The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota

Think of it as a Ritz split into three: a marina-side tower on Sarasota Bay downtown, a members-and-guests Beach Club on Lido Key, and a Tom Fazio golf course out in Lakewood Ranch. It suits people who want walkable downtown Sarasota — the Bay park, Marie Selby Gardens, restaurants — with polished service and a genuinely nice 20,000-square-foot spa, and who treat the beach as a day trip rather than a step off the balcony. If you booked this picturing sand outside your door, you'll be disappointed; if you want a bay-view room at Jack Dusty and a shuttle to the Gulf when the mood strikes, it delivers.

Rates swing hard by season: rooms start around $564 off-season versus roughly $797 in-season (winter). Late spring and fall are the sweet spot — warm Gulf water, thinner crowds, softer rates; midsummer is cheapest but hot, humid, and inside hurricane season.

Request a room facing Sarasota Bay and the marina, then book an outdoor table at Jack Dusty or a sunset drink at Rufa for the same water view. Catch the first 9 a.m. Beach Club shuttle over the Ringling Bridge to claim loungers before the day-trippers arrive.

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