Ritz or Omni in Amelia Island?

[Anonymous]

Been to either? Thinking about both for spring break. Is the Ritz worth the extra money? looks like Omni has bigger pools and more restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Omni

Assuming you have kids, the pool is great and there’s a nature center you can walk to and feed turtles. There also some nice, chill activities you can book on the property or you can explore the bike trails. The Ritz isn’t as spread out so you might feel a bit claustrophobic for a whole week.

[Anonymous]

Ritz. But I would go Miami or further outh for spring break. Hit or miss that time of year for beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ritz. But I would go Miami or further outh for spring break. Hit or miss that time of year for beach.

Not a huge fan of Miami, but would love a rec for a resort further south that also has a lot for kids to do. Been to singer island and there's not much around there. Been to Breakers and it's too stuffy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ritz. But I would go Miami or further outh for spring break. Hit or miss that time of year for beach.

Not a huge fan of Miami, but would love a rec for a resort further south that also has a lot for kids to do. Been to singer island and there's not much around there. Been to Breakers and it's too stuffy.

Also been to JW Marco and JW Grande Lakes. Would love to find something similar. Hyatt Bonita Springs is also on my radar, but it's not beachfront.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ritz. But I would go Miami or further outh for spring break. Hit or miss that time of year for beach.

It says the average temps are 79 in mid April.

[Anonymous]

We’ve been to Omni and liked it quite a bit. We didn’t stay in the main building though. We stayed at a condo a couple buildings down and they have all ranges of luxury, sizes, etc. We had a vehicle and often went off the grounds to eat although you could stay on Omni. It is quite spread out and huge.
IMO Omni is great with kids. There is the beach, pool, little nature center, you can rent bikes from the resort, Segweys, etc. we found plenty to keep busy.
The main hotel pool is heated but all the side condo buildings have their own pools which are not. There are tons of units that rent via Vrbo or Airbnb and most don’t have access to the main pool so keep that in mind. The main pool was fancy but also busy.

https://www.villasofameliaisland.com/~/media/aip/resort/stayhere/other/revised%20villa%20map%2011812%20small.ashx
I think we stayed in Shipwatch.

Haven’t been to ritz so I can’t comment on that.
When is your spring break? PP is right that the weather may be be reliably warm enough for pool/beach.

[Anonymous]

Ritz Naples Tiburon has a water park.

[Anonymous]

Had a great experience with the Ritz AI when kids were about 4 and 6 - someone who works for their corporate told me it's the most kid-friendly out of all of their US properties. Little stuff, like we dropped my daughter's favorite stuffie with the concierge in AM and got back a mini photo album of how he spent his day around the Ritz. Super cute. The pools and restaurants were very nice. That said, my SIL likes the Omni although I don't think they tried the Ritz. I personally didn't think AI was that cute overall and wouldn't rush back, although I did like the resort. Would rather go to Kiawah or HHI if in that general area.

But like other posters said, no guarantee of warm weather. I second the Ritz Naples if you're mainly looking for a beach/pool vacay. Nice resort and the downtown is cute and has some nice parks (about 20 minutes away from the resorts).

We have done Miami for SB and liked it for more of a city break - stayed in an Air BNB well off South Beach that had a nice pool, did the science museum, went to a Marlins game, did a day in the Everglades, chartered a boat, and bought a pool cabana day pass at the Ritz Biscayne Bay (no regrets not staying there, it's out of the way and a little dated, but a day pass gives you that full-on resort pool experience for one day and kids of course loved that).

[Anonymous]

I have been to both. I would go somewhere else. The Omni is pretty somewhat rundown (particularly the rooms). Ours smelled like mildew. The Ritz is a total shitshow at spring break. We never were able to get a pool chair. The people who worked there were jerks. Overall a bad experience. Try the Naples Ritz. Much better.

[Anonymous]

The Omni pool chair situation is survival of the fittest at 6am.

Maybe something has changed in the past two years?

[Anonymous]

Look at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point.

Likely a warmer option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point.

Likely a warmer option.

It's sold out.