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Beach Club I, Fort Myers Beach, FL Review
Just returned from a nice few days in Fort Myers beach following the threat of Hurricane Isaac.
This is a small resort with only 15 units. 10 2 bedroom, 2 baths and 5 1 bedroom, 1 baths.
It's an older resort probably built in the 1980's with remnants of it's era like gray paneled walls.
This place is mostly used by owners. Because of it's size, it rarely comes up for exchange except
for hurricane season or off season. I got it on the tail end of the summer hence the dodging of the hurricane.
The manager Donna is a one woman show. She made the decision to close the resort and turn off the power before
the evacuation orders were given for the island and moved all the guests to Lehigh Acres. They had to pay their own way
though so many were not happy with her decision to close the resort since neighboring resorts stayed open. She turned
off the water and power to the building so there was no way to stay at the resort. I can understand her erring on the side
of caution but there were lots of unhappy campers this week and the attitude carried over all week.
Since I did an RCI points exchange, I was only coming for 5 days so luckily missed the hurricane excitement.
We were in unit 493 which is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit that spans the bay to the beach on the side near the Pink Shell resort.
The units are a nice size with a funky layout. You enter into a long hallway that immediately faces the second bedroom.
There are two full bathrooms. One with a tub and the master with a shower and no tub. There are two balconies, one faces
east towards the back bay waters and the other faces west for ocean views and awesome sunset views. They have done a
few upgrades to make things clean and comfortable but they left the paneling for some reason. The MF's are really low here,
like $450 for a 2 bedroom so that explains the sparse upgrading. Honestly though it's just fine for what it is. A great beachfront
place where you are guaranteed a beach view even on an exchange and plenty of sleeping arrangements. The 2 bedrooms sleep
8 in two queen beds and a king and a sofa sleeper. The 1 bedrooms have two double beds and a sleeper and sleep 6.
The oceanview balconies are all the same despite the unit size and have a table for four and a beach lounger with a side table.
The bay balconies have two chairs.
The resort has a nice pool which they keep clean. There are also two BBQ gas grills and a picnic table for eating poolside.
They have 7 free beach chairs that you pull to the shore and back everyday. First come first served. Plenty of poolside chairs
and tables for the size of the resort. There is also a little bar area near the pool. Two outdoor bathrooms near the pool and
plenty of games for the kids like shuffleboard, and pool toys. Actually the pool was overrun with huge floats this week.
There was a big group of owners who have been coming here since the 80's when grandma bought the unit for $2500.
She has a clan of about at least 20. Nice people but they all know each other and they are definitely at home here this week.
Parking is extremely limited to one car per unit. There are only 3 guest spots and they must be reserved. We were lucky enough
to get one since I am assuming a few people cancelled due to the hurricane. If you arrive late you must use a lockbox to get
your key. My parking passes were not included and the office was closed for two days due to the storm. There is a prominent
sign on the office saying that your car will be towed if it doesn't have a parking pass. Luckily since the manager was away they
did not tow my car and I would have been quite pissed had they done so since they didn't bother to put the parking pass in the
welcome envelope like they said they would.
RCI points exchangers pay a $39 housekeeping fee that they charge even if you exchange in for a week. The manager said that
RCI is making her charge the fee even to weekly guests so be aware that she will charge you. You can exchange into this resort
thru Trading Places as well and they probably don't force the housekeeping fee if what she says is true. This is a VRI resort but
VRI management cannot help you with any problems at this resort. They claim they do not have the managers phone number.
THere is an emergency phone outside the office but if you are someone who is exchanging from another country you will need
a cell phone since the number is long distance and can't be dialed from the box.
Overall I am pleased by my stay and would return. This is my third exchange into this resort thru RCI. There are better options
in Fort Myers beach because the beach at this end of the island tends to be a bit murky. The area near Lahaina and mid island is
a better beach but the views here are the same. You'll probably need a car if you want to venture anywhere although they do have
a trolley service running along the beach.
This is a small resort with only 15 units. 10 2 bedroom, 2 baths and 5 1 bedroom, 1 baths.
It's an older resort probably built in the 1980's with remnants of it's era like gray paneled walls.
This place is mostly used by owners. Because of it's size, it rarely comes up for exchange except
for hurricane season or off season. I got it on the tail end of the summer hence the dodging of the hurricane.
The manager Donna is a one woman show. She made the decision to close the resort and turn off the power before
the evacuation orders were given for the island and moved all the guests to Lehigh Acres. They had to pay their own way
though so many were not happy with her decision to close the resort since neighboring resorts stayed open. She turned
off the water and power to the building so there was no way to stay at the resort. I can understand her erring on the side
of caution but there were lots of unhappy campers this week and the attitude carried over all week.
Since I did an RCI points exchange, I was only coming for 5 days so luckily missed the hurricane excitement.
We were in unit 493 which is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit that spans the bay to the beach on the side near the Pink Shell resort.
The units are a nice size with a funky layout. You enter into a long hallway that immediately faces the second bedroom.
There are two full bathrooms. One with a tub and the master with a shower and no tub. There are two balconies, one faces
east towards the back bay waters and the other faces west for ocean views and awesome sunset views. They have done a
few upgrades to make things clean and comfortable but they left the paneling for some reason. The MF's are really low here,
like $450 for a 2 bedroom so that explains the sparse upgrading. Honestly though it's just fine for what it is. A great beachfront
place where you are guaranteed a beach view even on an exchange and plenty of sleeping arrangements. The 2 bedrooms sleep
8 in two queen beds and a king and a sofa sleeper. The 1 bedrooms have two double beds and a sleeper and sleep 6.
The oceanview balconies are all the same despite the unit size and have a table for four and a beach lounger with a side table.
The bay balconies have two chairs.
The resort has a nice pool which they keep clean. There are also two BBQ gas grills and a picnic table for eating poolside.
They have 7 free beach chairs that you pull to the shore and back everyday. First come first served. Plenty of poolside chairs
and tables for the size of the resort. There is also a little bar area near the pool. Two outdoor bathrooms near the pool and
plenty of games for the kids like shuffleboard, and pool toys. Actually the pool was overrun with huge floats this week.
There was a big group of owners who have been coming here since the 80's when grandma bought the unit for $2500.
She has a clan of about at least 20. Nice people but they all know each other and they are definitely at home here this week.
Parking is extremely limited to one car per unit. There are only 3 guest spots and they must be reserved. We were lucky enough
to get one since I am assuming a few people cancelled due to the hurricane. If you arrive late you must use a lockbox to get
your key. My parking passes were not included and the office was closed for two days due to the storm. There is a prominent
sign on the office saying that your car will be towed if it doesn't have a parking pass. Luckily since the manager was away they
did not tow my car and I would have been quite pissed had they done so since they didn't bother to put the parking pass in the
welcome envelope like they said they would.
RCI points exchangers pay a $39 housekeeping fee that they charge even if you exchange in for a week. The manager said that
RCI is making her charge the fee even to weekly guests so be aware that she will charge you. You can exchange into this resort
thru Trading Places as well and they probably don't force the housekeeping fee if what she says is true. This is a VRI resort but
VRI management cannot help you with any problems at this resort. They claim they do not have the managers phone number.
THere is an emergency phone outside the office but if you are someone who is exchanging from another country you will need
a cell phone since the number is long distance and can't be dialed from the box.
Overall I am pleased by my stay and would return. This is my third exchange into this resort thru RCI. There are better options
in Fort Myers beach because the beach at this end of the island tends to be a bit murky. The area near Lahaina and mid island is
a better beach but the views here are the same. You'll probably need a car if you want to venture anywhere although they do have
a trolley service running along the beach.
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