Best Naples Hotels

Founded in the 1880s and family owned and operated for the past 60 years, the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club has long been held dear by residents for its golf course, beachside bar and Sunday brunch. Rooms here start at $279 per night during high season, when you can get a rate special. The hotel is an older structure, so it’s more Old Florida clubby than Park Avenue elegant, with overstuffed furniture, wood floors and long, covered balconies. The property underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation over the past few years, receiving updates such as flat-screen TVs and modernized beds and bathrooms. There’s a free Klub 4 Kids, plus tennis courts, an on-site spa, an 18-hole golf course built in 1920 and, most recently, refreshed by uber-architect Ron Garl, and the very popular beachside Sunset Beach Bar, which is as busy serving up frozen daiquiris during the scorching daylight hours as it is in the evening when local residents come out to unwind with a glass of wine and watch the sun set. And did we mention there’s a beach? The long stretch of fine-grain white sand even has a pool overlooking the Gulf and there are suites with kitchenettes, great for families.

This Waldorf Astoria property sits on the beach and has two pools, with an outdoor bar where you can refresh with a cocktail or recover from a long morning of swimming with a hearty lunch. It looks and feels like a Caribbean resort, with mustard plaster walls, balconies and simple, modern furnishings. Dine on site at the chic Coast restaurant; spa at the opulently designed Golden Door; take your best shot on the tennis court, or play a few rounds on the private Naples Grande golf course. In season, this will set you back $400 - $1,500 per night. Now, the best part: Summer rates at this all-suite hotel start at $149 per night, and high-season rates for a 700-square-foot suite start at $199 if you reserve far enough in advance.

More like a large home than a small hotel, the hidden-away Hotel Escalante houses just 10 rooms, from a traditional guest room with a private patio on the small end to a two-bedroom villa on the larger end. French doors, mahogany appointments, armoires and king-0size beds with luxe Frette linens collectively capture the Florida feeling vacationers love. Unlike a private residence, there is an onsite gourmet restaurant and a full-service spa. While it tends to go pricey during season, there are excellent off-season offers, such as one-bedroom lanai suite with private patio for as low as $185 a night; even from Christmas through January a regular guest room can be booked for under $250 (suites and villas are higher), a major value for this highly regarded boutique property even if it’s not on the beach.

This is an old-school Florida retreat; not overly elegant but with 34 individually decorated rooms, some featuring teak four-poster beds, others with wood floors. The guest rooms do have cable TV, microwaves, refrigerators and coffee makers, and guests enjoy a continental breakfast daily. Hang by the pool, read in the courtyard garden or meditate in the gazebo while sipping complimentary ice-cold lemonade. The location, while not on the beach, is convenient; it’s a two-block walk to Fifth Avenue South downtown, six blocks on foot to Naples Beach, and a 3-minute drive to Tin City, Palm Cottage, the Naples Pier or the Naples Zoo.