The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota

We are in room 718 , This “Ritz Carlton” in Sarasota does not even FEEL like a Ritz Carlton, it feels more like a holiday inn than anything, There’s no service, there’s only two restaurants but one of them open only at 4 pm which is Jack Dusty’s, The food is mediocre, and there’s just nothing really special about it. I was very underwhelmed when I got to my room, seeing that it was tiny, and the bathroom was dirty. There was a yellow border across the bathtub, and it was full of dark stains. But, if you want to go to the beach, you can take the shuttle that the resort offers to their beach club. But the earliest shuttle is at 9:00 AM, so I couldn’t go as early as I wanted. In addition to all of that, there’s also CONSTRUCTION that ruins your view from your balcony. You can’t even enjoy a nice coffee on the balcony without having to hear the loud and annoying construction. So, because I was left with no other choice and no other activities to enjoy, I went to the pool with my son and we couldn’t because the pool was very dirty and full of WORMS. Yes, WORMS!!! You would think that if you get in the pool you would get sick from something like that. I would have never expected something like this from a Ritz or any other Hotel because not cleaning the pool is a serious health safety issue. Even after I told the front desk about how dirty the pool was, they did nothing about it and no one was sent to go clean the pool. The only thing you’re paying for here is the brand name of the hotel. The club lounge is also VERY expensive and for no reason because it’s 350$ base price for 2 adults, only to be underwhelmed once again by bland sushi, old veggie spring rolls, ham and cheese sandwiches, and chips. The only “benefit” you really get are the unlimited drinks but still not worthy 350$. I am so disappointed in this hotel, I was expecting the best experience ever but instead I was SCAMMED and this is not worth your money at all. Stay away and be Healthy!

The front desk staff was amazing. Zack was very helpful with dinner recs and even got us a room upgrade 10/10. From front desk to door or restaurant everything met our expectation.

Really outstanding service. I was a repeat customer so they comped my drinks at the pool. The private beach is fantastic. Food was also excellent and the rooms were well appointed. Highly recommend. Ben in the club lounge was amazing.

Before coming to the hotel, I read some of the reviews on TripAdvisor, and was expecting a different experience. I’m pleased to share that we’ve had a wonderful 7 day stay. The rooms are comfortable, our double queen room has a balcony, spacious marble bathroom, and is well appointed. The bed linens and towels are just nice, good quality - soft crisp sheets, heavy soft towels. There is a fray on the carpet, and the furniture isn’t pristine - but it’s totally fine, and all in reasonably good shape. Housekeeping has come daily, and we’ve been offered turn down service as well (we didn’t have to request it). We appreciate the refreshing of towels, bottled water (complimentary), and chocolates on the bed. The food at Jack Dusty has been good, service has been generous - and prices are high, but not out of line with the area. The fried whole snapper is wonderful. We ate at Rufa, the outdoor patio small plates venue and had almost everything on the menu. 8 of 10 items were fantastic and none were bad. Pool area and staff are wonderful. The Beach Club is lovely. And the service is also great - if a little too practiced. We enjoyed getting chairs on the beach one day and by the pool another. We ate in the restaurant and by the pool - all good experiences. So thank you Ritz Carlton Sarasota team. We had great interactions with Ari (Rufa); Nila Peter and Chloe (Pool); Nicole, Lyle, Dina (Jack Dusty), Zack (front desk), Jim (bell) and many more.

it is a run down hotel. A/C doesn’t work. The physical plant is very bad. It so obvious they did a very superficial refresh with never really addressing the structural flaws in a very old and not well maintained hotel. Then go to service - failure of housekeeping to clean the room or show up at 5pm and then an hour later to do turn down service. Put a do not disturb sign on the door - three times they ring the bell to the suite, like there is no sign there. I three decades, i have never seen a hotel do that. Restaurant is painfully slow Our travel agent passed on the complaints to the manager, she was referred to someone that had only worked there a few weeks, then the manager wanted to speak with me and never called. This hotel needs to be closed down, probably knocked down and a new one rebuilt.