Recommendations for Florida Gulf coast please

[Stokey]

We want to go somewhere warm in March before I go back to work after mat leave. Dd1 is 3 and Dd2 will be 11 months. Think we'll avoid the theme parks as dd2 is too little and is happy just to play in the sand, tho would also be excited to meet a princess
Can anyone recommend somewhere nice to stay? Near the beach with a pool would be good. I'm not really a resort person, small hotel or self catering would be great. Thanks in advance.

I love Clearwater, Tampa, St Petersburg, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Sanibel. All lovely areas with lots of choices for accommodation.

We usually stay with friends but have stayed at the Hilton Doubletree in North Reddington beach (near Clearwater) and at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater.

Tampa/Clearwater is close enough to Disney to do a day trip to the Magic Kingdom for some for princess encounters!

The island of Sanibel.

I agree clearwater is beautiful, we went there for a day last summer when we were fed up with theme parks in Orlando. The beach was absolutely fabulous and we will definitely go there again. Can't recommend any hotels though. Might be worth looking on owners direct for villas/apartments there. As said above, you could easily drive up the I4 to Magic Kingdom for the princess encounter.

Sanibel.

Narles, Sanibel, St Petes :)

meant Naples!

I've stayed at clearwater twice. Great place but I preferred treasure island just down the coast.
We stayed at sunset vistas with virgin holidays.
That price matched so I got it really cheap
It's on the beach with a pool and the best bit was the kids had their own room after 2 weeks of sharing with me and DH. Lovely apartment. Great sunsets. Dolphins and pelicans everywhere.

Captiva Island, heaven here on earth!

I second Naples, which is beautiful as is Marco Island - you can rent a house with a pool and the beach is just a short drive away