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The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States · Ritz-Carlton · High Luxury
This oceanfront tower opened in 2007 as the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale and became a Ritz-Carlton in 2008, and its lobby is on the third floor, a Florida high-water-line quirk that makes for a dramatic arrival. The beach outside is the one made famous by the 1960 film Where the Boys Are, with Connie Francis, Dolores Hart and Paula Prentiss, which turned it into the national spring-break destination. Burlock Coast serves South Florida farms and fish.
- 193 rooms
- Opened 2007
- Neighborhood: Birch Ocean Front
About The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale
- The 1960 MGM film shot here starred Connie Francis, Dolores Hart and Paula Prentiss, and its spring-break imagery made this beach the national college spring-break destination for the next two decades.
- Burlock Coast, the hotel's tavern-style restaurant, sources its menu from South Florida's own farms and coastal waters.
History
The stretch of oceanfront at 1 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard carries a piece of American popular culture history that sits lightly beneath the hotel's polished exterior. This is the beach strip immortalized by the 1960 film "Where the Boys Are," the MGM production that followed four college women to Fort Lauderdale on spring break and, in the process, put the city on the American map as the national destination for college spring break — a status it held for two decades until the sheer volume of the phenomenon forced civic authorities to redirect it. The film starred Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, and Paula Prentiss, and the Fort Lauderdale beach it depicted was recognizable to a generation of American students as the geography of a specific kind of post-war freedom.
The hotel tower at this address was constructed in 2007 and originally operated as the St. Regis Resort Fort Lauderdale, a Starwood Hotels property designed to serve the yachting and luxury leisure market that Fort Lauderdale's Intracoastal Waterway had cultivated since the post-war marina development boom. The property converted to Ritz-Carlton management around 2008 and 2011, depending on the operational phase, giving the brand its first oceanfront address on the Fort Lauderdale beach strip.
The building's lobby is situated on the third floor — a quirk dictated by Florida's coastal construction requirements, which mandate that occupied structures be built above the established high-water line. The result is that guests arriving at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale enter not at street level but at an elevation that places them, from their first moment in the lobby, looking directly out over the Atlantic. It is, as the hotel's own pitch acknowledges, one of the most cinematic hotel entrances in the brand's portfolio: an ocean view delivered as a welcome rather than a reward. Burlock Coast, the hotel's tavern-style restaurant, draws its menu from South Florida's farms and coastal waters, keeping the culinary program rooted in the particular ecology of the place where the spring break generation once discovered the beach.
The setting
The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale holds an oceanfront address at 1 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, on the stretch made famous by the 1960 film 'Where the Boys Are' as America's premier spring-break beach — a reputation the city has long since traded for the sophisticated resort identity that now serves yachting enthusiasts and the international finance set. Sebastian Street Beach is a two-minute walk; the historic Jungle Queen Riverboat on the Intracoastal is twenty minutes on foot; Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, a preserved oceanfront hammock, and the 35-acre Bonnet House Museum are both within fifteen minutes by transit. 1 mile from International Swimming Hall of Fame. 3 miles from Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
Restaurants and bars
- Burlock Coast — Restaurant
Experiences
- Impact Experiences — On-property volunteer activities for groups, such as assembling school supplies or emergency kits, plus an off-site volunteer activity.
- Hugh Taylor Birch State Park conservation activities — Group guests can assist in conservation work in Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, a barrier island between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Amenities
- Full-service spa
- Oceanfront pool
- Direct Atlantic beachfront access
- 25,811 sq ft meeting space
- 24-hour fitness center
- Hot tub
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
- AAA Five Diamond (2025)
- AAA Four Diamond (2025)
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