A beachfront icon, The Naples Ritz-Carlton has been a staple of North Naples for decades. With history dating back to the mid 1980s, the upscale property overlooks the white sand beach of the Gulf of Mexico, housing a full-service spa and café, numerous restaurants and bars and several swimming pools. It’s not only the amenities of this five-star hotel but also the location that makes the property so desirable. Found in North Naples off Vanderbilt Beach Road, the resort is just steps from the sand and surf of the Gulf. In fact, the resort sits on a full three miles of beachfront property, with room for paddle boarding, kayaking, parasailing and more. Local fishing and sailing is also available to guests. In addition, the resort offers the comfort of 450 luxury hotel rooms and suites, many with incredible Gulf and beach views. There’s also a children’s program, a high-tech entertainment lounge, and guests enjoy championship golf course access at the nearby Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples. Recently reopened following a more than two month-long renovation project, crews have been extensively restoring the resort’s façade, with even more work to come. This includes new updates to Gumbo Limbo, the beachfront restaurant, as well as updated boardwalks to the restaurant and Vanderbilt Beach. The project has also brought about new improvements to the spa, plus it includes reimagined meeting space and a renovated ballroom. While some improvements are still in progress, even more updates are on tap for the future. Those could include adding on a new building and new rooms, with plenty of new options possible to help keep the resort as desirable as it’s been for decades. Future projects could also include greatly expanding the size of some of the existing rooms and possibly adding a parking garage to one of the oldest properties in the hotel company’s family.