Carmella, you got me all excited. I was unaware that American now had nonstops to Chicago. Thought that would be good news, but I couldn't find any on their website currently. Then I plugged in a date for next Feb. and did find one. I guess this is a seasonal thing they are now doing, just like the seasonal service to Dallas Ft. Worth from Ft. Myers. Unfortunately during the bulk of the year American only offers Eagle flights to Miami out of Ft. Myers. Not worth doing for me.

It was in January that I flew on American. I didn't realize it was seasonal.

Mel, I visited La Playa in April because we were thinking of staying there and I wanted to see it for myself. The resort itself is beautiful. It has a style that is a combination of tropical and cosmopolitan elegance, and there's an open feeling when you walk around the public areas. There are 2 types of rooms I saw: the largest are the suites on the upper floors of the main tower. These are the best rooms as far as spaciousness and elegance - they are full suites with small libraries and amenities on the level of Ritz Carltons and other top resorts. We were interested in the lanai rooms because they are in a low-rise building directly on the beach, and though the rooms are also lovely and furnished similar to the suites, they are rather small. The lanai building itself is nothing special and the patios and the outside of it reminded me of a motel. But it is right on the sand. The rooms are immaculate and the lobbies and patios and restaurant are all top-drawer, elegant but with a relaxing feel. It reminded me of the Ocean Club in Paradise Island, though it's much smaller. The beach area is also very pretty with the hotel's blue & white striped umbrellas and whitewashed fences at the entrance. Drawbacks are that there are 3 pools but they are quite small and really for wading and relaxing not for swimming, and the hotel itself is right in a residential high-rise area, so it lacks the resort feel of a more spacious place. Oh, there is also a wonderful spa with the most up-to-date treatments, and a nice sized gym with LOTS of treadmills and new equipment. I took photos of the resort and if you'd like to see them (I haven't scanned them but will upon request), please email me at my real address, [email protected]. Reasonably priced for such nice rooms, too.

Dear Keely, Thank you for all of that info. When you say La Playa is in a residential high rise area what do you mean, Condos? Can you walk to the Ritz Carlton? I would love to see some pictures if you put them up on your site. Let me know if you do. Which building would you recommend staying in? I understand there is a building across a small street, did this look nice? Thanks for any info you can give me. I was wondering if you would (after seeing the place) recommend staying there.

I am also interested in the pictures of La Playa. If you can please post them.

just posted a huge reply to the last 2 questions & it totally disappeared into the infamous black hole of fodors. Aaarrgh!

OK, I will try again. According to someone at the resort, there's pretty much nothing within walking distance. You can rent a car pretty easily right at La Playa, but if you want to take a walk at night after dinner, you'll be basically taking a walk on a residential street full of high-rise condos. It's not what we're looking for in our one beach vacation a year.

If you don't care about that, then I would definitely recommend La Playa. The rooms are just great looking. If you want to roll out of bed and open your door and walk right onto the sand, stay in a lanai room. It's a separate two-story building. The patios are basic & uninteresting & look like a very basic motel. But the rooms are beautiful. However, they are small. If you don't spend much time in your room, no problem.

All the rooms are decorated the same - tasteful, elegant, modern. Marble floors, brass mirrors, featherbeds, top line bathroom amenities. Definitely not the typical Florida hotel room with white wicker furniture, pastel rugs, & floral bedspreads.

(continued from last post) I think the best rooms are the suites in the main building. If you don't mind having to put on a beach coverup to go down to the beach, and if you can afford a suite (rates at La Playa are very reasonable), they have the best views and are spacious & gorgeous.

I'm not sure if any of the rooms at La Playa face the street instead of the beach, but if they did, of course that would be less desirable. There are no corner rooms (too bad). There are only a few full suites and they are in the higher floors of the main building, which is I think about 10 stories high.

As far as the surrounding buildings, they're very nice. They're upscale. They're clean. They're condos. There's nothing wrong with them - it's just not what we want to be surrounded with on our vacation. We live in one.

By the way, I have to apologize about the pictures. I'm having some problems with my scanner's software & have not been able to get it working properly for a couple of weeks, so I'm very sorry for offering and then not giving. I will try to do this ASAP & will post an alert when I do.

Also -- I was given a $200 gift certificate to be used at La Playa. It's not in anyone's name & seems to be usable by anyone whose hands it's in, but it's only good toward a 3-day or more stay before Sept. 30 of this year, and since we've decided to go out of the country, we won't be able to use it. If anyone reading this thinks they could use it, I would be open to a trade of some sort or sell it at a substantial discount. You can e-mail me at my real address, [email protected].

Again, I'm sorry about the pix & will try to get them up soon.