Finding Utopia in Bonita
Shangri-La Springs unveils resort and health spa
Shangri-La is romanticized in novels and movies as utopia. Pure bliss, peace, beauty, bounty, health and long life. Some believe a personal Shangri-La exists within each of us. Now a public Shangri-La awaits the entire Southwest Florida community.
Extraordinary only begins to describe the eight-acre ShangriLa Springs enclave, which is finishing a multiyear, multimilliondollar comeback as a resort and health spa on Old U.S. 41 in the heart of Bonita Springs.
Extraordinary because the project restores buildings nearly a century old rather than demolishing and supersizing.
Extraordinary for the seemingly odd yet lovely combination of Old Florida architecture and Asian interior decorating and lawn art, in keeping with the “Vitality through art and nature” mission statement.
Extraordinary for the passionate commitment to organics— from the produce raised in its 4.5-acre garden/orchard used to prepare healthy meals for its restaurant customers, to the resort’s bedding and mattresses where overnight guests can get a good night’s sleep.
A full-size aquarium, now displayed in the lobby, was discovered mysteriously fully enclosed by wood and plaster.
“I think we can garner national attention here,” says Allen Fisher, the executive chef who has 18 years of experience in Los Angeles, New York and Fort Myers. “We know it’s just going to take off.”
General manager Lee Bellamy, a 20year hotel industry veteran who started as a bellhop at the Naples Hilton, is eager to open the enclave full force after several years of renovations and Hurricane Irma cleanup. “It’s an amazing property,” he says. “There’s nothing else like it in Southwest Florida.”
Tamara Pigott, executive director of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, concurs. “People love visiting historic inns—especially those with such a unique and comprehensive wellness component,” she says. “The organic garden is going to draw visitors as well. We look forward to working with ShangriLa Springs and helping book lots of groups for the property.”
PAST MEETS PRESENT
Up to $3 million in upgrades meant challenges for Bellamy’s crews. They carefully introduced essentials such as electricity, communication cables, plumbing and fire sprinklers to oftenstubborn original walls.
Bellamy says a full-size aquarium, now displayed in the lobby, was discovered mysteriously fully enclosed by wood and plaster. That same lobby, with stained glass and fireplace, is repurposing in-wall phone booths as art showcases.
One improvement, fortifying windows facing Old 41, yields the welcome byproduct of noise reduction.
Two buildings behind the Great House, where the initial guest rooms will be reopened, are freshened for exercise classes and servicing special events such as weddings and fundraisers.
Shangri-La’s spa offers myriad soothing and healthful services including massages, facials, aromatherapy, cranialspine therapy, reflexology, body wraps, cupping and peels in eight private rooms, plus steam and saunas.
The accent on health will be further championed by Chef Fisher via cooking classes for guests and the public.
Shangri-La has come a long way since opening as a traditional hotel for would-be Bonita property buyers in 1921. The verified guest list has included Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Al Capone, Jackie Gleason and Buddy Hackett. The unconfirmed ledger includes Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball and Madonna.
The property has gone through several ownership changes, iterations and false starts over the past century, but through it all, amazingly, no one disturbed the structure and ambience of the original 1920s development. It looks and feels now much as it looked and felt then.
FINE DETAILS
Dining at Shangri-La will feature 86 indoor and outdoor deck seats—plus a private room for chef’s tables and groups of up to 25. Someday soon, canoeists can paddle in for lunch.
The grounds—open daily to curious visitors—include two of the largest fig trees in America, a butterfly garden, beehives
and the gurgling mineral spring for which Bonita was named.
Fisher, who appeared on a national TV cooking contest in March, aims for strong local business to drive the dining yearround—and to help protect employees’ jobs in summer.
The organic crops, which Fisher calls the biggest on-site restaurant operation in America, will allow menu changes at will, he says, adding that both meats and fish will be locally sourced and organic as well.
So, years of driving by and wondering what is going on behind the fences at Shangri-La are coming to an end. It is poised to retake its place amid downtown redevelopment mixed with history alongside the restored McSwain House across the street and Everglades Wonder Gardens nearby.
After all, as Fisher puts it, “This is a big piece of what Bonita is.”
The verified guest list has included Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Al Capone, Jackie Gleason and Buddy Hackett.