South Florida family vacation

[mswax]

We are looking for good places to go/stay in southern Florida in the January through march time frame. We have 3 young kids, want to be on the beach, have access to a pool, 2 bedrooms, and a kitchen. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Deleted]

Are you set on South Florida? The reason I ask is that we stayed here last summer and it was awesome. It had a full kitchen, they had a bunch of pool and beach toys you could borrow, it was a short drive to a grocery store and from downtown Sarasota and it was right on the beach. They had grills to use, too. It was quiet and very family friendly, too. You can fly into Tampa (about 75 minute drive) or Sarasota (about 20 minute drive). We did Tampa because it was cheaper.

[Pom]

Check VRBO.com for rentals or all of these places listed have hotels.

South Florida places that we think are awesome include Siesta Key, Manisota Key, Sanibel Island, Captiva, Fort Meyers Beach, Islamorada (middle Keys).

Enjoy your trip!

[mswax]

My grandfather lives in ft. Lauderdale, so I'd like to be within 2 hours of there so we can go visit. Google says the Naples area meets that criteria, if we wanted to be gulf side.

As for VRBO, we have a gift certificate with a travel agency, so I think we need to go with traditional hotels.

I'd love recs for specific hotels/resorts if people have any!

[Deleted]

Chain hotels with a kitchen would be Residence Inn and Homewood Suites. I would just get on those two web sites and start looking.

[bullsgirl]

During that timeframe I would look at the keys. I live in tampa and for the timeframe you are looking at it can be pretty cold in central and south Florida.

[incognitotoday]

mswax I lived in South Florida for 17+ yrs. look up Boca Raton Beach Resort. The Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. Or as someone suggested www.homeaway.com. The two I've listed are 20-25 mins from your Grandpop. On the west coast, look up Tween Waters Inn. With a car that'll be about 1.5 hrs to your Grandpop. All of these places have "suite" like options/kitchenettes.

PM for any other recs.