Naples, FL, June 7th, 2024 — Two luxurious restaurants will flank the central lobby of the new boutique hotel and private club set to replace the iconic Beacon Bowl, which is slated to close this August across U.S. 41 from Waterside Shops in North Naples. These dining venues will be open to the public, offering a taste of the exclusive experience within the otherwise private establishment.

“Two amazing restaurants,” said local entrepreneur Phil McCabe, who is developing The Carnelian hotel and its Sterling’s private club with his sons, Philip and Joseph, as part of their Naples-based Gulf Coast Commercial Corp. “Our club members will have reservation privileges to both restaurants.”

While the specific restaurant brands have yet to be revealed, the McCabes are seeking high-caliber national operators for the two spaces, which will be 6,000 and 8,000 square feet respectively. The new all-suite, six-story hotel will be located at 5400 Trail Blvd., near the northeast corner of U.S. 41 and Pine Ridge Road.

“The interest is pretty extraordinary on a national basis,” said Philip McCabe. “We’ll probably announce those at the beginning of the season.”

The first floor of The Carnelian will be accessible to the public, featuring the restaurants, while the rest of the hotel will cater to its members and guests. The second floor will house offices, meeting rooms, and a ballroom, along with a wellness club and spa. Luxury suites will occupy the third, fourth, and fifth floors, with the sixth floor dedicated to Sterling’s amenities, including a club lounge, dining room, bar, cigar lounge, and covered terraces.

“On top of The Carnelian hotel is a gem. It will be quite special, a special place,” McCabe said. “That’s not just something that’s special for Naples; we’re bringing something that’s special on the world stage.”

The McCabes have drawn inspiration from exclusive clubs worldwide to create Sterling’s, which takes its name from the pound sterling in the U.K., aiming to bring the elegance of London’s hospitality to Naples.

The sixth floor is likened to Annabel’s, a renowned private club in London known for its exceptional service, cuisine, and entertainment. The Vine Room, a speakeasy owned by Philip McCabe on Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples, will have a sister location within Sterling’s for members only. Sterling’s is designed as a high-end retreat.

“Step inside, and you’ll be transported to an opulent, seductive setting that feels like a world apart. By day, it’s a lively social hub for networking and relaxation. By night, it transforms into a lavish spectacle of indulgence and glamour, where the party never stops,” according to a presentation by King & Partners, a New York-based marketing agency hired to brand the hotel.

Amenities for hotel guests and club members will also be available on the second floor, featuring a state-of-the-art wellness center.

“We have employed an amazing spa consultant who is helping us develop the programming of the wellness center,” McCabe said. “We’re going to have everything from bio-saunas to steam rooms with aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, cold plunge, hot plunge. We’ll have a pool on the roof for swimming laps, so really the offering on the wellness side is going to be very significant.”

The McCabes, known for developing boutique hotels like the Inn on Fifth, plan to elevate their hospitality offerings with this five-star hotel and club.

“We have traveled all over the world looking at some of the best hotels in the places that have them—like London, for example, that opened the new Peninsula and Raffles hotels we looked at. We’re studying all the nuances and the suite itself,” McCabe said, noting that their suites will include features such as seating areas, walk-in closets, and double vanities. “The standard suite is really going to be an amazing experience.”

Their inspiration is global, with a focus on creating a unique identity for the venue.

“We are doing our due diligence on the research side and also the branding and the design of the entire project,” said McCabe, who believes nothing in Naples compares to what is being created with The Carnelian and Sterling’s. “As far as we’re concerned, there really aren’t any comps in town. It’s one of the reasons that we feel so confident about the location. We’re taking sort of the glamour of a London city social club and combining it with the lifestyle of a city club, like a New York Athletic Club, where we’re incorporating a 10,000-square-foot wellness center and a rooftop that is like no other and has multiple pools and cabanas that you can rent with beautiful views of the Gulf of Mexico.”

Views of the Gulf can be seen from the fourth floor up. McCabe also highlights the site’s proximity to the high-end retail destination Waterside Shops directly across the street and its short distance to the beach.

“We are seven minutes door to sand for beach access at Seagate,” he said, noting that concierge shuttles will be available from the hotel to nearby destinations such as the beach, Waterside Shops, and Artis—Naples performances.

“We love it because we think that we can showcase sort of a new form of hospitality that is really like luxury bed and breakfast. It has that sort of attention and intimacy,” Philip McCabe said. “But this is a different level.”

The name Carnelian is inspired by the deep, vibrant red-orange of the carnelian gemstone, symbolizing the hotel’s luxury, warmth, sophistication, and classic style. The stone’s color will be reflected in the hotel’s awnings, lampshades, and elsewhere, and the actual stone also will be used throughout the hotel in the guest rooms and some of the common areas, McCabe said.

The proposed hotel project includes landscaping improvements to the southern end of Trail Boulevard, which will serve as the entranceway into the hotel, expected to be completed in early 2026.

“Our goal is to revitalize all of Trail Boulevard up to Ridge [Drive],” McCabe said. “It’s like a linear park along the small commercial area that is on Trail across from Waterside Shops. The goal is to really improve the east side of 41 actually in a transformative way.”

The redevelopment project will begin soon after the lease for Bowland Beacon ends on Aug. 31, with the bowling alley’s last day of business set for Aug. 17.

Bowland’s local owners are still searching for a suitable location to build a replacement with more lanes and amenities that would be relaunched as HeadPinz Beacon. The company also owns and operates HeadPinz Fort Myers in south Fort Myers and HeadPinz Naples in East Naples.

Owner Pat Ciniello found it difficult to part with Beacon’s longtime property.

“There are so many memories created at Beacon Bowl over the years. But with my original partners both now in their 90s, the offer to sell was simply too compelling to pass up,” he said.

The 2.6-acre Beacon Bowl property sold last fall for $8 million while the adjacent half-acre property with St. Francis Animal Clinic, 5380 Trail Blvd., sold for $4.3 million to companies owned by the McCabes, according to public records from the Collier County property appraiser’s office. Ciniello’s team has been particularly searching along Immokalee Road in North Naples for a suitable replacement with more acreage to expand their bowling business.

“We’re looking at a pretty big facility of probably a minimum 45,000 to 50,000 square feet,” he said.

Source: LUXURY COMING TO U.S. 41 - The Naples Press