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Hopeless romantics on the Gulf Coast now have hope: Two local properties — the Bungalow Beach Resort on Bradenton Beach and the Sara Sea Resort on Siesta Key — were ranked in the top 10 in a nationwide survey of the country's most romantic hotels.
The survey was commissioned by tripadvisor.com, a travel Web site that monitors a popular comments section that was the source of the poll results.
The pair of local winners joined four luxury California hotels in California, two properties in Hawaii and one each from Key West and Las Vegas on the list.
Cory Huffman, a manager at the 15-room Bungalow Beach Resort, says the concept there is to do a lot of little things that add up to form a romantic atmosphere.
That includes features like a fire pit and skylights in the rooms.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Gulf-view rooms offer the Gulf view from king-size bed. “We do find we have a lot of couples that come here for a romantic gateway,” Huffman tells Coffee Talk. “We feel our hotel is very romantic.”
Meanwhile, the Sara Sea Resort is fresh off a makeover campaign that modernized and refreshed the property, an L-shaped, old-Florida style resort that was more kitschy than cutesy.
George Rauch, a Longboat Key entrepreneur and former Wall Street investment banker, bought the hotel in the summer of 2008 for $3.35 million.
Sara Sea General Manager Dawn Van Lanen says the renovations were designed to make the Sara Sea an adult-focused destination, so it wouldn't compete with two nearby sister properties that are more family-focused.
And like the Bungalow Beach, the Sara Sea put a premium on its romantic details — and has maintained a 98% occupancy rate almost since it opened, Van Lanen says.
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