High end beachfront resorts in Florida for families
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Anonymous
| Looking for a beachfront resort in FL to stay over Spring Break (last week of March / first week of April) that’s higher end but good for families. So nothing as lux as the Breakers or Ritz Carlton, but something that feels a little more high end but welcoming towards kids (ages 3 and 8). Looking for something more south as we want it to be warm enough for beach days. Have seen recs for JW Marriott in Marco Island, the Palms Hotel & Spa (Miami) and Margaritaville Hollywood Beach. Any opinions on these hotels or other recommendations? Thank you! |
Anonymous
| Definitely Palms out of these three. Marco Island I think is boring, Hollywood Beach is a little seedy and Margaritaville not that nice. Palms is great because it's a quieter area but walkable to a lot. |
Anonymous
| La Playa in Naples. |
Anonymous
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What is your budget per night? It will probably be $400-800+ a night at most full service or resort hotels, and like 250-400 a night at Fairfield/ Hampton inn type places.
Also look at opal resorts, they are all over Florida |
Anonymous
| OP, if you have Amex check the travel portal for deals using points too (if you haven’t already). We use the Breakers to use up a lot of our Amex points and I get the feeling many families are there doing the same. |
Anonymous
| Boca Raton Resort (either main resort or beach club). Wonderful and $$$ |
Anonymous
| I liked the Palms - on the beach. Could walk to South Beach. Great location. Spa was awesome. |
Anonymous
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I am a JW kind of girl and I think that the market is lacking in quality resorts between JW and Four Seasons level. There is a huge price difference, and I don't really see the value in a Ritz, and I wouldn't spend money on a Four Seasons with my kids.
If you don't want breakers level and you want beach front and high end ish, then I think you are looking at: St regis Longboat Key Don Cesar Sandpearl Wyndham in Clearwater (better pool at sandpearl) Singer Island Marriott Ritz Naples Marriott Harbor Beach Casa Marina Key West Opal Grand Delray Edgewater Beach Hotel JW Marco Hilton Marco (not even close to as nice as the JW) Hyatt Coconut Point The Boca Raton Eau Palm Beach Island Grand at Tradewinds Southernmost in Key west Pelican Grande Isla Bella Ritz Amelia is cheaper than most ritz bc it's more north Baker's Cay Key Largo Westin Ft Lauderdale Lowes Miami Beach Margaritaville Key West Pink Shell Opal Sands/Sol in Clearwater Tranquility Bay Cheeca Lodge LaPlaya Conrad Ft Lauderdale Edgewater Beach Hotel Hollywood Beach Marriott (quieter, but still walkable to Margaritaville) ritz Ft Lauderdale Watercolor Inn Hollywood, FL is kind of dumpy and the Margaritaville is right on the boardwalk. I have stayed at the JW Marco a few times. I am not sure that I would go there for spring break, and I think it's already sold out. I don't think it's worth $1000 a night for two queens. They do have two pools, but the kids' pool with a tiny slide is shaded a lot of the morning (at least it was the times I was there). The beach is very nice there, but there isn't a ton for kids to do besides the pool. There aren't a lot of waves, but that makes it easy to wade in the water since your kids are young. You might like the Sandpearl. There is the sugar sand festival going on that time. There are also other nice hotels in Clearwater. Walk to everything, a little trolley to explore other towns, an aquarium. Wyndham, Sandpearl, JW, Opal Sands and Opal Sol are the nicest. Sandpearl has a private beach. |
Anonymous
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Hiy send too soon re Sandpearl. Winter last spring break and loved it. They have huge one bedroom suites for around $1000 a night. It’s right on the beach. Decent sized pool, though no slides. Movies at the pool every night, smooth on the beach each night, activities for kids during the day. Walkable to everything. There is a marina about a 1/2 mile away that has boats for dolphin watching tours, the aquarium is where winter the dolphin was housed, Busch gardens in tampa, the tampa zoo. Tons of shells on the beach.
The Wyndham is also nice there but the pool is smaller and you have to cross a road to get the the beach. The pier 60 sugar sand festival was fun and it has a huge water slide and the sand sculptures. There are vendors by the pier. Just something to do when you want a break from the beach/pool. |
Anonymous
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OP here - thanks for the responses so far! On budget, willing to pay up to about $800/night. Ideal would be something between $600-$800.
and looking at my original post, I made a mistake. This would be for mid-February (over Presidents’ Day Weekend) to the extent that affects any answers. |
Anonymous
Not OP but I am bookmarking this list for when we need a quick beach vacation in winter! |
Anonymous
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If prez day looks like JW marco is sold out. I think key west will be tough for $800 a night.
Too cold for Amelia island, 30a and Clearwater then. |
Anonymous
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Jupiter Beach Club is such a sleeper hit in my opinion. We live in Orlando & went twice this past year alone. It’s nice, but not luxe. The location is perfect and it’s right on the beach. Tons of good snorkeling within walking distance and the hotel restaurant is excellent (and frequented by locals).
Delray—maybe the Seagate (they have a great shuttle to their beach club) is another very nice option. The Four Seasons in Ft Lauderdale is a beautiful hotel directly across from the beach, but it didn’t scream family friendly to me. Further north, you could do Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. Stunning location & beautiful property right on the beach. Or St Augustine has a couple of decent beachfront hotels that are surprisingly good. |
Anonymous
There is no such thing. Florida is not high end anywhere it’s garbage Signed a 4th generation Floridian who is in the 1 percent of this country |
Anonymous
| Ohooo diseases woo hoo |