Harder Hall Lakeside Villas

I felt very much at home at this resort as it was immaculately clean and very attractive and had everything one needs (including a much used juicer). In back a few feet away, you have Little Jackson lake on which you can fish, rowboat, jet ski (which you can rent a few doors away), or sunbathe on the deck/boat dock. Room-length living room windows and a screened porch allow one to gaze upon the lake all day long. Directly in front, you have the Harder Hall golf course which, to my non-golfer's eyes, looks great. Nearby, there is an extraordinary Florida state park, Highland Hammocks, where you can see the jungle that areas of Florida once were before development (and you can pick some delicious free grapefruit). The large pool is immaculately clean and beautiful and you can continue your weight/fitness training workouts on the resort weight/fitness equipment. By taking route 64 west, you see very clearly that you're in the heart of orange country...and arrive soon in Bradenton which has its own gulf beaches but I recommend Siesta Key in Sarasota a bit further south. Orlando is about an hour and a half away to the northeast. If we had had a rainy day (which we didn't), I might have chosen to drive to Tampa for seaquariums or whatever. Hence, you are centrally located enough to pick and choose any day's optimal activity depending upon the weather, which I thought was a perfect way to spend a multi-activity Florida vacation. Oh...and if you have kids...and you can go Christmas time (and perhaps other weeks), check into baseball camp taught by college coaches at South Florida Community College a few miles away in Avon Park. Imagine leaving 20 degree days and getting to play ball in 70- plus-degree weather on deep green fields with kids from Florida! A baseball-playing kid's dream! Oh...last but not least, around the corner, there's an incredible Chinese buffet restaurant that recently opened that offers a wide variety of delicious foods including all-you- can-eat-without-limit crab legs for a dinner buffet price of 7.95 (although, how long will that last?). Oh..one last thing...the nearby Walmart, Walmart Supermarket, Winn-Dixie Supermarket, and numerous other stores make shopping for essentials a breeze.

Stayed here in March. A long distance from everything except golfing at resort and fishing. Units were clean and well appointed. Free use W/D near the unit. If it was closer to things to do I would have rated this higher.