The Naples Beach Hotel is the oldest beachfront resort in the city, operating since 1946, and its open-air HB's on the Gulf bar is where you go for a drink with the Gulf of Mexico directly in front of you. The setting is the point — a thatched-roof bar on the sand, cold beer and frozen cocktails, pelicans and Gulf light, the kind of low-key tropical ambience that Naples' wealthier hotels sometimes try too hard to manufacture. This one just has it.
The hotel itself has been renovated extensively over the years and the rooms are comfortable rather than remarkable. But the bar, which opens to non-guests, operates on a more democratic basis than the address might suggest. Happy hour runs from 4pm to 6pm daily and draws a mix of hotel guests and locals. 851 Gulf Shore Blvd N.