Sun Outdoors Sarasota — Hotel in Sarasota

We used to be KOA fans until we came here. This RV Resort makes KOA look sub-par. This Resort has accommodations for every need and situation. They have full-time residents, part-time residents, vacationers, weekenders, overnighters, snowbirds, seasonal rentals, Etc. You can bring your own, whether you have an RV, a 5th wheel, a pull behind, a trailer, a camper etc or they have rentals. The entire staff is very welcoming and friendly and so are the residents for that matter. We did not meet one person who didn't have a friendly disposition. We never been to a place with so many amenities and all of which are included with the exception of an occasional small fee for some craft supplies pretty much. Anything that was stationary and on site, was included basically. This includes their two-story Gym, their Olympic size Indoor Lap Pool, their very huge Outdoor Heated Pool, their family-friendly Mega Water Slide, their Kiddie Pool with a built in mini Splash Park, their two Jacuzzi/Hot tubs, a very nice Mini Golf course, Bocce Ball, Pickle Ball, Tennis, Volleyball, Gaga Ball, Lawn Bowling, Shuffle Board Courts, a Sports Complex which includes Basket Ball Hoops, an Arcade (fee), a seasonal Woodworking shop, and Stained Glass Studio, a Billiard's Room with at least 5 tables, a Butterfly Garden, a Large Lake and several mini lakes with two docks at the large lake and a Walk/Bike path, a Mail room, several Comfort stations which feature laundry facilities and dog wash stations attached, a rather nice sized Dog Park which unfortunately isn't level and we have a feeling that's due to their recovery from the last major hurricane we had last year so it can accumulate standing water therefore I advise that you go in and check it before you bring your fur babies in there to make sure there isn't any unhealthy standing water that they can get into, and there's also a Banquet Hall, Etc. They have on-site Dining, a Poolside Bar which runs drink specials as well as a Snack bar, and there's also Spa Services by appointment in their building which houses the Multi-level Gym and Olympic size pool. There's also from what I understand a Steam Room and Sauna on site, probably in the same building that has the Olympic pool but we forgot to look for it. This place is tropical, well maintained, and very clean. It has a Margaritaville type of vibe, everybody is chill and laid back yet professional. The staff goes above and beyond with accommodating your needs. Another thing we really appreciate about this Resort is they will allow up to 6 guests, meaning, yourself and up to five more people for each reservation at no additional charge for a total of 6 people per reservation/stay. Whereas, most places will charge you per person after the first two people. Check in is at 2:00 and check out is at 11:00 we like that as well because with many places check out is at 10:00. They have prizes and giveaways including a free night stay you can win when you participate in certain activities. During our stay they had a Duck hunt (which was just like a scavenger hunt) throughout the resort with mini ducks that you could keep or trade in for mini prizes or if you found the big Golden Duck, you won a gift card. Also their activities are every day and they run every half hour throughout the entire day and into the evening. The pool and Billiard room is open until at least 10:00 p.m. and if it should be locked, just call the front gate/guard house and they'll send a ranger to unlock it for you. Even mini golf was open well into the Evening. Fur babies are welcome as long as they're not aggressive and kept on a leash at all times. Each site features a cement slab if I recall, if not, most sites. All sites had a picnic table. You have to provide your own grills and fire pits but fire pits must be raised off the ground and have a cover to contain the fire. This Resort is huge so bring your E-bikes. We had a great time and can't...

I would not recommend anybody to go to this resort. We were there two months. This is not the first time we have stayed here. We stayed in 2021 as well. Unfortunately, it is not the same resort as it was in 2021. Drinks are extremely overpriced for bartenders that don’t know how to make them. Even the drinks on their own menu. Except for the one older dude. He seems to know what he’s doing. There is so much overpouring. It’s like you’re drinking a shot of alcohol without any mixer.

The grounds are not very clean, the pool is dirty with hair floating in it all of the time. It is extremely overcrowded on the weekends because they allow you to buy passes so for people staying there it becomes a nightmare. Plus, the slide is never open and the entertainment is mediocre and plays mostly old music such as 70s and 80s versus nineties through today…..In 2021 they use DJs every single weekend and the kids would dance and there would be lights and fun. They would play New Age music and the kids would do tick-tock dances and have so much fun ….Not anymore. They also don’t have movie nights by the pool or any of the entertainment that my kids loved the first time. During the week they have music playing on a loudspeaker and it is also old-school music. Nothing hardly modern at all.

Even though our rig has a shower, I like to use a shower house because I can take a longer shower and it was dirty most of the time. Hair down in the drains, hair wiped on the sides of the walls. Or even broken showers at times.

We couldn’t even consider renting a golf cart because it was so ridiculously overpriced.

Every activity, you need to go up to the gate to receive the items to play, I guess I kind of understand that because I’m sure that some guests ruined it before, but it would be nice if it was a little more accessible.

Several times the laundromats were dirty and or closed.

Pool hall doesn’t even allow kids in it at all so they can’t play pool. Even if they normally play it in real life outside of the park.

Much of the stuff is closed because it’s out of season. They open it for the winter season when all the snowbirds come down. The center, for kids where they can go and color, was nice overall because my kids like to color, but I spent over $400 in there because the projects are overpriced and nothing really is free except for coloring.

Everything is an up charge, including if you want streaming on Wi-Fi. Unless you’re a short term person, you have to pay electricity. The electric electricity came out to just about $440 for the two months we were there.

So we were there from the first week of June until the last week of July, and for the whole stay, Including the electric and the Wi-Fi, we paid $3500 plus $400 in activity center fees.

This is more than what I pay my rent for in a normal house.

I would not recommend anybody out here. Keep in mind. I did make a complaint while I was there. I made a complaint about how things were being ran as well as the fact we didn’t have Wi-Fi for over a week. They did give us a $30 gift card to use at the center, never even considered reimbursing or discounting any time. Also, if you don’t need my warning and you choose to stay anyways, make sure that whatever card you give them upfront is the card you want random stuff charged to. And also not random stuff. We got the electric bill at eight in the morning and 11 o’clock out of my account. I didn’t even have a chance to look at it or anything before...

Our family stayed her for 1 week over the July 4th Holiday. It was our first experience here and we had high expectations because of the website that lays out all of their amenities.

Our stay got off to a bad start when we arrived at almost noon and were told that we had to pay 25 dollars to check in early. We were told check In was at 2pm, there was no one on our site but we were still told we had to pay or wait. We paid...later I found my confirmation email that said check in is at 1 pm. and it made no mention of a early check in fee. We have full timed in our RV for over 4 years and this is the first time we have ever been told to pay to check in early. Without going into too much detail, our site was way in the back next to some perminant trailers that were falling apart and garbage everywhere outside their unit. An eyesore that we had to look at for a week. Our spot had beer cans, latex gloves and other trash left that I had to clean. We complained about that fact and were compensated by the very friendly staff.

I was also extremely disappointed that their fitness center is a 10 dollar a day per person fee or 35 per person per week. Nothing on the website says there is a fee, they just boast about the indoor pool and fitness center, very misleading. Same with the billards room...locked unable to use it. Lawn bowling and Boche ball roped off unable to use. The mini golf was mediocre. The water slide is only open from 11am-2pm during the week and from 11-5 on weekends. If you know anything about Florida in the summer, it rains a lot! Everyday. As soon as it would mildly start to sprinkle, the slide would close. I have no idea how that makes any sense. The pool remained open but the hours for the slide were already lacking and the rain coming and going made it worse. The indoor pool would really be useful if the guests could use it while the storms are coming through. There are ZERO indoor activities so we found ourselves very bored ( with our 11 year old) here as it rained for a good part of the day for 6 of the 7 days we were there.

For the weekend of July 4th, the activities were a movie by the pool which you couldn't hear because they never turned the poolside music off. They had a live band at one point that was really good. Face painting, for a fee, cotton candy for a fee and a craft for a fee. We really felt nickled and dimed here.

Also be aware, they allow anyone to pay a day pass fee and come here also they host a summer camp so there are a lot of extra people.

Won't be...