Which town is nicer to stay in? Ft Myers or Naples?Opinions?

I%26#39;d simply like some %26#39;personal opinions%26#39; on which place is nicer to stay in. We plan to visit both in April, but cannot afford to stay on Sanibel or Captiva (which would be ideal). What are the differences and/or advantages of each?? Any thoughts or opinions are welcome!

Which town is nicer to stay in? Ft Myers or Naples?Opinions?

I prefer Naples over Ft. Myers and I haven%26#39;t even stayed in Naples. We have gone to Ft. Myers for the last three years. Every year the traffic is unreal. Maybe not for you, being from CA! It takes forever to get anywhere. On our last trip Ft. Myers seemed more run down. There is a seedy area of town with pawn shops, tattoo parlors, and X-rated stuff. Ft. Myers is very spread out. We went and checked out Naples one day and it is beautiful. You can get to the beach in 10 minutes tops v%26#39;s 45 minutes from Ft. Myers to Ft. Myers Beach. The downtown area of Naples, 5th Ave, is filled with shops, galleries, and restaurants. Naples is just much more upscale. We will be in Naples for two weeks in March/April. One thing I would not miss in Ft. Myers is the Edison Estate. I like the beach at Ft. Myers beach, but the beach at Naples seemed more relaxing with less people. The sunsets are to die for!

Which town is nicer to stay in? Ft Myers or Naples?Opinions?

I agree with hensandchickens...Ft. Myers is OK but not as sophisticated and upscale as Naples. Ft. Myers Beach is really touristy and as stated the traffic is horrible. I would opt for Naples anytime. Captive/Sanibel are nice but again traffic can be horrid. Marco is another great alternative.

We have stayed in Naples on 3 holidays now, and we love it loads of great places to each from cheap and cheerful (as we English say) to fine dining, loads of shops, the beach is great, clean, everyone is so friendly. We will be back... We visitied Fort Myers doesnt seem as smart as Naples, hear the traffic can be bad as well...Give it a go we have certainly never been disappointed and stayed at several hotels but will go back to the Bellasera its excellent.....have a great holiday laura

I would say Naples over Ft. Myers. I go to Naples every year and love it. I have been to Ft. Meyers Beach on day trips and found it to be very run down.

Naples has nice hotels and beautiful beaches.

I much prefer Naples. I%26#39;ve never actually stayed in Ft. Myers but do a couple of day trips up there when we are visiting the area.

Wow, the responses are overwhelmingly in favor of Naples! That has been my impression from my reading materials as well. Thank you to all for the great and informative responses. So very helpful! I have another question if anyone has an answer: we are going during Easter week.....there aren%26#39;t a lot of college spring-breakers there, are there?? (I hope not.) I wouldn%26#39;t think you%26#39;d find that in Naples, but one never knows......ahh....one more question if anybody has a clue: which hotel is nicer (we%26#39;re using Marriott points) The Marriott Courtyard or Marriott Renaissance Inn on Tamiami Road??? THANKS BEAUCOUP for all of your responses!!!

Naples is not a spring break destination per se but there are more young people here than most would think. The Pier and Vanderbilt Beach will have a lot of younger people (High School and College age) but is not wild or anything. The most you%26#39;ll see is a group throwing around a football so I wouldn%26#39;t worry. If you chose Ft. Myers Beach then you see your typical spring break crowd.

As far as the two hotels, I posted on your other thread about the location of these hotels but cannot comment on the hotels since I have never stayed in either.

We have stayed in Naples the past four years and love it. We have stayed at the Doubletree and loved it. We are also trying a home rental through SouthBay Realty-they have been wonderful-for not much more. Hope this helps.

There%26#39;s really no comparison. Naples has it hands down over Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. Better beaches, restaurants, shops, etc.

Hi: We just got back from Naples and we had a blast of a time. We only had a week, but we saw a lot.

I would recommend a drive to Marco Island and to eat at Sunset Grille. It is right on the beach with a veranda and the Crab Cakes, steamed Little Necks in a garlicy spicy red sauce are to die for!! We went there three times.

I would recommend Palm Breeze Charters (email: Boating [boating@palmbreezechartersmarco.com] 239-26-0909, for a one, two or three hour trip in Bill Carlson%26#39;s pontoon (complete with head). We went on a full day and into the 10,000 Islands and saw myriad birds, pelicans, etc., and to a remote beack where we got the most georgous shells. He also took us to Stan%26#39;s at Goodland and that was an interesting stop. The Clam Chowder was out of this world.

We rented a house (villa) in Naples in the Moorings. I would highly recommend this it had a pool and the back yard was very private. Three bedrooms and 2 baths and very nicely laid out with large living areas and the master bedroom was lovely. The owners Kristen and Wes Jasinski were more than gracious to us. I would highly recommend them and they have four homes in the area. Not cheap, but with kitchen we saved on eating out and it was a great experience. You may reach them through Office: 847-835-9133

Fax: 847-835-9135

www.naplesfloridavacationhomes.com

For a fabulous thng to do with your kids or family is to go to Earth %26amp; Fire china paintaing and make an original art piece to take home for a memory of your time together. You work at your own table together after choosing a piece that you want to pain and they have everything from wine coolers to little creatures, plates, bowls of all chapes and sizes, cute seasonal items, tiles, everything imaginable and they are so welcoming, laid back and nice. We did this one evening after the sun went down and now each have a solid memory remenberance of our trip -- it was our 50th Anniversary. Their contact is 239-261-6658web: http://earthandfire-naples.com

These are just places I would recommend that our family enjoyed immensely and I firmly believe thay anyone would enjoy any of these activities or the villa to stay in.

Have a wonderful trip. nancy Crichton in Minneapolis, Minnesota.