GailLK

Looking for some recommendations for BEST resort hotel between Naples and Tampa? Looking for a great pool, nice rooms, overall nice resort worth the extra $ and located in area where there are things to do, maybe a nice downtown area with shops and restaurants. Thanks!

mnf

I would say the best is the Ritz Carlton Naples. It is cinsistently ranked the best. It is not downtown though.

In Tampa, i would say the Don Cesar is best. But you need an upgraded room as the standard rooms are a little tired.

Patrick

There is little question that the Ritz Carlton, Naples is the highest rated resort hotel on the Gulf coast, in fact possibly the nation, depending on which survey you read. But it is not downtown or even near it. As with most resort hotels, you are "expected" to utilize the facilities of the resort, and most resorts do not locate themselves within walking distance of lots of outside activities or restaurants -- that's all part of the basic concept.

If you stay there, you'll need to get a car to spend time in "downtown" Naples where the good shopping and restaurants are. But I guess the question is "why do people pay huge bucks to stay at a top resort and then want to leave to do things?" If you don't want to eat your meals at the hotel and spend the bulk of your time there, why would you want to spend a whole lot of money to stay there to begin with -- you won't be getting what you're paying for.

Tandoori_Girl

mnf, that's an accurate description of the Don. I love it but I guess it's hard to keep the old girl up to her glory after 80 years.

Gail, I was recently at the Radisson Resort on Lido Beach. It was a great location, really nice rooms, excellent restaurants, beautiful beach. From there it was a short walk (or drive) to St. Armands Circle shopping and restaurants. There are some wonderful places to visit nearby as well, including the John Ringling Home and Museum, and Marie Selby Gardens. And you are less than a couple of hours to other cities, such as Tampa/St. Pete, and Naples. From the hotel to the highway is a straight shot.

Just something different to consider. I had a great time there. Also look into the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton. They have a spa hotel on Lido that is a branch of their in-town hotel. From the beach, it looked wonderful but is a "members only" hotel. I'm not sure what that means -- to us it meant that they wouldn't even let us go in and look at the place. So we stayed out on the beach and drooled. It looked very lux.

asharillc

Gail I'm not sure if you are looking to be @ a beach resort or not but my wife and I stayed @ a little resort just on the beach of Anna Maria Island-Bradenton Beach. It was lovely! We had a chance to relax and enjoy our weekend. We live in Tampa so it is just south of us and takes only an hr to get there. The property we stayed @ was "SeaSide Inn & Resort" it was directly on the water and our patio looked at the gulf with the best view money can buy. The staff were great and very polite and they brought us coffe and a newspaper to our patio in the morning! pretty neat. they didn't have any other buildings on either side of their resort so it seemed less crowded. I believe the room was somewhere around 100.00 a night. but not bad for a weekend getaway. they have a website i believe it is www.seasideresort.com . We saw another really nice resort you might want to check into it was "The Bungalow Beach Resort" just down the road from the one we stayed. hope this helps