My DH & I went to FL for a mini getaway last month to celebrate our 19th anniversary. Our requirements were to go somewhere warm but not too far away due to limited time, relaxing, & be able to use FF miles. We would have loved to stay at the Breakers, but it was booked. My friend, a TA, found a great deal for us at the St Regis, a brand new hotel, so off we went!!

To maximize our time, we flew from LAX in on a red-eye. Much to the surprise of my DH, I arranged for a limousine to pick us up at the airport. We don't normally do that, so you can imagine to look on his face when he asked me why there was a man standing there holding a placard with our names on it! This was the first of several surprises I had planned, so I was really excited to see his reactions.

From the airport, I arranged for the limousine to take us to a restaurant, La Bonne Crepe, for breakfast. We had a wonderful breakfast ( I confess I love crepes!) and after that, I had pre-arranged to have the driver show us around FL. I had wanted to kill some time so we wouldn't arrive at the hotel too early. The driver ended up driving us done to Miami and showing us around. It had been years since we had been to Florida (unless you count cruise embarking/disembarking 3 summers ago), so that was fun. While driving around South Beach, we spotted Shaq getting into his car. He is one big man!! We are basketball fans and have seen him at Laker games before, but not that close up. I don't know who was more excited, the driver or me!! Anyway, after our leisurely drive, it was time to head back to FL and check-in.

When we pulled up to the St Regis, there must have been 4 or 5 men trying to assist us in getting out of the limo. They were probably disappointed it was just us but seemed to just as happy to serve anyway. Check-in was smooth, friendly, and fairly quick. We had the Taste of Luxury package. I was delighted to find our room available at 10:30 AM. Our butler, showed us around the hotel and then to our room. We had been upgraded to an oceanview (I paid for an intracoastal view).

Now remember I had pre-planned some things for DH...I worked the week before w/ one of the concierges to come up with some little suprises and he promised me they would be in the room when we arrived. I had ordered large, chocolated-dipped strawberries, champagne, and a small anniversary cake. When we got to our room, they were indeed there. My DH said, "Oh, look, how nice. The hotel knew it was our anniversary and left us something." I just smiled and later told him.

Our room was lovely and had a great view from the 12th floor. I was really pleased we had been upgraded. We got into our swimsuits, and headed down to the pool. That was pretty much our MO every day.

The pool area was really nice. It was an infinity edge pool with quite a few padded lounge chairs, but there weren't any cabanas yet. The beach walkway/bridge over A1A and spa weren't done yet either. The pool area didn't have many umbrellas but supposedly more are on order. Anyway, our first day, we wanted sun!! We later ordered lunch by the pool (service poolside was incredible!) and then later on in the afternoon, I had spa appointments at their sister hotel, the Atlantic.

Because their spa was unfinished, they arranged car service, a Bentley, to drive me to the Atlantic. It was a really nice spa and I enjoyed the 3 hours I spent there.

We ate at a nearby restaurant, Casablanca Cafe for dinner. It was great for watching people along A1A and the food was ok. We were exhausted from our red-eye, so were off to bed pretty early and decided to save the chamgpagne for another night.

We had breakfast included in our package and ate their daily. It was wonderful. The service was great and the presentation nice, but boy, was the menu pricey! Our first meal was $90! Good thing it was included!! We spent another day lounging by the pool drinking cold drinks, swimming, sunning, and reading. It was so relaxing. We had dinner that night at the hotel restaurant, Cero. It was exceptional from the food to the service. For dessert, they had written "Happy Anniversary" on our plate...a nice touch. Every time we ate they knew it was our anniversary and wished us well. By the end of our 5 day stay, many of the employees knew us by name.

Our third day was again spent by the pool and then we walked up and down A1A to find a place for dinner. We ended up at Bubba Gumps. We had eated at one before so knew what to expect. We were eating such big breakfasts and drinking/snacking poolside, so not terribly hungry for dinner.

Our third night, we took a water taxi to Las Olas Blvd and ate at Mancini's by recommendation of the concierge. They have a gret martini menu . We had a wonderful meal there, too.

On our last day, we lounged one last time by the pool enjoying the free smoothies, ice cold towels, and incredible service. We were given late check-out, too. We packed up, checked-out, wandered around A1a to look at nearby hotels, and then came back for a very late lunch before heading to the airport.

Overall, it was a wonderful, romantic, relaxing getaway with my DH and we would definitely return to the St Regis. BTW, all the things I had pre-ordered (cake, strawberries, and champagne) were comped to us because it was our anniversary!! Very nice

what a great report, I forwarded it on to my son.

Thanks for the report. Did you go to the beach at all? Does the hotel supply chairs for the beach???

Yes, we went to the beach but just once. I would have gone more had the walkway been open. The water was so warm! The hotel did not supply chairs but will supply chairs, towels, & drink service once the walkway is open.

I was in a hurry when I typed this report so left some things out and this was one of those things. We just took pool towels across the street with us to the beach. You can rent chairs & umbrellas on the beach but it won't be long before the walkway is open all this will be provided.