STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
The opening of the St. Regis Longboat Key last Friday marks the beginning of a new era on 
the sun-laden island surrounded by a sea of turquoise.
It took nearly 1,000 construction workers, $1 billion, and about seven years of legal wrangling and community fighting to arrive at what can only be called a pinnacle of success.
If there is one individual who can be credited for bringing his dream to completion, it is the project’s developer and hotel owner Chuck Whittall.
“I have built hundreds of projects around the country and this is by far not only the biggest project and undertaking, but this is my favorite development I’ve ever been involved in,” said Whittall.
And what is not to fall in love with at the St. Regis?
Curated details abound throughout the property. Walking through the hotel entrance at the Friday soft opening, the hotel lobby and main bar goes beyond all superlatives and imagery found in the most high-end resorts. Hand-painted murals, chandeliers and the glass installations over the bar rival a Chihuly exhibit. Jazz softly plays through a grand piano and the marriage of marble, exotic stonework, frescoed walls and innovative lighting blend romance, opulence and a true sense of immediately escaping into a world of grand aspiration.
This focus on detail and opulence is apparent through each of the 168 hotel rooms with rates already averaging $1,200 per night. Whittall said that November is almost completely sold out and he is excited about the number of bookings for weddings in the ballroom. About a dozen are planned already this fall with the first wedding scheduled for Nov. 2, 2024.
Of interest to residents and visitors alike will be the two restaurants, including a C.W. Prime Steakhouse, three bars, and a beach grille. There will also be a Monkey Bar located on the beach and that will be open in the coming days.
The Monkey Bar pays homage to the now-legendary Murf Klauber who developed the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort that became a world-famous destination for more than four decades on the site. The Colony had its own Monkey Bar that was bedecked with murals and served as a popular focal point where residents and visitors converged beside the more than 400 feet of Gulf front beach.
The effect of time and space
Exactly 14 years ago, the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort shut down following years of litigation between Klauber and the unit owners who refused to pay assessments which led to the dilapidation and eventual demise of the resort. The Colony in 2001 housed President George W. Bush the night before the Sept. 11 attacks and everyone from Howard Stern to Vice President Al Gore and an endless array of tennis stars often converged on the property. Klauber also brought Nick Bollittieri, perhaps the most famous tennis coach of all time, to the property where he started his first teaching academy.
Perhaps it is the storied past of the property that led Klauber’s daughter, Katie Moulton, to tell the crowd at the soft opening of the St. Regis on Friday that there is magic fairy dust in the sand on the site and it just needed to be stirred for the new era to be born.
And structurally what a difference in both the look and feel of the resort. The old Colony was built on-grade with wooden structures that looked weathered and somewhat withered, especially toward the end before being demolished. The new resort is built to the latest construction standards, and it is as if Whittall after his many years staying in resorts throughout the world fashioned a no-expense-spared property manifesting and reinventing the greatest features that inspired him from his many adventures.
For instance, there is a lazy river that winds through the property, there is a grotto where one can relax and take a sophisticated cocktail to unwind. There are tortoises on property for guests to pet. There is a spa that not only has a steam room, but a snow room and a cold plunge pool, not to mention a fireplace and Gulf front view.
And everybody knows computers and lighting can now transform events moment by moment. Whittall points to a far wall in the ballroom where a $500,000 LED screen coupled with LED lighting can completely transform the 12,000 square foot ballroom space all with the goal of creating fully customized and transformative events as far from ordinary life as imaginable.
Living on property
Other than the 168 hotel rooms, there are 69 condominium residences where owners will all have access to the resort amenities. The condominiums are all sold with prices that range from $2.2 million to $25 million for a penthouse. A series of pools, fountains and an aquatic tank that serves as a marine rescue and rehabilitation destination weave between the hotel and the residences.
In many ways, Whittall said he was building his own future while building the resort. And although his work as a developer as President of Unicorp continues unabated, he owns one of the penthouses and says he plans to spend as much time as possible on the property, especially since he is also the owner of the hotel.
Resort General Manager Winfred van Workum told the audience at the opening ceremony that Whittall has more tenacity, passion, and grit than anyone he had ever met. Workum added that the resort, while entirely open, is still ramping up to full capacity in all of its restaurants and amenities.
Whittall told Longboat Key News that the C.W. Prime Steakhouse is mostly booked up through September and he encourages anyone interested to call to make reservations. He hopes that members of the community have a drink in the main bar and enjoy both the visual beauty and the perfection of service.
But most meaningfully, residents and visitors should feel a sense of satisfaction and achievement that the island they love has a newly placed jewel right at its center and the halo effect that economists posited the resort would have on neighboring properties is apparent at every turn. For Whittall, his dream on Longboat is now complete, “My goal was to build something that would be a place for the community to spend everything from their most romantic evenings to significant events – a focal point, bringing Longboat Key together.
“I feel that has been achieved; this is a place for the entire community,” said Whittall.
Photos by Lillian Sands
