Sandcastle Resort at Lido Beach

My wife and I stayed at the Sandcastle Resort while in Lido key for a family wedding. We enjoy staying on the waterfront so we upgraded our rooms. While The View was spectacular, the rooms were average at best. They were clean, but old and worn. There was actually paint peeling from our bathtub. Some of my family stayed at the sister resort about a half mile away. That was truly a four-star resort. I struggled on my rating between a two and a three and decided to be generous. The staff was incredibly helpful, friendly and efficient. I would rate them a five. The owners need to make a significant investment to truly make this a three star resort. Read less

My experience was wonderful. After flooding from the recent hurricane staff was always working on getting things back up to par. Room had new carpet and drapes. Very clean. Staff were all so nice and friendly. Meals at the restaurant were delicious. I love the pool area and being right on the beach. Beds were comfortable. If you are looking for a fancy ritzy hotel don’t come here and bash it. If you are looking for a quant and charming hotel with amazing staff this is the place. Thank you Sandcastle for a wonderful vacation. Read less

We booked a room to stay with my wife and two kids. The hotel's photos portrayed a picturesque scene with a small sailboat and beautiful rooms, but the reality was quite the opposite. The moment we arrived, we felt completely deceived. When we inquired about the sailboat, we were informed it was just for show. The rooms were old and poorly maintained. Throughout our entire stay, there was a pile of sand in the hallway that remained untouched. I took several photos as evidence, as they best illustrate the stark difference from what was advertised. We truly felt swindled. Read less

I read some of the reviews and I don’t understand the experience they had. There was four of us, my parents, 13 yr kid son, who has super powers (autism) so it’s hard to keep him engaged. By no means is the a contemporary hotel which is what I lived about it. Our room was on bottom furtherest from main building want to say 105 but it doesn’t matter. It was on the end which was nice since there was a tiki hut n chairs we could go sit at or just sit in front of our room. Having the outside shower close was great. No sand in our room. The room was very clean. I LOVED we had a thermostat on the wall to control air. In fact, it was great not even hearing the air run all night. Most room have those units you have to keep playing with and hear them run all night. Nope! It was quiet. We also had two entrances. The back door lead to the parking lot. And yes they did have mattresses in the big bin but so what. Just means some rooms got new ones. The property was spotless and there was no smells. The room had touched of a time gone by. The door facing the public space had a window on it. I liked opening up and having the ocean air come in without having to open the door. The room size was nice. We weren’t tripping over each other. If you were staying longer, there was ample storage. We were driving Florida for 7 days. Each night a different hotel. I honestly wished we would if stayed one more night here. I had the best sleep. I know there were ppl around but never heard them. Never heard ppl walking in room above us. The only thing I wished we had was a microwave in the room BUT that actually didn’t turn out to be a problem. I was told the lobby has one I could use. As I was walking around I saw a building that said laundry so I thought I’d go in and take a look. This had to be the biggest guest Landry room I had ever seen!! And there was a huge microwave in there so it saved me a walk. I don’t recall how many machines were in there but we could I’d done a weeks with for the four of us in the same time as doing one. I wanna say like 6 washer n dryers. This was for the guests not the resort to use. Inside was also restrooms. You could follow a small hall and come out to the main area. On our side, there was a nice big yard where they had shuffleboard. The outdoor chair were nice. The main area was a shocker!! I have never seen TWO BIG POOLS!!! One was 7ft deep. The other, no clue. Kids were playing but they weren’t bothering anyone. If you didn’t like it, you coukd move to the other. Clean towels were ready for you along with iced cold bottled water. There was even a life size chest board. A tiki hut served drinks. I will say the bartender was not that nice. I had questions about the food menu. You could eat outside by the pool or inside. He told me to go inside if I had questions. Hmmm but that didn’t get to me. I took my son to the beach which was a very short walk. I’m used to seeing umbrellas n knowing u have to rent them. I coukd be wrong but when I asked about them, the young man said no charge. (Double check that). You would be hard pressed not to find something to do here. Also ask about the history of the place. A dog was the owner of it for awhile!! No cap! They do have a shuttle that will take you where the action is. We decided not to eat there and check out other places but we drove ourselves. FYI the key is like 2.5 miles long by one half mile wide. You could walk. We started out I guess late. It was around 8:30 and finding a place was difficult for us due to closing times. We ended up crossing bridge n found a place. I just added that in. We had to chose between watching the sunset or going to eat. This time of year it’s one or the other. We actually should of just ate there. But it was nice seeing lido keys nightlife which really isn’t lol. We got back around 10:30. I wasn’t sleepy yet n we needed ice so I took my son to go with me. We walked out that front door and there were red lights on the paths. I happened to bring a very bright flashlight this trip so my son n I coukd walk the beach at night. I grabbed that only to make him feel comfortable. I liked the red lights. If it helps the turtles I’m for it! Since it felt like we were the only ones there, we just walked the whole area. Didn’t feel scared. It was peaceful in fact. And to hear the waves softly…. Made me almost wish I had a man friend lol but I had my best friend so I was glad to share those moments with him. As I stated in the beginning of my novel, this is not your contemporary hotel. As I sat in the chair in front of our room, I could picture families staying here for their vacation. It was as close as to living in the 50’s as I will ever get. I don’t mean the whole place looks like it got stuck in that time, it was the little things you don’t see anymore. A mirror on this arm thing that pulled out. The window in door. Little things. Lastly, after son went to bed, I went back out to put his swim trunks on the chair. I sat for a second. I coukd not believe how quiet it was. No cars, no bugs, no ppl, no music. No airplanes not even the ocean (only because of where I was). It wasn’t scary or eerie by no means. I’ve never experienced being outdoor and not hearing a thing. Ohhhh gotta mention this. Upon check in, I had asked for extra towels. We all know how some places will give you like 2 n then sign your name in blood for those extra. I forgot his name- he asked how many. I said we’ll women usually like two big towels soooo 4? He goes ok would you like them sent now or wait a lil bit until you get settled. I thought mom would want to rinse off so I said now. By the time wr got to our room, the young man was there with towels in hand. I mention that because they just acted like anything we needed was no problem. The front desk was amazing. Felt like we stayed a week and got to know them and they us. Not that we went up there. It was only at check in n check out. We stayed 40 mins more as I used the computer and the gentleman told us the history of the place. We knew nothing about this part of Florida. We usually go down to key largo or key west. I dunno how we happened upon this key or this place but it was one of my favorite places out if the whole trip!!! This would be a great place for a family reunion, family n friends vaca, a wedding, or just like us, a family of 4. I would take just my son n self back here. I’ve been home 2 weeks now and I’m still thinking of that place. I even googled to read more of its history. The gentleman up front even told us things you won’t get in google-fir instance, she’d make the guests get out of the pool while she did her laps. Well I’m done. If you stay here, I hope you find it just as enchanting as we did. I hope you enjoy having a quiet sleep without hearing the air conditioner rattling n on all the time. Besides the bartender, everyone else was exceptional! (Sorry for mistakes. It was to long to long correct them all ) Read less