Captain’s Table Lodge & Villas

Simple room, clean, friendly staff.

Okay. there’s no wi-​fi in the rooms and cell phone connection is next to nothing but this place has a charm. It usd to be a mall with little shops back in the 60’s. We got a screened-​in suite with a kitchen and living room for $ 80/​night. Clean and comfortable, quiet (it’s off-​season) and the hotel staff is friendly. You can go up to the little screened-​in patio connected to the office and get wi-​fi service there and The Depot restaurant does get cell connection somewhat.
It’s just minutes from the Everglades National Park boat tours and the restaurants I have mentioned.

So I am giving it 5 stars to counter that other review. Otherwise I would have done 4. Or maybe 5.
Weird kind of name. Sort of expect it to be attached to a restaurant named The Captain’s Table. Maybe it used to be?
Anyway, really liked this place though there are a few eccentricities. It is not the prettiest place in town BUT I think it is the best place in town.
The town is waaaaaay out in the swampy Everglades, almost to the water. (Salt water which is Florida Bay… The Everglades are fresh water actually flowing slowly south like one huge wide river of grass.) The town is an odd mix of locals — mostly lower income but NOT lower class– and wealthy Floridians who have getaway homes here. Because of the higher income influx there are some cool sites to see and places to eat.
Next door there is the old train depot-​turned-​restaurant (this town has some amazing pre and post Depression era history.) If we had just driven around the corner we would gave seen a few other better places to eat (like the Cuban restaurant!)
The lodge itself is old and has been refurbished. We stayed in a «screened porch» room for $ 85++. The rooms with no porches were $ 75++. Why in the world someone wouldn’t pay the x $ 10 to have fresh air is nuts. The room was SUPER TINY but we loved it. Very old style Florida with a wall unit a/​c (worked great) and a little ceramic heater for when it gets cold. We actually used the a/​c a little during the day and then the heater in the morning for a few minutes to warm up the place for my 86 yr-​old mom. Worked great. There is a lil’ fridge but no micro.
The Balcony (we were upstairs) was HUGE and had new screening AND a nice surprise: outside our screened balcony was a really nice outside balcony! The total sq feet of the outside area was as big as the room. I almost pulled my matress out and slept on the screened in porch. I would definitely recommend the upstairs rooms.
NOTE: This is an old building and the walls are thin. There were 4 LOUD Russians who were drinking in a couple rooms. When I was in the hallway I could hear them plain as day. I could also hear Mom and her bf talking as I got closer to our room. Luckily the Russians weren’t too close to us. Might be good to ask for a room near quiet folks. I think there were only maybe 10 rooms on each side upstairs and down tho. Plus the suites/​apartments.
There are also «suites» (I think apartments?) in raised buildings that have effincies or kitchens in them. They seemed nice and quite a few looked like they had seasonal tenants in them. But no riffraff.
The grounds were clean. Lots of parking. Easy check-​in. If you are a teenage girl, the owners’ son, Alex, who works the desk in the evening is adorable. He might not be the son but it seems like it is a family business.
When we checked out, the rate had increased to $ 93! Whaaaat? Seems that Alex had quoted us the 2 person rate though I am sure I said 3 people. (we travel all the time and it is alwsys 3 … never 2) The lady owner-​manager quickly adjusted the rate without me asking! That was nice. Actually she told her 6foot8inch muscle-​y husband to do it and he looked at me, smiled, and said whatever the boss wants the boss gets. They were pretty cute since she is tiny.
Breakfast was real simple. Just regular coffee and toast. We liked it cause it was simple BUT there was no decaf. There is a hot water pot do it would be nothing to have a jar if instant decaf sitting there. I added water to moms coffee butvshe was still a buzzing 86 yr old. When she gets caffeine she starts cussing! It’s always pretty funny when we get back on the road (for the first few miles… sigh…).
BTW the «prettiest place in town», the Everglades City Motel looked completely renovated but I couldn’t justify paying $ 129++. And the Lodge has a lot of character. The Wilderness River cabins looked dumpy.