Did Someone Say Croquet?
Situated in the heart of Boca Grande, on Gasparilla Island, the Inn boasts 137
impeccably appointed rooms, 63 of them in the main resort, and another 74 in the
surrounding cottages. Crisp, red apples happily greet guests at the check-in counter,
and two generously stocked gift shops reside in the main areas, with stylish, one-ofa-kind inventory you won’t find at most malls.
“We wanted to be able to read and respond to our guests as the food
was presented,” Shipley says, adding that, “I’ve prepared and tasted one
of everything before it ever gets served to our diners.”
Throughout its storied history, the resort has played host to many notables
including Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, Katharine Hepburn, the
George H.W. Bush family, and an array of others. The Gasparilla Inn & Club also
offers separate golf and beach club memberships, as well as the hospitality of the
Inn itself for guests who appreciate “Florida as it was meant to be.”
Inventive and inspiring, Chef Shipley’s creations are planned and
executed with extreme precision. He’s actually cooking on the line 90%
of the time, tasting, crafting and preparing the final menu, which gets
printed daily at 3pm only after many tweaks and tastings.
To see where it all begins, take the Inn’s behind the scenes weekly
kitchen tour and witness the labor of culinary love this Chef has created
in the form of high-tech, high efficiency and high quality food.
In a concerted effort to ensure a high level of respect and sense of “specialness,”
the resort maintains a published dress code and communicates this to all visitors
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