Recently, we spent a couple of nights at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, located on the west coast of Florida, on a barrier island near Sarasota. This was part of a little family road trip, as Ford and I took our son, Miles, to go see my mom in St. Petersburg, and then spent a couple of days at the beach on the return.
The 166-room St. Regis Longboat Key opened in August 2024, so it’s one of the newest luxury properties in the United States. Look, I’ve gotta be honest, I came in with modest expectations, because I just generally don’t expect much from hotels in the United States. As a matter of fact, I barely travel domestically, and rarely choose to vacation at hotels in the United States (except Hawaii), because I find that more often than not, I’m disappointed by the value proposition and level of service.
With that in mind, the St. Regis Longboat Key exceeded our expectations by a long shot, and we’d return in a heartbeat (as a matter of fact, we’re already planning our next stay). Unlike so many other hotels, the developers clearly spent a lot of money on this property, and didn’t cut corners. On top of that, the resort has very friendly service, lots of amenities, an amazing pool setup, access to a gorgeous beach, and excellent dining.
The one thing worth being aware of is that this is an extraordinarily family friendly resort. For us that’s amazing, because we were traveling with our young son, and he loved it. But if you’re traveling without kids, be aware that a lot of families stay here, and nearly everything is family friendly, from the pools, to the restaurants. That’s one of the things that we love about this place and that makes us want to return, but of course that won’t be for everyone.
In this post:
Booking the St. Regis Longboat Key
We spent two nights midweek in early June at the St. Regis Longboat Key. I redeemed Bonvoy points for our stay, at the rate of 107,000 points per night, meaning our stay cost a total of 214,000 points. For what it’s worth, I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each.
As a point of comparison, the cash would’ve been a little over $1,000 per night, before taxes, so I considered redeeming points to be the better value. As you’d expect, rates here vary seasonally, and they dip to under $600 in the low season, and climb to over $1,200 in the peak season.
If you’re booking a stay with cash, I’d recommend doing so through the Marriott STARS program, which offers extra perks, like complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade subject to availability, a $100 property credit, and more.
Regardless of how you book, the St. Regis Longboat Key has a $55 per night resort fee, which includes the following:
- Daily beach chair and umbrella set
- Daily two hours of bicycle usage
- St. Regis Longboat Key pool and beach bag
- Enhanced Wi-Fi
- Then Bonvoy Gold members and above receive a non-alcoholic specialty beverage available at the pools or pool restaurant daily from 11AM until 6PM
St. Regis Longboat Key location
The St. Regis Longboat Key is located at 1601 Gulf of Mexico Drive, on Longboat Key (as the name suggests). This is a barrier island just a short drive from Sarasota. Longboat Key is a generally sleepy island with a quaint little town, but for the most part, the focus is on great beaches.
The St. Regis is definitely the most luxurious and modern property on Longboat Key, and stands as you drive by. There’s also a residences area, so it’s quite a large complex.
In terms of getting to Longboat Key, we drove from St. Petersburg, and the drive took around an hour. We then returned to Miami, where the drive took around four hours. Alternatively, the resort is around 25 minutes from Sarasota Airport (SRQ) or around 90 minutes from Tampa Airport (TPA).
If you’re arriving with a vehicle, the hotel exclusively has valet parking, and that costs $55 per night. Obviously that’s steep, but also not surprising, for a St. Regis.
When it comes to getting around Longboat Key, the St. Regis has a Bentley town car, which will take you around, on a first come, first served basis. Talk about a nice ride!
It’s also possible to just use the hotel’s bikes, which are included with the resort fee.
I think it’s worth emphasizing that Longboat Key is pretty low key. Yes, you can go to the nearby town, and can go to Sarasota as well. But this is a very different vacation than going to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, as it’s much more laid back.
St. Regis Longboat Key lobby & check-in
We had a great first impression of the St. Regis. We were immediately welcomed by the valet and bellmen, who took care of our car and helped us with our luggage. Then at the door to the hotel, we were greeted by one of the butlers, and walked to the reception area.
The St. Regis Longboat Key has a pretty “grand” lobby, with nice flower arrangements, art, and lighting, right as you enter.
The lobby is huge, and is the indoor hub of the hotel, as this is where you’ll find the St. Regis Bar, the main restaurants, and more. There’s tons of seating in the lobby, a fireplace, and a self-playing piano, so this is also a nice place to hang out.
The reception area is located just inside the entrance to the hotel and to the right, and consists of three individual desks, where guests can be seated while their check-in is processed. We were checked in by Autumn, who was lovely — she was friendly and provided lots of details about the hotel, without going overboard. She also gave us a fact sheet about all the hotel’s included activities, plus the kids club. We were also offered our choice of water or prosecco, and just chose the former.
She also explained that on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status, we had been upgraded to a John Jacob Astor Suites — score! This hotel seems to do its best with upgrades, though of course the timing of your stay greatly impacts upgrade odds. Presumably it helped that we were staying mid-week in the start of the off season, when the hotel didn’t seem to be very full.
On account of my status, we could also select complimentary breakfast as our welcome amenity. This hotel offers eligible elite members a flat $100 breakfast credit daily, which is quite generous, compared to many other Bonvoy properties in the United States.
With keys in hand, we were escorted to the elevators, just down the hall. While one of the butlers offered to bring us up, we politely declined.
The hotel has five floors, and our room was on the second floor. By the way, the hotel has a really whimsical design theme that’s used, as you’ll see on the elevator screen backdrop. This is used in many areas of the hotel, and they even sell custom Vilebrequin swim suits with that design in the lobby shop. It’s almost a little White Lotus inspired, but with a Longboat Key twist.
St. Regis Longboat Key suite
We were assigned room 203, a John Jacob Astor Suite on the second floor, at the very end of the hall. Just as an example of how much money was put into this hotel, just look at the level of detail that went into the hallway design. It’s quite a contrast to the hallway design at the Ritz-Carlton Turks & Caicos, which I still can’t wrap my head around.
At 1,008 square feet (91 square meters), the John Jacob Astor Suites here are pretty epic. Our suite had a long entryway with a half bathroom to the right of the entrance.
Then down the hall was the huge living room, including a dining table that could seat four people, plus a living area with a couch, two chairs, and a wall-mounted TV. I was impressed by how high-end all the finishes and design elements felt, from the floors, to the art, to the lighting fixtures.
The bedroom was separated from the living room by a door. The bedroom had a comfortable signature St. Regis bed, a couch at the foot of the bed, and a sitting area with two chairs.
There was also a wall-mounted TV in the corner, along with a minibar. The minibar had a Nespresso coffee machine, plus a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase.
Then off the bedroom, there was a large closet area, right in front of the bathroom.
The primary bathroom featured double sinks, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.
Toiletries were in reusable bottles from Sachajuan, which seems to be what St. Regis properties are increasingly switching to
Probably the best part of these suites is that they’re oceanfront, so they have the best views of any rooms in the resort. The outdoor space boasted a table with two chairs, plus two loungers.
What a view!!
Shortly after arriving in our room, a welcome gift was delivered, consisting of a card and a box of chocolates.
Because we were in a suite, the signature St. Regis butler service coffee was provided, which I always appreciate. It’s great to have fresh coffee delivered to your room first thing in the morning.
I also appreciated some of the other thoughtful touches in the room, like the hotel offering a complimentary bathing suit refresh, where you can place your bathing suit in a bag, and it’ll be cleaned.
Housekeeping was provided twice daily (with nightly turndown service), and was very detail oriented.
Honestly, what an awesome suite! Of course the upgrade made us overjoyed, but I’d return without the expectation of getting a suite like this again.
It is worth mentioning that some of the hotel’s rooms are marketed as having no view. When there are negative reviews of the hotel, it often seems to be from people who end up in one of those rooms. Obviously it’s a bit of a bummer to be at a beach resort and have no view, but the hotel isn’t exactly hiding that detail, so…
St. Regis Longboat Key spa & gym
The St. Regis Longboat Key has a 20,000 square foot destination spa with 14 treatments rooms, indoor and outdoor hydrotherapy, steam rooms and saunas, and more. I didn’t have the chance to check this out, as we were only at the hotel for a couple of nights, and toddlers are kind of a full time job. 😉 However, the spa seems to be highly regarded, and you can find all the details (including the treatment menu) here.
On top of that, the St. Regis has a 24/7 gym just off the lobby, with a good variety of modern and high quality equipment.
St. Regis Longboat Key pool, lazy river, & lagoon
The outdoor spaces of the St. Regis Longboat Key are epic, especially for families. The hotel has everything from a shallow family pool, to a lazy river, an adults only pool, to a saltwater lagoon.
The pool area takes up a huge part of the overall property, and it can be accessed from multiple staircases from the lobby. There’s also plenty of outdoor seating overlooking the pool, which is especially nice in the evenings, when the fire pits are turned on (for those curious, the building in the below picture is the residences portion of the property).
As you get outside, the first pool you’ll see is the family friendly resort pool. This is popular with families, given that it has a gradual entry, and the entire pool is pretty shallow. This is where Miles enjoyed spending hours on end.
The resort pool also has a huge hot tub.
Equally exciting for kids is the hotel’s lazy river, which even has a cave waterfall. This place is basically like a very classy water park!
The lazy river area even has its own hot tub, underneath the waterfall.
Next up, the hotel has an adults only pool. What’s nice about this pool is that it’s oceanfront, though in comparison to the rest of the outdoor area, it’s not terribly inspiring. As I’ve said repeatedly, this resort very much feels like it’s designed for families.
One particularly unique amenity of the St. Regis is that it has a 500,000 gallon saltwater lagoon, housing stingrays and nearly 40 types of fish. This is so cool. In addition to being able to snorkel (with an instructor, at an extra cost), it’s just generally awesome to be able to see the marine life.
Also next to the lagoon is an area with the resort’s two resident tortoises, who are a big hit with kids (and adults!).
There’s service at the pool throughout the day, and we found the staff to be friendly and attentive. There’s sunscreen available all around the pools, and the staff also proactively bring coolers with bottled water.
St. Regis Longboat Key beach
If you’re a beach fan, Longboat Key simply has a stunning beach. Admittedly the waters aren’t going to be quite as crystal clear or calm as in parts of the Caribbean, but I think the beach setup here is amazing.
Admittedly we’re all looking for different things from beaches. Ford and I are big beach walkers (rather than loungers), so we love when there’s a really long stretch of beach, where you can walk for miles. This beach perfectly fits that bill (though admittedly we were a bit limited this time around, since we were with Miles, who thinks he wants to walk for miles, but then changes his mind a few minutes in). 😉
On a lawn right next to the beach, there are all kinds of games as well, so this is a great place for families to hang out.
St. Regis Longboat Key restaurants & bars
The St. Regis Longboat Key offers an impressive array of restaurants and bars. I’ll go into more detail below, but to briefly summarize:
- Riva is the hotel’s Italian’s restaurant; it’s an all-day dining restaurant, and it’s where breakfast is served
- CW Prime is the hotel’s steakhouse; it’s only open for dinner
- Aura is the hotel’s poolside Latin American restaurant; it’s open midday through early evening
- Oshen is the hotel’s Asian fusion restaurant; it’s open in the afternoon and evening
- St. Regis Bar is the hotel’s lobby bar; it’s open in the afternoon until late at night
- Monkey Bar is the hotel’s beachfront bar; it’s open in the afternoon and early evening
- Caroline’s Coffee Bar is the hotel’s coffee shop; it’s open from the morning until the afternoon
With that out of the way, let’s go into the restaurants in a bit more detail…
Riva is located off the lobby, and it’s the only restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant has a creative design, with a themed, arched entryway, and both indoor and outdoor seating.
We had breakfast here both mornings, given that Bonvoy Platinum members and above receive a $100 daily breakfast credit as their welcome amenity. Breakfast can either be a la carte or from the buffet, and you can find the full menu below.
One morning, we had the buffet, which was extensive, with an omelet, and all kinds of other tasty creations.
However, I also found the a la carte selection to be very good. One morning, I had the farro verde breakfast bowl, Ford had the farmer’s omelet, and Miles had the bread pudding french toast.
The drinks were great as well, from the iced americanos, to the cappuccinos.
We also had dinner here one evening, which we enjoyed immensely, and you can find the menu below.
To start, we were offered some fresh focaccia, which Miles devoured.
Then we decided to split a little gem salad, the local catch, and the chicken milanese.
The other evening, we had dinner at CW Prime, the hotel’s steakhouse. This is definitely the hotel’s highest end dining option (and it’s priced accordingly), and it offers a truly nice experience, despite being so family friendly. What an elegant setting!
You can find the CW Prime dinner menu below.
At the beginning of the meal, we were offered bread, some crudités, and an amuse bouche.
We ordered the roasted baby eggplant, a filet mignon, and the signature burger. All the dishes were delicious, and they really try to make the experience special. For example, you get to pick out your steak knife before your meal, with the choice of five different options.
We also had lunch at Aura, the poolside restaurant. There’s an area that’s semi-indoors, as well as an outdoor terrace.
You can find the Aura lunch menu below.
We split the local catch tacos, beef barbacoa birria, and chicken empanadas.
That’s the extent of the outlets at which we ate, but I snapped some pictures of the other options as well.
Oshen, the Asian fusion restaurant, is elevated above the pool area, so has awesome views, especially around sunset.
The Monkey Bar is also a nice venue for grabbing a drink, given that it’s right on the beach.
Then you have the St. Regis Bar, which acts as the centerpiece of the lobby area.
Lastly, there’s Caroline’s Coffee Bar, serving barista coffee, pastries, and more.
St. Regis Longboat Key service
I generally have low expectations of service in the United States. We don’t have much of a service culture, hotels always seem to be looking to cut corners on staffing, and there’s not enough of an emphasis on empowering employees to be themselves and deliver a great guest experience.
So I’ve gotta say, my expectations with service were exceeded. Now, interestingly enough, I’ve read a fair number of complaints about service at this property, so I’m not sure if the hotel has just gotten into a groove now that it is open longer, or if this reflects that we were staying during a slower period.
Across the board, I found staff to be well intentioned, friendly, and personable. This was true from the front office, to the restaurants, to the pools, to housekeeping. Just to give a few examples:
- I went to the lobby at around 4AM one morning to work (so that I wouldn’t wake up our son), and while sitting in the lobby, the night auditor proactively came by and asked if she could get me a coffee, which I thought was very nice
- When we stopped by the concierge desk to make dining reservations, I appreciated how proactive the concierge was in making recommendations for what we could do with our son; she wasn’t just answering our questions, but was going above and beyond, and clearly invested in making sure we had a great time
- Housekeeping had great attention to detail; for example, on the second evening, they left a teddy bear in our bed, which our son now sleeps with in his bed at home
- During one of our dinners, we could sense our son was moments from having a meltdown (just as our meals had arrived), and they offered to send all the food up to the room, and even delivered it on a room service cart in one of those hot boxes, so that it was still warm
Those are just a few examples, but seriously, the service exceeded my expectations, and I was very impressed. The only slight service failure was that during our full day at the hotel, we requested our room be cleaned at 9AM, explaining that our son takes a nap around 1PM. When we returned to our room around 12:30PM, the room hadn’t been cleaned. So there are minor areas for improvement, but they were overshadowed by all the positives.
Bottom line
It’s not often we vacation in the mainland United States, and it’s even less often that we want to return to a resort that we visit in the United States. So I’ve gotta say, the St. Regis Longboat Key really hit the spot for us.
Longboat Key is a beautiful area with a gorgeous beach, and the St. Regis is an elegant property with friendly service and very good dining. What stood out to me most about this property was just how family friendly it was, as I don’t think I’ve ever stayed at a St. Regis that seemed to be so intentionally targeted at families.
If you’re looking for a luxury, low key family vacation, I can’t recommend this property enough. I think it could also be a good option for couples, though get ready to be around lots of families. We’re already looking forward to returning here. As I’m sure any parent can relate to, as our son gets older, it’s interesting (but not surprising) how our impressions of hotels change based on how happy he is at them. If he’s happy, we’re happy.
What do you make of the St. Regis Longboat Key?
It looks like you had a great stay! I'm certainly not the target demographic for this hotel, but I'm curious where people are coming from. Are people just driving in from around Florida, or are people flying down from New York? If a flight, a car, and $55 daily parking are involved, it seems like flying to the Caribbean would be a better move in nearly every case.
@ Jerry -- I think the demographic is a mix of people. Lots of people from Florida, but also lots of people flying in from further north, at least seasonally.
Regarding the Caribbean, some people just prefer to travel domestically for getaways, especially with families. Flights are also often cheaper, there are more frequencies, etc. Also, while the Caribbean can be beautiful, I'm not sure comparable luxury properties there are a better value.
Just as...
@ Jerry -- I think the demographic is a mix of people. Lots of people from Florida, but also lots of people flying in from further north, at least seasonally.
Regarding the Caribbean, some people just prefer to travel domestically for getaways, especially with families. Flights are also often cheaper, there are more frequencies, etc. Also, while the Caribbean can be beautiful, I'm not sure comparable luxury properties there are a better value.
Just as an example (within the Bonvoy ecosystem), I'd say the St. Regis Longboat Key blows the Ritz-Carlton Turks & Caicos out of the water. They have comparable pricing, but the St. Regis has better service, dining, design, etc. Admittedly Grace Bay is pretty gorgeous, though.
It appears awesome! Ben, how would you compare this one with the St. Regis at Bal Harbour?
@ KeFg -- I haven't stayed at the St. Regis Bal Harbour in many years, though I'd say they're probably different types of vacations.
Bal Harbour has more access to attractions outside the property, so many people will like proximity to Miami.
I'd say Longboat Key has a nicer beach, better on-property dining, and a much more impressive pool setup. The Longboat Key property is also on a different level when it comes to family friendliness.
This invokes memories of an age when Florida family vacations were elegant. A time that didn't require theme parks and massive overcrowded spaces to experience the beauty of Florida. Nicely done Ben.
Wow, big money spent designing this spot. Shocking to see this level of luxury in the US.
Great review (as always). Thanks!
Ben, the restaurant menus didn’t look very kid friendly. Do they offer children menus?
@ uldguy — Yep, every venue has a kids menu, coloring books, etc. However, I figured the review was long enough without including pictures of those. My apologies.
Sheeeeeeit. What a fantastic, fantastic review. This shit puts every other travel writer to shame. TripAdvisor needs to shut down, and Yelp should delete all of its user accounts and just run GenAI models trained on OMAAT reviews to “predict” what a place is like.
I only have one small complaint. Everybody with a visible face in these photos should be blurred. Yeah, you don’t “legally” have to do that, but wouldn’t it be a...
Sheeeeeeit. What a fantastic, fantastic review. This shit puts every other travel writer to shame. TripAdvisor needs to shut down, and Yelp should delete all of its user accounts and just run GenAI models trained on OMAAT reviews to “predict” what a place is like.
I only have one small complaint. Everybody with a visible face in these photos should be blurred. Yeah, you don’t “legally” have to do that, but wouldn’t it be a fantastic courtesy to match this fantastic, fantastic review. I’m coming…back for more of this type of content. Oh God, oh God.
@ E. Jack Youlater -- I appreciate the kind words! Regarding pictures, as you can see, there are very few people in the pictures I posted, by design. Every time I take a picture with a staff member in it, I ask if it's okay if I take a picture, and tell them that it's up to them whether they want to be in it or not.
This is a great review and inspires me to try it out. Once you visit luxury hotels in the Middle East and Asia, you fully understand how bad the service in US "luxury" hotels is and what a ripoff they are. This also, to a great extent, applies to Europe.
Is the coffee service only offered if you’re in a suite or for all rooms?
@ Coffeequestion -- It's a good question. I believe it's limited to suites at this property, but I'm not 100% sure. I haven't seen the details published anywhere, so I can only share my own experience.