Gather
Host your next conference at Lido Beach Resort
Lido Beach Resort’s newly renovated and transformed meeting space is perched high above the Gulf of Mexico on the 8th floor of our Palm Building. It offers stunning views of the beach, skyline, and Gulf, complete with a view of the Sarasota skyline. The venue features a combination of sand tones and coastal colors to inspire focus, calm, and enthusiasm for times of all shapes and sizes. Your team will enjoy 6,000 total square feet of meeting spaces, including a 3,000 square foot ballroom and five breakout rooms equipped with the top technology for seamless presentations.
Capacity: 180 Guests
Our sophisticated 3,000-square-foot ballroom was renovated and transformed in 2019. Today, the venue boasts 13-foot ceilings, contemporary chandeliers, panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico, and airy ambiance. This room can also be divided into smaller sections for breakout sessions or smaller meetings.
In addition to the ballroom, our 8th floor includes five breakout rooms for smaller gatherings, strategizing sessions, and meetings. Three of the five rooms include both beach and Gulf views, and the additional two rooms offer water and skyline vistas your team will love.
Capacity: 150 Guests
The Alcove is located alongside our tropical pool deck and cocktail bar and buzzes with energy. Networking mixers and cocktail hours are a perfect for The Alcove, where every gathering is accompanied by the sounds of the Gulf and the refreshing chill of handcrafted tropical cocktails.
Meeting Experiences to Explore
Help Move Meals to Those Who Need It Most
While Sarasota is known for its affluent lifestyle and beach setting, hundreds of homebound seniors and veterans are unable to prepare nutritious meals and face the inevitability of needing to relocate to an assisted living facility sooner. Groups can work with Meals on Wheels of Sarasota, engaging in a day of volunteer work that involves tasks such as meal preparation, packaging, and delivery. By doing so, you help these individuals maintain their independence, while also providing some much-needed social connection.
Stroll & Shop to Support our Local Artisans
Get your group together to support (and savor) the unique and artistic communities of Sarasota through one of our many farmers markets. While the downtown Sarasota Farmers Market – held every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. rain or shine – may be the best known with 70-plus vendors, others to consider include The Farmers Market at Lakewood Ranch and Coquina Beach Market at Longboat Key. Round out your day back on our private resort beach with healthy bites and an open bar.
Paddle Into a Mangrove Maze
Although Sarasota may be best known for its postcard-perfect beaches, the area also boasts an exotic system of otherworldly mangrove tunnels that are best seen by kayak or canoe. And what better way to create lasting memories with your group than connecting with these unique “walking tree” ecosystems during a guided tour with Almost Heaven Kayak Adventures. Lido Beach Resort can also provide a bagged lunch before departing, as well as welcome groups back a refreshing juice bar to re-energize.
© Visit Florida
Seek Out Some Spring Training Sites
Groups visiting in the spring can balance beach time with a Grapefruit League baseball outing. In fact, Sarasota isn’t just home to one but three major league teams: the Baltimore Orioles, the Atlanta Braves, and the Pittsburgh Pirates – all with their own stadiums located within easy driving distance of the resort. It all makes for an ideal way to experience baseball without the cost, crowds, or straying too far from the beach.
© Joseph Garnett via Visit Florida
Dive into an Oceanic Odyssey
Groups embark on a two-hour aquatic adventure during a Sea Life Encounter Cruise. Offered by Sarasota Bay Explorers in conjunction with Mote Marine Lab, this immersive experience invites participants to delve into the rich marine ecosystems of Sarasota and Roberts bays. Highlights include observing and handling some of our area’s most interesting marine residents, including puffer fish, sea horses, stone crabs, and cowfish. Not to mention, Lido Beach Resort can bookend the experience with some delicious food and beverage options at the resort.
Get Up Close with Some Cool Cats (& Other Wildlife)
Founded in 1987, Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary is an ever-growing large-animal rescue in eastern Sarasota County that provides a permanent home to dozens of exotic animals in need. And your group can learn all about the conservation, lifecycle, and needs of rescued big cats during a visit. In fact, they offer one very unique way to do so: Wild Yoga, where lemurs or foxes roam freely during a guided yoga flow class. Not into yoga? Your group can also book special up-close encounters with some of their residents.
Seek the Healing Power of Salt
Home to salt therapy rooms and heated salt beds and booths, Salt of the Earth is a Sarasota-based wellness center that harnesses the healing power of dry salt to alleviate respiratory issues and treat skin issues, stress, and anxiety. Groups can come try out all their various salt services, as well as vibration and light therapies, then keep the salt healing going back at the beach with a juice and cheese bar provided by the resort.
Meditate in a Mesmerizing Botanical Garden
A botanical oasis in the middle of downtown Sarasota, the 15 acres at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens are packed to the gills with tropical and subtropical plants – and groups can take it all in during a guided yoga session organized by the sanctuary. Once your session is complete, continue to unwind by walking through the mesmerizing landscape and the only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns, and other tropical plants.