My husband is originally from Englewood and we have been coming down for the past ten years to visit family and friends. We always stay in the Rotonda area for the convenience.
The Pros: This is a great house in a central location. The pool is a nice size and stays cool in the Florida heat. The patio area had outside fans which helped with bugs and keeping cool. The fenced in yard helps to keep your pup from exploring, but be mindful gators do climb fences. The house has everything you need and more (bikes, kayaks, pool floats, cooler, and even a crib in the garage). The sliding screen doors on the garage was a great bonus. The kitchen was stocked with nice pots and pans which helped out with our low country boil. Open floorplan and spilt bedrooms was a great feature.
The Cons: The property details states that there is a gas grill (which there is), however, it makes no statement that they do not provide or guarantee that the tank will have propane in it. You must take care of this yourself. Every house I have rented in Englewood has come with a full propane tank. It has even been delivered when the current one was empty or ran out. Would I have still rented the home? Maybe, maybe not (given the price point to rent), but knowing a head of time would have made planning a whole lot easier. When we planned to grill out 4 of the 8 nights we were there, having to change our menu due to the 1/4 tank of gas was frustrating to say the least. After all, purchasing a full tank of gas that we would be expected to leave was not cost effective either. Understandably, each rental is different and at the owners accord as to what they want to provide or not provide. But, the listing for the house should communicate to a potential renter that something like this is not provided, so they can make an informed decision.
Helpful Hint: In the past the majority of homes that we stayed in had a notebook which was usually left out in a common area that provided information about the home and surrounding area. Not that we need info about Englewood, but others might. It normally provides helpful hints regarding the property and other things to be mindful about. This would help a renter learn more about the house, where items are located (like the wi-fi receiver) and how certain things work or do not work.
Overall, the house is a very nice house and the neighbors were pleasant as well.