boring! I guess we can always move further afield if we get fed up but we have done hte Disney bit and I thought it might be a change - just wasn't sure where abouts to base us either on the Gulf Coast or the Keys

Lisi

The gulf coast has better beaches and more to do (except diving) than the keys IMHO:)

Thanks Ruth and Andrew too. All set now but I think it will be a good base and we can go further afield if we need. We are not going til October and I guess by then will really need to unwind. I am keen to go to Sanibel though and the thought of seeing dolphins is very exciting

Lisi