Pierview Hotel & Suites

The Pierview Hotel & Suites has the best Gulf front location in Ft Myers Beach and is only a minute from the Times Square area as well as a multitude of restaurants and bars, shopping etc.. The location, atmosphere and vibe is a 5, while the rooms seem to vary from 2.5-3. There is a small pool gulf front and patio with tables, palms, chairs, umbrella's and even a grill on the north side of the property. Knowing the Pierview is shutting down on May 1, to be replaced by a Margaritaville Resort to open in early 2023, management has understandably not made any upgrades for some time. This motel was most likely built in the 1960's and the last major upgrade probably took place in the 1990's. Our room was one of the largest rooms, and the closest room to the beach that was not considered Gulf front. It had a king bed and partition with a double bed and had 2 bathrooms. There was a small refrigerator and a table and 2 chairs. We were 20 feet from the pool and had a straight shot view of the beach and Gulf. Outside of our room we had 2 rocking chairs that got plenty of use and we were next to the Salty Crab and got to hear the music most evenings. My sister was staying in another room and I was surprised at how little it was and found out most of the rooms were very small. Well Ft. Myers Beach, get ready for a new high end 256 room resort with luxury suites, over street walkway, bars and much higher price points in the $300-350 range with suites around $700. I will miss the old school vibe of the Pierhouse and looking forward to seeing the change in a few years. Also a note on the 3 people I dealt with in the office during our stay. I did not find them overly friendly and wouldn't have them as part of the front office group upon completion of Margaritaville.

Property is poorly maintained overall – needs painting & cleaning. I'm sure there is little to do about the insufficient parking. The bottom floor beachfront suite we had was not the quality the pictures imply. If you are a large person, do NOT to consider this place. You cannot enter the bathroom without squeezing between the toilet & a wall to reach the sink tucked in a recessed area. The bathroom door has probably less than 1" clearance from the front of the toilet – no exaggeration. The small tub/shower is less than a foot from the toilet on the other side – literally cannot get into the tub/shower without stepping over the toilet or shutting the door to squeeze in the end. Cleaning was subpar: a small curly hair on the toilet seat and hairs in the sink & shower. I also cleaned "something" blackish off the shower wall – didn't even want to touch the shower curtain. Thankfully, I travel with Clorox wipes. The mattress was similar to a piece of plywood with a foam topper. The “kitchen” had small bugs and sand in the fridge. The microwave located on top of the fridge (works awesome for short people, BTW) appeared to have been cleaned pre-Covid – did not use. The patio windows don't open, so no listening to the beach unless you prop open the solid door. The other window *right* beside the bed is on the extremely narrow outdoor corridor and is furnished with only cheap blinds (no curtains) to keep someone from seeing in. We also had the pleasure of being directly across from the housekeeping facilities and enjoyed all of the banging, clanging, hollering, and emphysemic hacking starting at 7:00-7:30 AM every morning (that's 6-6:30 AM for those still on CST). And, lastly, if you like a hot shower or a cold shower this is not the place for you, but if you like your shower to cycle from scalding, cannot-even-stand-under-the-water hot to cold, this is your place. I will be honest that I did not take time to complain or request anything be done during our stay since we were there for a family memorial event and were only in the room from late evening to mid-morning. What were they going to do in the middle of the night? And I certainly did not want them in/out of our room while we were not there. At check-out I did report the ridiculous plumbing issue (kitchen sink temp fluctuated, too). Of course, this was the first they'd heard of it. In closing, the beach was great, and I think I would have felt cleaner and been more comfortable sleeping out there.