A First Look At Florida’s New St. Regis Longboat Key Resort

Hurricanes Debbie, Helene and Milton tried their greatest to derail the autumn 2024 opening of The St Regis Longboat Key Resort—alas, regardless of three consecutive storms and three exhaustive clean-up efforts the lodge staff managed to push by way of and at last ship this long-awaited a complicated sanctuary on the Gulf of Mexico. Right this moment, the St. Regis occupies the positioning of what was as soon as Longboat Key’s iconic Colony Resort. The 18-acre beachfront property, the most important improvement on the island in half a century, stands out in opposition to the remainder of the vacation spot in the most effective methods doable—with a glassy, glossy architectural profile and swanky facilities corresponding to a Bentley home automobile.

Certainly, each amenity on the lodge is above and past, from the secluded clutch of personal pool cabanas with devoted butlers and numerous swimming pools (winding river, seashore entry foremost pool, serenity pool and ocean lagoon) to the 20,000 sq. foot spa with extraordinary choices corresponding to hydrotherapy pool, snow bathe and a uncommon La Mer partnership. The eating venues are so well-liked with locals that they’ve three month ready lists for tables (some locals go as far as to ebook a room to allow them to snag a reservation, as lodge company get precedence seating). The lodge is also the debut of the model’s first-ever Pool Butler and unique partnerships with Vilebrequin & La Mer.

Luxurious Choices

Rooms are dreamy escapes with soothing hues of cream, sage, silver. Elegant and complicated, every of the 168 rooms and 26 suites gives ocean views and a non-public terrace. St. Regis Butler Service is obtainable to each room—they’re available to handle all of you wants. Rooms all have the customary five-star amenity—a rainfall bathe and a freestanding bathtub in addition to a spacious walk-in closet.

Swimming calls for some choice making with a number of swimming pools to select from together with each family-friendly and adults-only choices. The Grotto, a secluded oasis full with jacuzzi jets, gives personalised champagne service on the contact of a button (each pool visitor has a button field which can be utilized to name over a server or butler). The signature expertise would possibly nicely be the resort’s Beneath the Sea Lagoon—a 500,000-gallon habitat with 40 stingrays, over 2,800 native reef fish, and two big Aldabra tortoises. Experiences listed below are by appointment and guided by the property’s resident marine biologists. Oh, sure, and there’s butler service on the seashore as nicely if sand and saltwater are extra your vibe.

Culinary Experiences

If you’d like an excellent desk the most effective wager is to ebook a room, then a dinner reservation—as lodge company get precedence over locals. The demand is for good cause as every eating idea is unique—you received’t see the identical BLT throughout three menus right here. Italian delicacies with a deal with recent artisanal pasta is on provide at Riva (additionally they provide pasta-making courses). Aura, the poolside choice, serves scrumptious fare corresponding to a young hen skewer over a blistered corn salad and an avocado crema with a aspect of arepa and cheese. The Monkey Bar is a tiki-inspired beachfront bar with cocktails and delicacies impressed by The Colony’s unique Monkey Bar. Sunsets are complimentary, however the elevated beachfront Oshen Lounge seating is in excessive demand for the ultra-prime views because the solar sinks over the horizon—a present that’s greatest loved with Japanese-inspired quaint and feast of freshly ready sushi. For many, a seat at CW Prime, the resort’s signature steakhouse, is most coveted of all. Right here, steaks and seafood are ready on a specialty Josper grill—typically with theatrical tableside preparations. Adjoining to CW Prime, The Spirit Room gives an unique speakeasy ambiance, the place company can get pleasure from a curated collection of uncommon spirits, artisanal cocktails, and high quality wines. In fact, parking for a drink on the St Regis foyer bar is an equally fabulous solution to spend an hour—particularly when the dwell piano music is occurring.

The Spa

After your La Mer facial, anticipate to spend an hour or extra exploring the one-of-a-kind hydrotherapy choices on the spa. The vitality pool boasts six specialised hydrotherapy pods overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. If you’d like a extra intimate choices go to the gender-specific choices, each males’s and ladies’s areas provide a Finnish sauna, eucalyptus steam room, snow bathe, vitality waters, chilly plunge, and sensorial showers. And, in the event you merely should, cap off the go to with a glass of Champagne on the spa’s Celebration Bar—as a result of each spa wants a Champagne bar.

The service is Florida-nice, sensible and anticipatory (this very nicely is perhaps as a result of they opened and closed the property thrice within the span of some months—that a lot follow juggling company and harmful storms will make anybody a professional). Regardless, it’s the form of service and expertise that makes going house all that tougher to do. There might be no pool butler, mimosa providing with three completely different juices, nightly Champagne sabering, or La Mer spa experiences at house. You’ll simply have to come back again and so they’ll be ready, hurricanes or not.