If days spent touring local attractions by bike, dolphin spotting by boat and discovering (by taste) every type of fish native to Florida’s Coast, then Opal Sands Resort in Clearwater, Florida is the right pick. If days spent whiling away the hours on a white-sand beach moving only to rotate your body or flip the page of some reading material is more your client’s vacation style, then Opal Sands Resort is for them. All this to say that the new 230-guestroom property—a part of the Opal Collection and a member of Preferred Hotel & Resorts—offers something for everyone.
From sunrise to enchanting sunset, my days spent on a recent press trip at the resort sampled a bit of both of these vacation styles and also included a day trip to nearby St. Petersburg, where I found myself crafting my very own blown glass sculpture at the Morean Arts Center’s Hot Shop, dining on dry-aged beef burgers and duck fat fries at The FarmTable Kitchen restaurant inside the health-conscious Locale Market grocery store, and perusing a bold collection of work by Salvador Dali at The Dali museum.
While St. Pete offers its own culinary enticements, it is pivotal that guests dine at Opal Sands’ onsite Sea-Guini restaurant for dinner at least one evening, if not for its artfully designed seafood dishes, breezy ambiance, and tasty artisanal cocktails, then solely to watch a famous Clearwater sunset melt into the gulf from the restaurant’s glass enclosed dining room. Stroll about the property to view the mini art gallery on display by native Floridian Christopher Still, take a dip in the property’s Gulf front zero-entry outdoor pool, but whatever you do, don’t forget to stop and smell the sea breeze.
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