Where to Stay in Egmont Key

★★★★★

The Pink Palace of St. Pete Beach — the 1928 Gatsby-era landmark rising flamingo-pink over the Gulf, with Egmont Key on its horizon, two pools in the sand, and the grande-dame service that made it the coast's postcard.

★★★★★

St. Pete Beach's family mothership — a sprawling Gulf-front resort of pools, paddleboats on its own canals, the giant inflatable waterslide on the sand, and enough on-property program that the car keys gather dust.

★★★★★

The boutique by the island boats — Mediterranean-styled rooms at St. Pete Beach's quiet south end, a rooftop bar with 360 views from Gulf to bay, and the Pass-a-Grille lanes and Shell Key shuttle minutes from the door.

★★★★★

Downtown St. Pete's 1925 waterfront grande dame — salmon-pink Mediterranean revival over the yacht basin, freshly restored, with the Dalí, the Pier, and the arts district at walking range and its own golf and marina across the park.

★★★★★

Clearwater Beach's homegrown luxury — the locally owned Gulf-front resort on the quiet north strand, zero-entry lagoon pool, Camp Ridley for the kids, and the rescue aquarium and marina fleet minutes down the sand.

★★★★★

The Riverwalk's cornerstone hotel — towers over the convention-center bend with the water taxi at the dock, Sparkman Wharf and the aquarium a stroll, and the Water Street district's restaurant mile out the lobby door.

★★★★★

The hotel built by a steakhouse — across the street from Bern's legendary wine cathedral in Tampa's SoHo district, with a culinary theater, charcuterie-stocked lobby, rooftop bar, and food as the entire design language.