Southwest Florida's independent, luxury property, Naples Grande Beach Resort launched a calendar of events and activities for kids and their families, many of them complimentary.
Weekly poolside activities, games and crafts include a watermelon-eating contest, water balloon toss, build-your-own ice cream socials, a lemonade mixology lab complete with berries for muddling (adults can upgrade to a vodka cocktail), tie-dye keepsakes and other crafts.
New hands-on cooking classes offer kids a chance to create some of their favorite foods, working alongside the resort's chefs. The Little Chefs Pizza Class is in session on Saturdays at 10 a.m., and kids get to go through the whole process, from working the dough to selecting their toppings; kids and their families are then served the pizza in the Aura Restaurant. A Little Chefs Cupcake Class takes place on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Kids must be 4 years old to participate, and classes last from an hour to 90 minutes. A $29 charge covers the class, a recipe card, an embroidered hat and apron.
In addition to new programming, the resort features a variety of kid-friendly amenities and activities year-round. The Mangrove Family Pool, one of three at the resort, features a 100-foot water slide that twists around a rock tower through landscaped waterfalls. Families can also get closer to nature in the 200-acre protected mangrove estuary during a guided tour by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Every one of the 474 rooms at the Naples Grande Beach Resort has a private balcony with direct views of the Gulf of Mexico. Guests of the hotel have access to five on-site restaurants and bars, three heated outdoor pools, a full-service luxury spa, 8,000-square-foot fitness center, a business center and an award-winning tennis facility with 15 courts. The property is surrounded by 200 acres of a protected mangrove estuary intertwined with a system of bridges and elevated walking paths that afford access to three miles of beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico.