Planning trip mid-January with wife to celebrate her birthday and tennis at Sanchez Academy. Want beachfront room at either LaPlaya or Ritz Gulf - please advise. Will have rental car for restaurants, shopping, etc.

what do you want to know? The ritz gulf is lovely. The spa is amazing.

Thanks, emcash - would you have a preference for LaPlaya or Ritz, and why? Both get excellent reviews and I'm interested if anyone on our forum has stayed at one or the other and what they liked/disliked about their stay.This might help me choose which hotel. Thank you.

When we go to Naples we stay at the Ritz Gulf. I like RCs -- I like that level of service and that level of room and food etc. I guess i'm always pretty much going to know what i'm getting at a Ritz and I like that. The spa at the Ritz is amazing, as I said. La Playa looks very nice, and I've only had dinner there, but i don't think it is quite the level the Ritz is, BUT, that being said, if you like a smaller more intimate feel, you might like La Playa better.

I'd only confirm what others have said. A few might find the service a little more "overwhelming" or pretentious at the Ritz, so if you like a little less over the top pampering you might like LaPlaya better. But I'd definitely say that the Ritz is of a "higher caliber" overall.

I still laugh at clients who said while staying at the Ritz if one more person said, "My pleasure" they were going to deck them.

Hi Caboose,
Check out my trip report title, Naples, FL trip report.

DH and I stayed @ LaPlaya last November/December. In a nutshell what we absolutely loved about LaPlaya was that our room was directly beach front/access; in other words we could walk from our room directly to the beach (no lobby or courtyard to go thru). We could relax on the outdoor patio in our robes, and enjoy the view/sounds of the ocean.

The LaPlaya was a "nice" hotel but certainly not the Ritz. I did find the hallways at LaPlaya to be dark...If we had to do it all over again, we would stay at LaPlaya or even check out The Edgewater.

Let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to answer for you.

I have stayed at the Ritz Gulf and it is amazing!!! What's not to like - simply fabulous!

Just to clarify, there are two Ritz in Naples: Ritz Beach Resort and Ritz GOLF. If you are talking about the Ritz Golf it is not a beachfront property, however, it does share all the beach amenities of the Ritz Beach and even has a shuttle which takes you to the Beach Resort (3 miles away). I have stayed at both and they are both very nice.

Good point. Apparently lots of people have arrived in Naples and gone to the Beachfront Ritz thinking that "Golf" was "Gulf". There is no Ritz Gulf, so that may be part of the confusion. It is officially "The Ritz-Carlton Naples Beach Resort" if you want to be on the beach.