Ritz Carlton Naples OR The Breakers in Palm BEach?
 

or am I leaving any other options for Luxury South. Florida vacation? (ie that is easily accessible to airport as we're traveling w/ 3 young kids!) thanks!

Never been to the Breakers, but I can voice for the Ritz Naples (if it's the beach resort). It is a beautiful hotel, lovely pools. We saw several families there with young kids.

The Breakers recent recent renovations now offers a children's pool and more activities for families with kids.

For what its worth the Ritz Carlton in Naples is a higher ranked hotel than the Breakers and happens to be the best Ritz Carlton in the USA.

About 5 years ago, my DH and I walked out ot the breakers after seeing the room they were going to give us. It was like being in my grandmother's house in her attic room. There was no way we were going to pay what they were charging us to stay in that kind of room. Now, if they've renovated, then that's another story. The lobby was gorgeous. When we left the breakers, we went over to the ritz in palm beach (manalapan) and it was wonderful.

I love the RC in naples. beautiful hotel with a world class spa.

The Breakers is maybe 15 minutes from the PBI airport. Naples is about 30 miles south of the Ft. Meyers airport. If access to airport is your prime concern, then I'd go with Palm Beach.

That said, I think the Gulf side beaches are nicer. I've been to both the Ritz Carlton and the Breakers. I'd probably take my kids to the Naples location as I think the activities and beach area are more welcoming for families.

One consideration you might want to have is to check if large conferences are taking place at either hotel when you're there. That could limit your access to parts of the hotel. When I was at a conference at the Ritz we had a dinner by the pool one evening which essentially closed it off to other guests by the late afternoon.

I have stayed at the Ritz in Naples and absolutely loved it. Beautiful property and gorgeous beach where you can walk for miles.

Last year while hubby and I were staying in Palm Beach (at the Ritz Manalapan which is an absolutely gorgeous property) we checked out the rooms at the Breakers for a potential conference location and the rooms were VERY much outdated.

I think you would have a better time in Naples.

Palm Beach had a much older crowd when we were there.

We were at the Breakers in spring of 07, here is a link to my report: we thought everything was fabulous- our room did not appear recently renovated, but maybe it was - but we had no complaints: great closet w/ storage/drawers in side, lovely marble bath and plenty of room in the bedroom, but we spend most of our time out and about and not in the room anyway - we had a great ocean view -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35003284

HOWEVER - if you are bringing 3 young children,depending on their ages and what type of swimmers they are -and if they are ocean lovers, then I might choose Naples - we spent a lot of time in that area when my children were young because my mom had a home in Marco - I think the beaches are better fr young ones - flatter, calmer - and you can easily do a day trip to Marco and walk their long gorgeous, flat beach too - my kids loved that - from Tiger Tail down to the hotels/ with great sand bars, etc -

and we would take day trips to Naples and walk the same types of beaches that were more welcoming and safe for children -

when we were at the breakers, the water seemed rougher than the Gulf side, so I would think about what type of water swimming and the ages of your children -

that being said, when we were at the breakers:
I would say 80% of the people reading/relaxing/eating on the beach were adults -there and at the adult infinity type pool and cabanas - the children's pool was full of activities for the kids and their families, with easy access to terrace eating, and lots of other on site activities - when I'd get my morning coffee and papers I'd see a lot of younger families grabbing 'to go' breakfasts and eating in the little courtyard there vs the dining room every day too

It is easy to get to Breakers, but it is also an easy drive from Ft Myers to Naples -

Good Luck - either resort is fabulous -

I missed the part of your post that said you had young kids. I would definitely go to the RC Naples. The gulf has very little waves and is a wonderful beach to go to with kids. the RC is top notch.

The Naples zoo is really nice too. It is pleasantly small with a nice animal show and animal feeding times. Check the website before you go because you don't want to miss them. The feed the lions and tigers meat on a stick right up against the fence for people to see. And the alligator feeding time is very cool too. And they have a nice boat ride around monkey island.

http://www.napleszoo.com/

Here is a go-cart kind of place we haven't been to yet:

http://kingrichardspark.net/

The Conservancy:

http://www.conservancy.org/Page.aspx?pid=474

And they also have pirate boat rides that leave from Ft. Myers Beach.

I think that area has much more to offer young kids. And the Ritz is very nice. They have a sunset bar on the beach where they ring a bell when the sun sets while you sip absolutely delicious pina coladas. Heaven.

Just my 2 cents...

I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach and it was wonderful. The entire property was gorgeous and the food was amazing. I stayed on the Club floor and did that whole "overeating while on vacation" thing.

There were lots of kids there and the children's program seemed to be fun from where I was sitting at the pool. However, there isn't much to just go walking to there around the hotel.

The only bad part was my driver from the airport couldn't find the Ritz and it took forever to get there. I ended up taking the train right to the airport to go home. And next time that's what I'll do to get back to the Ritz.

The comment about distance from airports is kind of misleading. While Naples is further from RSW than The Breakers is from PBI, the difference of time is very minimal. The Naples Ritz is well north of "downtown" Naples and is a direct shot off the interstate. I can't imagine it taking more than about 30 to 35 minutes total. Hardly worth worrying about.

Mamaw, I'm curious about this train that goes from the Ritz Palm Beach to the airport. Care to explain?

The Ritz in Naples is by far the way to go. Its rooms are beautiful, and newly renovated (though thats a bit misleading, given they were fine and top notch before. They just added flat screen tvs and other touches).
Also, having the Ritz Kids program is a bonus, given you and your spouse could go to dinner without having to worry about your kids.

there's that whole tri train and tran thing - maybe that's the type of transport mamaw took: depending on where you are going - depending on if you are going to Ft Lauderdale airport vs. palm beach/ for a better time or fare - etc.

http://www.tri-rail.com/
or

http://www.wpb.org/around/index.htm

I've had luck with cab last time to PB, but there was lots of construction/traffic for some reason- but all the hotel/resorts will also usually help with transport - especially with little kids - either rent a car or have a driver - you would need a taxi bus anyway, not a regular taxi -

Well, I'm somewhat familiar with the Tri-Rail, but it was news to me that it would go from Palm Beach Airport to Manalapan, where the Ritz Carlton is.

Having grown up going to the Breakers and having been there since the room and pool renovations, I can easily say I miss the old Breakers.
The new pool scene looks like a beach club and the newly renovated rooms look like something out of the 1970's.