Beach: The resort lies near the southern end of the 14-mile-long white-sand beach that lines the Gulf of Mexico coast of the island of Longboat Key. The dunes remain intact at this end, so to reach the beach you use any of several walkways. Once there you’ll find beach watercraft, lounge chairs, umbrellas, and cabanas.
Golf Courses: The resort has 45 holes of golf.
Links on Longboat Course: Water hazards come into play on all 18 holes of this 6,748-yard, Par 71 course laid out along the Gulf of Mexico. Pink and white oleander and more than 5,000 palm trees line the fairways, which trail through a bird sanctuary. Harbourside Course: Willard Byrd of Atlanta originally designed the three nine-hole courses—Red Hawk at 3,314 yards, White at 3,342 yards, and the Blue Heron at 3,314 yards—that make up Harbourside. These were later reconfigured by designer Ron Garl, who added more contour and elevation and improved the putting surfaces. Situated on the Sarasota Bay side of the island, these 27 holes trail through stands of live oak, sabal palms, palmetto, and southern pine. Playing here is a different experience from Islandside, at once more open and more trap riddled.
Spa & Fitness Center: The 4,000-square-foot Fitness Centre stands just a short stroll from the Islandside lodging at one end of the building containing the golf pro shop and Spike’n Tees open-air restaurant overlooking Islandside’s Links on Longboat course. The fitness center consists of an aerobics room with windows on three sides and a mirror on other and views of the Islandside golf course. There are three adjoining rooms offering high-tech cardio equipment, free-weights, and strength training equipment.
There is a beachfront swimming pool at the Resort Center, where they occasionally screen movies outdoors. There is also a 291-slip marina on Sarasota Bay in the Harbourside development.
Dining: Several dining options are available ranging from formal to poolside casual. At The Resort you will find Sands Pointe, which merges Florida, Mediterranean, and European culinary traditions (e.g., pan-seared black grouper, veal chop with mushroom sauce, Kansas City strip loin) from its perch overlooking the pool and beach. There is also poolside and beachside service from Barefoot’s Bar & Grille, and Spike ‘n Tees, which overlooks the Islandside Links on Longboat golf course serves breakfast, lunch, and fresh fruit smoothies. Within Harbourside, the choices are Portofino Ristorante and Bar for northern Italian cuisine overlooking the marina and The Tavern & Whiskey Bar in the Harbourside golf clubhouse for farm-to-table fare.
392 Reviews on “The Resort at Longboat Key Club”
Played at the Gardens at Longboat Key resort and they are the best courts and club I’ve been at. Susan was great up front setting up matches for me. courts and tennis were awesome.
Regarding the resort: Beautiful, impecable, perfection! Amazing beaches with powder sugar sands. Strikingly beautiful courts, gardens, service and environment. The staff was fantastic, engaging, and helpful. The entire experience was unexpectedly affordable. I will definately go back… Often!!
We did three 2-hour lessons. The courts were in great shape and aplenty, the club house was clean and quiet with a simple elegance, the pro shop was nice with friendly staff and great clothing selections (both colour and white), the restaurant on site was tasty with healthy options (and free OJ which was a nice perk). We had two instructors over the three days (Ron, John, then back to Ron), and while both were very different in their demeenor and focus, they were both great to work with and we appreicated their different styles. Both contributed to our happy experience, and we say thanks to all. We had a wonderful weekend at Dave’s Camp. My husband took me for the weekend as an early birthday present. We learned a ton and were matched up with a group of women who were very strong players- so the competition and play was excellent. Dave unfortunately had to coach his college team in the finals of the ncaa’s, but Tom and Jerry filled in and did a great job. We will definitely come back next year- after college tennis season- so we can have Dave all three days. Also worth mentioning- we stayed in a 3 bedroom condo right in the Plantations. It’s two minutes from the courts and was perfect. We were able to roll right out of bed and on the courts each morning. Highly recommend staying on the premises.
Only drawback – the distance from the resort to the actual tennis club. While the resort provides free shuttle back and forth, it’s a pain not being able to walk.
If you want first class instruction to improve your game, this is the place to go. Have gone now for two straight years after first experiencing the Resort. Intend on returning in the future.
This has to be the best tennis-oriented resort in the country, if not in this hemisphere. The facilities are immaculate, the courts are all har-tru and perfectly maintained. The instruction is top-notch and reliably consistent. The pro shop staff (Susan, Jackie and crew) and game arranging ‘pro’ (Sue) are friendly and especially helpful. We hope to vacation here every spring break until I can no longer lift a racquet.
This is a world class facility with exceptional instruction. Real pros, with a lot of experience, unlike any others i have dealt with over the years. The courts are perfect, and beautifully maintained. Everything about it is easy, pleasant, and makes you want to play tennis. I appreciated having someone set up games. It was a great way to get my kids excited about the game.
The only negative is that you are required to stay in the hotel/resort in order to play here–unless you are a member. The rooms are nice, family friendly and comfortable, but not on par with the tennis facility. There is no wifi in the rooms, and the internet was slow, which is a problem if you would like to get some work done. The pool is great for kids, but you need to go to another pool, off the main property, if you would like a more relaxing experience. Big, beautiful beach front.
Very well organized, phenominal facility, great tennis.
Top marks for this fabulous facility. The staff (Sue, Susan, Sandy) was wonderful about arranging matches (mens, womens and mixed) for us. Lots of players, lovely and well maintained hartru courts, nice juice bar. Courts are very busy, especially in the morning.
This is a great facility. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys tennis. The courts are in very good condition and the staff is extremely helpful in finding games. My wife really enjoyed the clinics she took. The resort is also very nice with relatively large rooms and a beautiful beach.
The best Tennis complex I have seen. Well kept soft courts. Tons of courts and great attention to detail and arranging matches, lessons or clinics! Friendly and courteous staff!! Great pro shop with the latest in racquets and clothes etc. Better than the world tennis center in Naples.
My wife, daughter, and I just spent a fabulous long weekend at the Longboat Key Club and very much enjoyed their sparkling new Tennis Gardens. Top notch facility run by a very friendly and accommodating staff. I had a great workout from Ron, one of the staff pros, and Sue is a charming and enthusiastic tennis hostess, organizing round robins and game matching. Will not disappoint!
Only slight drawback is that it is not on the hotel grounds, but a couple of miles up the Key on the bay side. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of. LBKC will provide shuttle service if you don’t want to drive it.
All staff are friendly, helpful, and accommodating. Our whole group got to stay on the same floor which is really really nice and it’s so much easier for us to get together. I had a massage and it was better than I expected from a spa. I didn’t have a very good experience last year. The food at the tennis garden is really good I’ve tried almost everything on the menu, especially enjoyed the berry blast smoothie!!
John the head tennis pro is really nice and fun. I had him the first day and that was the best I played, he made us “work”, and gave us each some personal attention with our serves, I liked that a lot!! I wanted to stay in his group the whole three days but I have to let others have the same experience too!!
The new tennis facilities at the Longboat Key Club are superb. The area is beautiful and very well maintained. Most important, the instruction is fabulous. I had been stuck with bad habits and very slow progress until I took lessons there. Sammy was amazing in how he identified just what I needed and explained it all in ways that I responded to immediately.
It was thrilling for me! Also excellent were John, the head pro, from whom I took daily clinics, and Briana, who helped me lock in some improved habits. My husband, who is an excellent player, had no shortage of both singles and doubles games, thanks to the tireless efforts of Sue, who arranges the tennis matches. All the staff in the pro shop was sincerely friendly and helpful.
OUr accommodations were lovely and all the meals we had at one or another of the resort’s restaurants were excellent. We had thought that we would return to another tennis resort in California that we had previously visited, but weI definitely look forward to going back to Longboat instead.
I coordinated and brought a group of 13 gals to LBKC over the MLK weekend. You must know I felt the pressure on me to make sure that the place I picked didn’t disappoint and I have to say – I hit the long-ball home run.
The ladies and I were thrilled with the beautiful, luxurious accomodations, the amazing view, the bubbly hot-tub after the long hours of tennis (we got in 17 hours in 4 days!), the fabulous and fun tennis pros, the pro-shop, the food…. I could go on and on. We LOVED, Loved, Loved IT!.
The staff at every turn was friendly and interested in making sure we were happy and well cared for. The shuttle was always prompt and Jay, my favorite driver and bellman was bright, polite and delightful. The front desk staff was welcoming and helpful and the bar and restaurant staff were right on the ball. The ladies in the tennis gardens, especially Sue were lovely and very well organized and the tennis pros…Ron, Barbara, Sandor and Pedro wow…awesome, knowledgable and fun.
This is the third resort my group has visited and it will definitely go back on the short list of places to return.
Outstanding tennis facility in beautiful setting. Excellent management staff and teaching pros. Tennis “concierge” exceptional at matching games. Court 21 food service is nice amenity at Tennis Gardens. Work out facility at Resort could use upgrading.
A business trip takes us to the Long Boat Key Club each December, and the outstanding tennis facilities is a huge bonus. My husband and I travelled with 2 other couples. We enjoyed a round robin mixed/happy hour on Friday that had well-matched tennis happening on three courts. Sue, the tennis club hostess, never stopped working to get us good matches. She is a delight and makes her guests feel very welcome. The Tennis Gardens facility is beautiful, with an outstanding selection of tennis clothing in the pro shop and a slick restaurant with a nice menu and full bar. My only complaint would be that I would like to see the courts groomed throughout the day. More than once we were put on courts that had been played on prior to us.
THis tennis facility is, truly, first rate,and Sue Brown, especially, works hard at accomodating out of town guests! She set us up with local players, and then, when we were trying to fill our tennis schedules, called me from her home, as she was conducting her own garage sale, just to be sure that our group had been taken care of! Is there any more dedicatin than this??
Great accomodations, second time visit, loved staff (sue at tennis pavillion took great care of us, lessons with Pros were great, love John! Carl at the bar kept us entertained with laughter and great service….will go back again and again
The strength is that John Woods and his staff will put their efforts into making sure that particiation in lessons and matches will be done for all visitors. No weakness that I observed.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort Tennis Gardens is one of the most spectacular locations for recreational tennis in Florida. The setting is beautiful, the courts all always in great shape, the tennis pros are excellent instructors, tennis clinics are offered daily, the pro-shop is well-equipped and the on-site restaurant offers a great food selection. The only downside is that if you are staying at the Longboat Key Club & Resort, you have to drive to get to the Tennis Gardens. Also, if you are not a guest of the Resort, you can’t reserve a court. Overall, I give the Tennis Gardens five stars!
Outstanding. Best “soft” courts that i’ve ever played on. have a “berry blitz” in the food & beverage lounge after play. Great facility.
Longboat Key is a great location. We stayed on the beach which is exceptionally white and soft. Top class services on the beach. The Tennis Gardens is a brand new all-clay facility with a full pro shop and super dining facilities. Only down side is that the Tennis Garden facility is about 3 miles up the key in the Harborside portion of the resort (though there are a lot of clay courts at the beachside portion anyway). Even so, if you have no car, they will shuttle you up there. The people at the Tennis Gardens will hook you up with games, whether you are looking for singles, doubles or mixed doubles.
Twenty beautiful new well maintained surround a lovely tennis center. Pro shop is exceptional in friendly, welcoming service providing assistance with equipment and scheduling appropriate matches.
The resort and tennis facilities are fantastic. We arrived Tuesday evening and were invited to attended Wednesday morning clinics. Matches were arranged starting Thursday morning for the remainder of our stay. All matches were competitive and very enjoyable.
The staff is excellent. They were very helpful and friendly and quick to offer information when asked. The Pro Shop has everything needed to complete your tennis experience. I broke the strings in my racquet while there. They had top quality demo racquets available and were able to restring my racquet within a few hours.
This is the best tennis resort we have ever been to, and would highly recommend it.
Highly recommend this club. excellent tennis instruction, beautiful facilities
Just got back from visiting Longboat Key Club & Resort for the third time, and first time playing tennis there. Sue is amazing and was able to set me up for doubles matches with some wonderful women during my stay there. Everyone was so welcoming and made the atmosphere so enjoyable! Definitely cannot wait to go back and hit up the courts with the ladies again next year!
I was very pleased with my tennis experience at Longboat Key Club. I took six private lessons, and my instructors were very courteous, fun, and competent. Sammie Avila, Mike, and Jackie were great. They gave me suggestions that improved my strokes and will enhance my game. I have taken lots of lessons over the years, and these were among the best.
The pro shop staff was also very thoughtful and helpful. Sue Brown was particulary helpful in setting up matches for me. The facility was first rate. I would highly recommend Longboat Key Club Resort.
Great courts, friendly people, and Sue Brown goes the extra mile in arranging games.
Had a superb time at Longboat Tennis concierge goes out of her way to arrange games at your level players at club are both friendly and competitive Tennis Gardens are an outstanding facility and all the hardtru courts are in great shape I look forward to returning and highly recommend this resort and facility to others.
Group instruction was good, but not excellent. It did not start on a timely basis and lacked energy. Staff was helpful, but not the best I have had. It was somewhat disorganized in group instruction. Several individual staff members were fun and helpful.
Stayed for 5 days in February 2010. Sue, and her team, very efficiently organised 5 matches for me. This was a combination of a private lesson, a drill with other players, two mens doubles matches and a mixed round-robin tournament. All were very close to my standard so I had a grat time and met lots of locals and other visitors. The two coaches, Randy and Mike, were very friendly, welcoming and kepf me at just the right level of skill and activity: i believe there are 5 other coaches there on their 20 court complex.
There is a cafe/restaurant overlooking the courts where they served excellent healthy food – we used it several times as a preferred venue.
outstanding brand new tennis facility in beautiful tropical like setting.Excellent instruction by very skilled staff .Learned a lot while having a terrific vacation, Highly recommend this facility. Beautiful beach and great place to jog- lively pool area especially on weekends.
No weaknesses. A 10 +, best tennis and accomadations and I,ve had the fortunate experience of quite a few.
Great venue and location.Lots of courts and super tennis concierge Sue who organised both my husband and myself with lots of doubles/singles as much as we wanted
The experience was outstanding with some highlights. Sue the tennis wrangler planned matches in advance of our arrival, made contact to check levels and interest, and booked an unsurpassed first day with a singles match, a clinic and a doubles round robin. After determinining my level, she upgraded me to better players in singles and I found and stuck with a 4.0 singles player for the next 5 days. In addition, she worked on my kids to give them a great instructor who figured out my older son’s needs in seconds and took him to the next level. Randy was an especially high level instructor, and Jackie and Mike were really good as well.
The clinics were good and a good value but not outstanding because they depended on who and how many signed up. The usual number was 2 or 3, but a few had 6 or so. What was especially fun was playing with the local regulars in singles and doubles matches. A highlight was the mixed doubles round robin match. A weakness was the lack of any free refreshment. For the fees charged, it would be great if coffee and tea were included. Also, there should be some indoor seating other than in the restaurant.
My husband and I (early 40s) visited the club twice. First in August ’09 and again in November. It is an ideal place for all types of couples. Resort staff are extremely courteous and helpful. The resort is a paradise: pristine pool, immaculate, well-tended beach and grounds. The spa has a great array of treatments (the hot-stone massage was better than any I’ve had in NYC or elsewhere).
We spend most of our days at the tennis gardens, which are a player’s dream. There are about 21 har-tru courts, which are tended to hourly. The instructors are top notch. We have taken lessons with John Woods (the director), John Langer, Mike, and Jackie. And they were all amazing. Susan (at the front desk) and Sue (matches players up and sets up games) have the sweetest and warmest personalities, and really make you feel welcome. My only problem has been some of the other desk staff being a little “prickly”. They are not very warm at greeting you and do make you feel a little like you are interrupting them. And even though they saw us each morning, they acted like we were strangers and had a bit of a “what do you want?” attitude.
For our November trip I had booked two months ahead and reserved time specifically with one pro whom I liked back in August, and felt a straight week would help both of us measure my progress. However, when I got the gardens on our first day, they had moved all my lessons to another pro. Clearly my name had been written in and erased, but they tried to convince me that that was not the case. I did express my displeasure at the change, and especially without contacting me to let me know, and let me choose another pro (not assign me one at random). By that afternoon, they had completely rearranged their schedules to suit my original booking, and apologized profusely for the mix-up. They really made me feel that they knew my business was important to them and they were eager to accommodate. We will certainly be returning to Longboat Key Club and the tennis gardens. And we recommend it highly to anyone.
24 clay courts, well maintained. 20 of the courts are new from March 2009. They are softer than the 4 older courts and so the bounce is a bit lower (probably easier on the body but I prefer the feel of the older courts where the bounce is similar to my club’s courts). The facilities are excellent, the rooms are fully equipped. Beautiful pool/beach views available. Court availability was excellent. Expensive but good value.
An outstanding tennis facility, staffed by people who really want to make your stay a success. If tennis+beach is a requirement to satisfy your family, this is the place. Best maintained clay courts I have ever played (home is out west on hard courts), in a perfect setting and beautiful facility. Even when windy on the beach side, courts were sheltered and much calmer. Attentive service and game matching (especially Susan).
Was originally booked at the Colony, an old favorite, but their demise left us scrambling on short notice and the LBK Club turned out to be a great choice. Their computerized court reservation system was the only big negative, since nobody knew how to use it, but they recognized the problem and were switching back to an older more reliable process.
One weakness is that it is a car ride from the hotel/beach/pool, unlike the Colony where everything was so close together and more convenient for a family.
Hotel room was very comfortable and well appointed. Large room, excellent balcony view, and equipped with fridge, sink and some dishes to allow breakfasts on the balcony before tennis. That’s good, because restaurant options are limited at LBK Club. High end dining was the only option. Needs a casual restaurant at the hotel, open early and after dark. Seems that most people eat in the rooms or go offsite, as the restuarants always seemed very quiet, not lively at all.
And the beach – outstanding! Cannot imagine a more beautiful walk for miles down an open, uncrowded stretch of sand.
We would definitely go back for the tennis, and put it at the top of the list. And for those who mourn the loss of the Colony, LBK Club is there just at the right time.
The tennis facilities at Longboat Key Club & Resort were fantastic, the coaching we had proved to be very beneficial. I would particularly like to mention 2 people who really made our vacation; John Langer was our coach and had a great way of teaching & was so patient as my husband and I are from Ireland and we play on hard courts, but had to make some changes to our game for the clay! He was so friendly and encouraging to us both.
I would also like to mention Sue Brown the Tennis Concierge who greeted us like old friends and arranged as many games for us as we wanted with a smile on her face. We are already planning our next visit.
wonderful facilities,great staff,beautiful accommedations,very competent game matching
excellent courts, very friendly and helpful resort & tennis staff, match making for guests and members, court time is free for resort guests. 45 holes of golf at resort.
Great tennis facility and great teaching pro’s. Beautiful grounds and renovated rooms. Great Italian restaurant.Hotel restaurant decor is great. Food only in main building is only ok.
The strengths of this resort is the amazing and completely new tennis gardens. The tennis staff was very friendly and qualified.
The beach is beautiful! It is full of birds, fish, seashells, and even sea turtle nests. The sunsets are picture perfect. Long Boat Key also offers a wide array of gourmet restaurants.
My tennis matching was not the best, but I went in low season so there might not have been enough guests to provide a better one.
I have joined the club as I have bought a home locally, although live in the UK Could not believe our luck when the new facility at the Tennis Gardens opened in January. I attended the Sarasota Open which was wonderful.
I play a lot at home in the UK and so was delighted when the tennis concierge, Sue, introduced me to many seasoned players at the club. These are at my level and very friendly girls. I have an instant circle of high-standard players that I enjoy to play with. Sue is a diamond and such an asset to the club.
All of the staff at the club are so friendly and helpful too.
there’s only one place to “LOVE” it all… and thats the longboat tennis gardens. Fantastic location, staff very helpful and friendly. I was on my own (as my husband does not play tennis). But not for long, as “Sue” tennis co-ordinator, soon had a weeks programme for me to join in… it was tennis heaven. The members were sooo friendly and I never felt the outsider, so welcoming.
Excellent tennis resort, great staff, and coaches. Randy was our clinic instructor–had a lot of patience and helped me tremendously!
The staff at Longboat Key Club and Resort are the best. I want to give special thanks to Jackie, Sandy, Sue and of course the pro Randy. You are the best and I can’t want to come back next year.
The club provide players 4.5 and above during by stay. Ask for Sue, she is the best at scheduling matches. Will return next summer.
We had a wonderful trip to Longboat Key. The resort is beautiful! Our accommodations were perfect…a beautifully decorated suite overlooking the Gulf. The service at the resort was understated elegance. We called ahead and asked Sue to arrange tennis matches everyday and she was able to do this without exception. We also took a clinic each day and while the instructors were excellent, the level of students varied wildly. My husband and I are 3.5/4.0 players and twice we drilled with players taking their first lesson ever. Talking around, this seems to be a common problem.
There are many wonderful restaurants within an easy drive of the resort. The on campus dining was excellent as well. It is our understanding that in March, the tennis program will be moving to the Harborside campus (3 miles away) where there are no rental accommodations available. For us this would be a real negative.