Longboat Key Club & Resort a Gem Among Florida Resorts

They say successful people benefit from good memories – not just remembering names, but recalling positive events in their lives. There’s no place better than Longboat Key Club & Resort for making the kind of memories you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Whether you’re planning a family vacation, a romantic retreat, a golf outing or a girlfriend’s getaway, Longboat Key Club & Resort – our AAA Four-Diamond Florida beach resort located on a barrier island just off the coast of Sarasota – has everything you need for a glorious time.

Play our Golf Digest award-winning courses and our USTA award-winning Tennis Gardens. Indulge yourself at our luxurious Island House Spa and our six superb restaurants. Relax by our beautiful Gulfside pool and along miles of white-sand beach. And enjoy the spectacular views from the private balconies of our luxurious suites.

Take advantage of our Midweek Memories package – available from May 1-December 20, 2012 – and you can enjoy our island resort at significantly reduced rates. You’ll have more time to do it all; or to relax and do nothing at all. Details of the Midweek Memories package include:

• Arrival must be on Sunday or Monday
• Stay 3 nights and the 3^rd night is available at a 50% discount OR stay 4 nights and the 4^th night is FREE
• Discounts and free nights based on quoted rates
• May not be used in conjunction with other package or promotions

So take this unique opportunity to make some magical memories at our exclusive beachfront Florida resort while saving big with our Midweek Memories package. Call (888) 237-5545 to book your getaway at Longboat Key Club & Resort today.

What began in 1965 as a one-week event with seven guest mentors has expanded over the years to received national and international attention. Now, for three weeks each June, guests on their Florida beach vacations can enjoy a magical combination of youthful promise and acclaimed talent that carries a reputation as one of the finest classical music events in the nation.

As regular summer guests of Sarasota marinas know, the Sarasota Music Festival brings the best up-and-coming young musicians from around the world to Sarasota for three weeks each June. Nearly 500 students audition, but only 58 are accepted to work side-by-side with 40 music masters, who make up the guest faculty. On any given day during the Festival, a student may rehearse in a faculty-coached ensemble, play in master classes and perform on stage for guests on their Florida golf resorts. These are rare opportunities for the public and guests of Sarasota hotels to hear the visiting artists rehearse or perform together.

Since its inception, the Sarasota Music Festival has assembled a remarkable and highly respected roster of guest artists, many of who have returned to the event to play for Florida beach vacationers for more than 20 years. Their teaching and performing credentials attract the world’s finest young musicians eager to study and perform with them. The Festival encompasses both education and performance with an intense daily schedule of master classes, coaching sessions, lectures, demonstrations and student recitals, as well as a series of twelve public concerts open to guests.

Florida beach vacationers are entertained by a variety of symphonic artistry including: Thursday afternoon Artist Showcase Concerts, Friday and Saturday evening Chamber Concerts, and Festival Orchestra Concerts. Many guests enjoy the option of purchasing Festival Passes, which allow them access to the artists’ master classes and rehearsals.

For more information about attending the 47^th showcase of this world-renowned musical event during your June stay at Longboat Key Club & Resort, contact the concierge or visit http://www.sarasotaorchestra.org/sarasotamusicfestival/festival.cfm.

Sarasota hotel guests looking for a break from the beach should seriously consider a Myakka Park Airboat ride, a scenic one-hour guided tour of the Myakka Lake on one of the world’s two largest airboats – “Gator Gal” and “Myakka Maiden.”

Located just 9 miles east of I-75 on S.R. 72, Myakka State Park is convenient to most Sarasota hotels, making it a perfect daytrip for a Sarasota vacation. While on the Myakka Park Airboat Tour, guests of Sarasota marinas will find that the tour guides/airboat captains are outstanding, with extensive knowledge about the Myakka Lake and River, the ecosystem and even the history of the area

While guests of Florida golf resorts will enjoy the Myakka Park Airboat Tour whether or not they see any alligators in their natural habitat, it’s probably more fun to see one or two – especially while they’re on an airboat named “The Gator Gal”! But no matter what time of year Florida beach vacation guests find themselves at Myakka River State Park, it is still worth taking the guided airboat tour.

It turns out that the American Alligator is more visible in the spring because it’s mating season and the Florida weather is not too hot, when they spend a lot of their time underwater or in the shade staying cool – just like guests. Alligators dislike the extreme temperatures as much as we do.

The cost is $12 for adults, $6 for children 6-12. Save your ticket and if you return during another Florida beach vacation within 12 months, you will receive a 50% discount.

For more information about taking a Myakka Park Airboat Tours during your next visit to Longboat Key Club & Resort, contact the concierge or visit http://www.myakkariver.org/airboat.html.

For the second year in a row, the Sarasota Open USTA/ATP Men’s Pro Tournament is being held at Longboat Key Club & Resort, one of the most popular of all Florida beach resorts. This year’s tournament, which takes place April 23 through May 1, was preceded but what some called “the hottest party of the year” aboard the Sea Fair, one of the largest private yachts in the world (238 ft.).

Worth over $40 million, the Sea Fair came to the Southwest Florida area specifically to benefit the Sarasota Open Foundation, which helps children in need. Some Sarasota marina vacationers took a break from the shoreline to step aboard the Sea Fair, which carried over $400 million in art and is considered the largest Art Expo yacht in the world!

The Sea Fair travels to luxurious seaside cities up and down the East Coast. Once on board, visitors can browse 28 galleries, dine in one of two restaurants, and hang out at an open-air bar. The 28 spaces are each run by independent galleries that pay $40,000 to $120,000 a month in rent. The yacht seeks to attract not the seasoned art-fair attendee and collector, but instead the new buyer with ready cash – the very person that might find an invitation-only floating art gallery sexy.

That was certainly the goal of the promoters, who helped raise more money and awareness this year for the Sarasota Open Children’s Foundation by attracting area residents, Sarasota hotel guests and Florida marina vacationers to the $200-a-ticket event. And, of course, it also served as the precursor to the 2011 Sarasota Open.

This year’s tournament promises a schedule packed with highly competitive matches and fun-filled events, especially for guests of Longboat Key Club & Resort Sarasota marinas. For special rates and reservations during the April 23 – May 1, 2011 event, visit www.longboatkeyclub.com or call 855-847-7630 for reservations.