ISLAMORADA -- INNSIDE REPORT: ISLAMORADA

Innside report: Cheeca Lodge

Cheeca Lodge & Spa isn't the Ritz -- guests here aren't looking for fancy with a capital F -- but it's a long way from the Holiday Inn.

''Barefoot elegance'' is the phrase Cheeca's marketers use to describe the Islamorada getaway on the resort's website.

There are plenty of properties in the Florida Keys where ''barefoot'' is a state of mind, but fewer that can also honestly claim ''elegance.'' Cheeca can.

Bare feet are certainly welcome at the multiple pools, salt-water snorkeling lagoon, sandy beachfront, spa and tropical gardens spread about the resort's 27 acres, but Cheeca's relaxed guests are more likely to be wearing a sarong or polo shirt with their swimsuit than cut-off jean shorts.

Lunch and light dinners, including conch fritters, ceviche and stone crabs, are served casually at the ocean-front Curt Gowdy Lounge and deck. A breakfast buffet is served in the Ocean Terrace Grill, a cheery dinning room where the guests in swim suit cover-ups breakfast at tables topped with white linens.

The Atlantic's Edge Restaurant is a little dressier -- jacket not required -- and serves a variety of surf and turf either al fresco or from a dining room with ocean views.

Cheeca has been around, originally drawing anglers, since 1946, and over the years has become a favorite of boldfaced names such as George H.W. Bush and Jack Nicklaus. A series of refinements, including a multi-million dollar renovation done a few years ago and the conversion of some units into privately owned resort residences, turned a luxury fish camp into a four-diamond resort.

Renovated rooms feature West Indies decor with a Tommy Bahama vibe. Not all rooms are renovated, so be sure to inquire when you make a reservation. The Deluxe Resort View room, one of the least expensive renovated options during high season at $349 per night, features a retractable bathroom wall that opens up to allow viewing of the flat-screen TV from the soaking tub.

You don't have to stay at Cheeca to enjoy a moonlit, barefoot stroll by the water in the Florida Keys -- but if you want all the other elegant amenities in a place where you can kick off your flip-flops -- it's still the place to be.

Cheeca Lodge & Spa: 81801 Overseas Highway, MM 82, Islamorada; 800-327- 2888; www.cheeca.com. Rooms from $189.

-- AMY ROYSTER, Palm Beach Post

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