I am so excited to share our wonderful stay at Zota Beach Resort in Longboat Key, Florida! If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw a few of my posts from our trip and me documenting our stay through stories. This was our first official family vacation and we had the best time! There is nothing like seeing your baby experience new things for the first time and light up. Definitely a trip I will never forget!
Here is a recap of our stay at Zota Beach Resort…
We flew into Tampa which is about an hour to an hour and a half drive to the hotel depending on traffic. We rented a car and enjoyed the drive especially once we made it into the keys. I love all of the little beach towns!
We arrived to the hotel in the evening and were greeted by the nicest valet guys. They were all so helpful throughout our stay and recommended several of the places we ended up eating at (which we loved)!
THE HOTEL
I believe the hotel used to be a Hilton property and was fully renovated. It is basically brand new and has modern architectural touches while still having that Florida beach vibe. The traditional guest rooms (what we stayed in) are a great size with a plush bed and oversized chair perfect for looking out at your ocean view. There are also suites available that look amazing as well. There is nothing like listening to the ocean so we left our sliding door to the balcony open quite a bit. The balcony is spacious as well with two chairs and a table. Mila loved sitting with us while we had our morning coffee out there (espresso machine in the room is a major plus) and we loved enjoying a glass of wine once she went to sleep.
Bonus for familes: they have cribs and pack-n-play’s available. The pack-n-play was perfect for Mila because she could sleep in it and play in it during the day while we got ready, etc.
THE POOL
Our first day at Zota Beach Resort was spent in a cabana by the pool. And when I say cabana I mean a full blown room with a sectional, TV, fridge, etc. facing the pool. It was the perfect setup for us because once again we were able to put a pack-n-play in there so once nap time rolled around we could lay Mila down and still enjoy. The waitresses we had were outstanding and as nice as can be. We enjoyed a couple of cocktails (the Strawberry Mo-tito is amazing – it’s Tito’s vodka instead of rum…yum!) and shared the fish tacos which totally hit the spot and held us over until our dinner at Viento (the hotel restaurant).
We swam quite a bit with Mila (she LOVES swimming!) and the day we didn’t have a cabana we just grabbed a couple of lounge chairs with an umbrella. The pool was pretty packed most of the time we were there but not in an overwhelming way. There were a few families with kids but also several groups just having a good time. They had a singer with a guitar a couple times as well which was really nice. Mila was swimming around like crazy (with our assistance of course) and wanting to say hi to everyone. Anytime she saw a little kid she would squeal and start splashing really hard. It was the cutest thing!
THE RESTAURANT
The food at Viento was SO GOOD! We had dinner there twice and everything we had was seriously amazing. Again our waitress was amazing and made great recommendations. The restaurant is on the second floor with a large patio with a view of the pool and ocean. We sat outside both nights and the weather was perfect. The first night Mila fell asleep in her stroller so we were able to really relax and enjoy a glass of wine to ourselves. 🙂 As for food recommendations everything looked incredible (I seriously wish I could have tried everything) but we loved the salmon, espresso bone-in ribeye, grilled filet with truffle mashed potatoes (so good) and the half chicken. Again I really don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu!
THE BEACH
One of my favorite things about Zota Beach Resort is that it really is ON THE BEACH! You are literally STEPS from the beach which makes it so convenient (especially with a little baby!). Directly behind the pool are a few hammocks, life-size chess, corn hole and a little bridge you walk over that puts you right on the beach.
Mila was not the biggest fan of the sand right off the bat so it was nice being able to walk along the beach for a bit and then be able to walk right back to the pool without feeling like you had to lug a bunch of stuff around forever. There are guys on the beach that will set you up with lounge chairs and an umbrella and you can also rent kayaks or paddle boards from them.
The beach is pretty secluded. There aren’t other hotels directly next door so it was nice how private it felt.
THINGS TO DO
St. Armand’s Circle is a short drive from the hotel (about 15 minutes) and is full of restaurants and shops. It is a nice family friendly area perfect for walking around and enjoying a meal outside.
I will have a post up on things to do in the area and a breakdown of everywhere we ate tomorrow so keep an eye out for that! But for now here are a few more photos from our stay! 🙂
We had such a great time and can’t thank Zota Beach Resort enough for having us! You can see their website Zota Beach Resort.
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions at all about the hotel! I hope this recap of our stay helped you get a better idea of what to expect and answer any questions you had about the resort.
I can’t believe we’re heading back to Florida so soon but we will be visiting 30A in just two weeks so let me know if you know of any must-visit places!
Thanks for reading!
