For Neighbors, the St. Regis Longboat Key Holiday Season Starts With a Dinner Reservation

At the St. Regis Longboat Key gate, an attendant takes your name and quietly lets the hotel know you are pulling in. In its review of CW Prime, Sarasota Magazine described dinner guests being met in the lobby and walked to their table. If you live on south Longboat Key, that welcome is your way into the resort's holiday season. Hardly anything else reaches you.

The resort's 2026 festive guide covers November and December and runs through January 2. It lists tortoise parties, lagoon snorkeling, a fire-truck Santa and a saber-opened champagne bottle on horseback. Most of it happens on the guest side of the property. For anyone not staying the night, the season comes through three rooms that take public reservations: Riva, CW Prime and the St. Regis Bar.

Where the Resort Draws Its Line

The St. Regis soft-opened to the community on August 16, 2024. At the time, the Longboat Observer reported that most dining options and the lobby bar were open to the public. That makes this the resort's third holiday season, and the rules are clearer now than they were that first summer.

Marriott's experiences page says pool and beach access is for overnight resort guests only and that day passes are not available to the public. Resort members, covered below, are the exception. The same goes for Oshen, the Nikkei dining room on the water. Sarasota Magazine's December 2025 resort review described it as open only to resort guests. That review also counted six eateries on the property, Aura among them. The magazine's CW Prime review explains the arithmetic. When the resort opened in 2024, CW Prime was one of three dining outlets open to the public.

Those three are the ones with public reservation pages today: CW Prime, Riva and the St. Regis Bar all take OpenTable bookings. The festive guide's holiday meals fall almost entirely in those three rooms.

The Holiday Calendar a Neighbor Can Book

These holiday meals appear in the festive guide, and Riva, CW Prime and the St. Regis Bar each list their own versions on OpenTable. Prices are per person, as the resort lists them for the 2026 season.

On Thanksgiving, CW Prime is $30 less per adult than Riva, and the format differs too. Riva is the long afternoon buffet with music. CW Prime is a steakhouse prix fixe that starts later and ends at 10. Sarasota Magazine's Thanksgiving roundup also lists Riva as taking holiday reservations from 1 p.m.

The guide schedules fireworks over the Gulf at midnight. CW Prime's second seating, the $525 one, includes access to a private terrace lounge with fireworks viewing. Riva's second-seating guests are invited to finish the night at the St. Regis Bar with a midnight Champagne toast. The bar holds its own Roaring '20s-themed Midnight Celebration from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., with reserved tables starting at $750, and the guide recommends booking ahead. For a neighbor, the most reliable way to see the St. Regis fireworks from the property is the late seating at one of these two restaurants.

Who Is Behind the Three Rooms

The resort's dining page says Riva has new Coastal Italian menus from Chef de Cuisine Ricardo Viesca, plus new cocktails and spritzes. CW Prime is under chef Drew Adams. Sarasota Magazine credited him with "unexpected and creative culinary twists" alongside the prime cuts, and called the service "the most impressive white-glove service in town."

The guide also books a weekly lineup of tastings and classes into these same rooms for November and December:

• Tuesdays, 2 p.m., CW Prime. A hands-on mixology session led by Director of Beverage Evan Lewis, $125 per guest.
• Thursdays and Saturdays, 2 p.m., CW Prime. A wine tasting curated by Sommelier Jasmine Wehbe, $125 per guest.
• Fridays, 2 p.m., CW Prime. "The Art of Bourbon," featuring the resort's private barrels of Angel's Envy and Blanton's Gold, $100 per guest.
• Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m., Riva. A pasta-making class with the kitchen team, $125 per adult and $95 per child.

The guide lists these under resort activities and prices them per guest. They are a question for the resort's reservations team, since the restaurant listings cover the dinners. A Saturday tasting at CW Prime is the kind of thing worth asking about when you call to book a holiday table.

The Half of the Guide That Stays Inside the Gate

Much of the rest of the calendar happens on the Winding River, the Under the Sea Lagoon, the resort lawn, the beach and at Oshen, the parts of the property built around the overnight stay. Among the highlights:

• The Floating Parade, Nov. 26. Guests decorate floats at the Reef Rangers Clubhouse at 11 a.m. and send them down the Winding River at 1 p.m.
• Jack & Rose, the resort's Aldabra tortoises. They get a Pumpkin Picnic on Nov. 26 and a Tropical Tortoise Christmas with an edible tree on Dec. 25. On Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. comes "Pineapples in Paradise," which the guide ties to Sarasota's pineapple tradition.
• Christmas Under the Sea, Dec. 20 to 27. Snorkeling with rays in the lagoon, guided by the resort's marine aquarists.
• Santa's arrival, Dec. 24 at 1 p.m. He trades his sleigh for a fire truck on the resort lawn.
• Horseback Sabrage, Dec. 31 at 5:30 p.m. A champagne bottle opened by saber on the lawn by the beach.
• The Grand Finale at Oshen, Dec. 31, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. A DJ, unlimited select beverages and waterfront fireworks. General admission is $463.60 and reserved tables start at $1,952.
• Omakase Night at Oshen, Wednesdays. Nikkei courses at $225 per guest.

Given Sarasota Magazine's description of Oshen as a guests-only room, both Oshen events belong on this side of the line. The same review put private cabanas by the Winding River at $175 and up. Those are also on the guest side, since the pool area is closed to day visitors.

Two Ways the Line Moves

Locals have two ways past the gate besides a dinner table. The first is the resort's membership program. It covers the family pool with its zero-entry edge, the whirlpools, the Winding River and the adults-only Vilebrequin pool. Members also get preferred pricing on cabanas, daybeds, kayaks and paddleboards, along with dining benefits and early access to holiday and special-event reservations. In a season where the New Year's Eve tables are the scarcest seats on the property, early booking access is the benefit with a date attached. The resort handles pricing and terms directly.

The second is ownership at The Residences at The St. Regis Longboat Key. Marketing materials for The Residences describe owner-only facilities, including a residents' pool and spa, a private clubhouse and lounge, and a wellness center. They also say owners have access to resort amenities and services.

Planning a Holiday Table at the St. Regis

1. Book through the restaurant's own OpenTable listing. Riva, CW Prime and the St. Regis Bar each list their holiday meals there by date. Thanksgiving is two weeks away, and the Dec. 31 seatings are the ones with limited room.
2. Confirm the seating time when you book. CW Prime serves dinner nightly and stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Riva serves breakfast daily, lunch on weekends and dinner nightly. The St. Regis Bar is open from 2 p.m. to midnight.
3. Give your name at the gate. The attendant lets the hotel know you are arriving.
4. Plan for valet. OpenTable lists valet parking for all three rooms, and Marriott lists on-site valet at $55 per day. Ask about the rate for diners when you reserve.
5. Consider the holiday tea. The tea seatings in the guide are noon and 3 p.m., and the Santa dates run Dec. 19 to 23. That makes the St. Regis Bar the most family-friendly of the three rooms this season.

If you are weighing The Residences and want to know how daily life at the St. Regis looks from the owners' side of the gate, Lynn Morris has been part of this development from early on and is glad to talk it through. Reach out to the Kim Ogilvie Group, and let's connect before the season fills in.