Southwest: Part pampered resort, part rustic refuge, and all about meeting options. (Florida).

Southwest Florida's fine offerings begin in Bradenton, home to the beautiful barrier islands of Longboat Key and Anna Maria, The Longboat Key Club can host groups up to 200, with 7,000 square feet of meeting space and venues for outdoor banquets and events (including sandcastle building). The nearby Manatee Convention Center has a 32,400-square-foot main hall, plus a 15,000-square-foot conference center.

Due south, Sarasota's distinctive meeting venues include the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and the intimate Asolo Center for the Performing Arts. In hotel news, the Ritz-Carlton began construction on a new property to be located near the Hyatt Sarasota, the city's largest meeting hotel. And the Hyatt recently renovated its ballroom and 15,000 square feet of meeting space, following a complete overhaul of its 309 guest rooms and suites.

The lovely Lee Island Coast is made up of distinct areas, each with its own unique character. Fort Myers boasts five updated facilities: Lee Civic Center is the largest, with space to suit up to 8,000 people, and the four buildings comprising the Harborside Convention Complex combine for more than 50,000 square feet of meeting area, including a 2,990-seat theater and conference rooms that hold 300. Other than Harborside, most of the area's premier meeting facilities may be found at area resorts and hotels.

The islands of Sanibel and Captiva are home to a variety of superior properties, both large and small. One of the best known is Captiva Island's South Seas Resort, located on 330 acres and featuring more than 32,000 square feet of remodeled reception areas and meeting rooms for groups up to 500. Work and play come together quite nicely at Sanibel's Sundial Beach Resort, which offers convention-goers 13,000 square feet of meeting space as well as golf, tennis, swimming, sailing, and more.

In Bonita Springs, the buzz centers on the new Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, which offers 456 guest rooms and suites, plus more than 73,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. A 295-room Ritz-Carlton Golf Lodge opened in December 2001 just a few miles east of the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, itself with a new $25 million spa.

Naples and its neighboring communities of Immokalee and Golden Gate offer more than 5,000 guest rooms in addition to the 20,000 along Lee Island Coast. The popular family-owned Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club offers a total of 34,000 square feet of new as well as newly refurbished conference and meeting space. Among the new additions is a splashy spa and clubhouse, with two large ballrooms, two banquet rooms, 16 breakouts, and beautiful beachfront function area.

Links lovers might like to know that Southwest Florida features more than 95 golf courses. In fact, the Naples area is known as the "Golf Capital of the World" for the more than 53 private and public courses that line its landscape. And a trip to the nearby Everglades tops most after-hours agendas--meeting participants won't want to miss a visit to one of the most exquisite ecosystems on earth.