Imperial Bonita Estates, October 29 to December 29, 2016

Rating:  4.0 on a scale of 5

Location: We found Bonita Springs to be a great location to explore Southwest Florida. We visited Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Marco Island and Naples to the south as well as Sanibel Island/Captiva and Ft. Myers to the north. Naples was a short distance away and we loved the art museum, botanical gardens, and beautiful beaches there. A dog park and dog beach are nearby, for our sweet doggy, Sadie, and multiple hiking trails can be found at nearby state or local parks. Imperial Bonita Springs is only 2-3 miles from I-75, the primary route to everything north and south.  

Lot size: We had a very nice pull-through, full hook-up site (C-10) of gravel with a concrete pad. During most of our stay, we did not have neighbors on the sites on either side. 

The central part of the location has RV sites that are interspersed with site models of various sizes and quality. There are larger site model homes with beautiful landscaping in the area called the village. As a resident-owned RV community, the entire place is immaculate. I think we saw landscaping staff working 5 days a week here! Beautiful.

Amenities: Outdoor activities, group activities, every convenience, and more are all available here. 

There are two large laundromat in the park. Laundry cards are purchased in in either laundromat where you purchase credits via credit card. Both washers and dryers are activated by the laundry card. There are also ice machines at both laundry centers (no charge to residents for the ice). 

Near the entrance is a beautiful pool where water aerobics and water volley happen at scheduled times. Nearby is a pavilion next the the Imperial River that runs along the border of the park. 

Tennis courts, bocci ball courts, horseshoe pits, and shuffleboard courts are all found here and are very will maintained. 

Next to the shuffleboard courts is Founders Hall where there is a large library with a great selection of books to borrow as well as a pool table and ping pong table. Residents gather here to play card or board games, complete jigsaw puzzlers, or watch TV as well. 

The fenced, off-leash dog park is located near the park's dumpsters and storage ages. Sadie had fun catching her frisbee and running around here.

Cost: $600/month (price goes up to $1,100+ in Jan). An seasonal recreational fee of $150 per couple is required for community activities. 

Management: We arrived on a weekend when no one is in the office. Our site location and other information was left for us in an "display case" next to the office doors. All of my interactions with the office were very pleasant. Information regarding social and residential gatherings are posted on a common display board.

If you want to receive mail at the park, you may purchase a key ($15 refundable) for a mailbox. If you receive a package, they leave you a key to a larger postal mailbox where your package can be retrieved at your convenience. Newspapers (daily) are sold behind the mailboxes as well. 

There is a signup sheet in the office to advise the park to deliver a picnic table and/or recyclable bin to your site (which were delivery the next day). We paid our $600/monthly fee the first month; and, second month they applied our $250 advance payment to the $600 fee and we paid balance of $350.

General Comments:  This is a 55+ community which suits us just fine. The folks we met here were very friendly. Most of the seasonal residents were from Northeastern US or Canada, and many having been coming here for years. 

Sites are available for purchase. I do not know what the monthly homeowners fee is, but the association evidently does a good job of maintains a beautiful community. Another thing we really liked about the park were the gopher tortoises (endangered species) that we saw here on multiple occasions.

Also, we saw this red-bellied woodpecker on the telephone pole next to our site. 

We would definitely stay here again October to December due to the great location, price and fantastic weather. 

Website: www.imperialbonitaestates.com