The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort
Longboat Key, Florida
It is possible sometimes to find cigar friendly venues in unlikely
places. A tennis resort, for instance, doesn't readily spring to mind
when you're seeking a cigar haven. But The Colony Beach & Tennis
Resort on Sarasota's Longboat Key is one such place.
There's a simple explanation: Murray Klauber, who has owned the Colony
since 1969, is a cigar lover. "We're trying to create a place where
you can have a fine meal and enjoy a good cigar afterwards," says
Klauber, sitting in the soft mellow sun of a mid-fall afternoon in
Florida. He says the hotel has just put in doors to separate the bar
area--which also has tables--from the dining room, allowing diners to
smoke in the bar. On warmer evenings, cigars can be enjoyed under the
stars on the protected patio area.
Fine dining has been one of the Colony's trademarks for years. The
restaurant serves an outstanding menu of innovative American
cuisine. A recent meal included a pastry shell with escargots and wild
mushrooms; it was a delight of earthy flavors. The roast Colorado rack
of lamb with a rosemary mint sauce was almost perfectly
prepared--rare, as it should be--and the seared breast of duckling was
perfectly cooked, too. One of the restaurant's other specialties is
baked American red snapper, which was absolutely fresh, served with
lump crabmeat and sun-dried tomatoes.
The wine list is extensive and the winner of Wine Spectator's Grand
Award every year since 1982. The cellar includes an exceptionally
strong selection of Champagnes and California sparkling wines,
California Cabernets such as Robert Mondavi Reserves, verticals of
Heitz Martha's Vineyard and a long list of Chardonnays. France is
judiciously represented with an impressive list of classified growth
Bordeaux and top wines from Burgundy.
In addition, the resort hosts one of the best fine dining festivals in
the country, built around the local stone crab season. It is called
the The Colony's Stone Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival. Last year, the
participants included chefs David Burke and Kerry Simon and one of
America's leading restaurateurs, Drew Nieporent, as well as a dozen
vintners from around the world.
The resort's real attractions, however, lie outdoors. The Colony has
been named by Tennis Magazine as one of the top two tennis
resorts in America (the other is Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head
Island). The Colony has 21 courts, including 10 soft courts. A full
range of instruction is available, from beginner to advanced
players. The resort makes sure you have a class or a playing partner
who matches your ability.
Other sporting activities are available as well, if you have only one
tennis player in your group. The resort will arrange for you to play
golf in any of eight country clubs in the Sarasota area. Figure on
driving at least 20 minutes to get to most of these courses, but they
include some of the best in Florida.
The rooms at the Colony are located in condominium-style buildings on
the grounds and in the main hotel. Ask for a suite with a view over
the Gulf of Mexico. The decor is solid Floridian, with soft pastel
colors and white wood. The rooms are spacious and the gulf view is
breathtaking.
When the end of the day approaches, there's really only one place to
be at the Colony--on the beach, watching the sun dip into the Gulf of
Mexico. The beaches in west Florida are some of the most spectacular
in America, with wide expanses of soft, white shell sand that stretch
for miles. Longboat Key has one of those beaches, and even though the
hotels and condominiums are unavoidable, they don't intrude into the
sunset view. So, sit back in a lounge chair, light up a favorite
smoke, maybe feel the tingle of muscles that have been worked out on
the court all day and relax as the sun falls into the sea.
-- Gordon Mott
The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort
1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive
Phone: (941) 383-6464; fax (941) 383-7549
Rates: One-bedroom
suite, $280 to $375, two-bedroom suite, $400 to $495, presidential
penthouse suites, $575 to $880. Children under 18 free in the same
room. (Rates change after April 14.)
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