New Naples hotel: ‘It’s the McCabe legacy’ 

A luxurious groundbreaking ceremony Jan. 28 provided the community a glimpse of the attention to detail anticipated at The Carnelian hotel and its Sterling’s members-only club coming to the vacant site of a longtime bowling alley in the Naples area. 

“What we’re breaking ground for today is not a building; it’s a legacy — and it’s the McCabe legacy,” said Hans van der Reijden, founder and CEO of Ithaka Hospitality Partners, an operator of luxury boutique hotels. “I would like to take a moment to thank this extraordinary family for their incredibly bold vision, for their commitment, for what they’re doing for this community and for creating this place.” 

Phil McCabe, the local entrepreneur who developed the Inn on Fifth and other area boutique hotels, has teamed with his sons, Joseph and Philip, in their new venture at 5400 Trail Blvd. Their six-story, 70-room hotel will have an upscale public restaurant on its ground floor and a private club with extensive wellness and food-and-beverage amenities. Partners and pillars of the project praised the new development. 

Van der Reijden promoted the future Sterling’s as Naples’ finest membership club. “That says it all right there. What a great tagline,” he said, noting that The Carnelian is the vision of the McCabes. 

“This is not another development for them. This is a beautiful dream,” he said. “And, if you think about what is going to be built, when it opens, what the members will experience, what the hotel guests will experience, it’s something that sets it apart from the rest. It’s rooted in experience, years and years of experience in hospitality.” 

That hospitality experience was on display at the hotel’s groundbreaking, which temporarily transformed a slice of the site’s frontage into a garden setting flanked by full bars on both ends, floral arrangements, a red carpet, a roaming electric violinist and passed hors d'oeuvres by Naples caterer Crave Culinaire. 

Joe McCabe, vice president of development for the McCabe family’s Gulf Coast Commercial Corp., assured attendees that the hotel will be worth the wait. 

“We all know Fifth Avenue is our Main Street, but this is the heart of Naples,” he said. “This will be transformative of not only the physical landscape but also will be a beacon of hospitality showcasing the best Naples has to offer.” 

His use of “beacon” wasn’t the only nod to the bowling alley on that site for nearly 60 years. Bowland Beacon co-owner Pat Ciniello attended the ceremony and was singled out by Philip McCabe, who said he and his friends bowled there frequently when he was in college. Ciniello wants to be a member of Sterling’s and still wants to eventually open another bowling alley in North Naples. 

In designing the stately new hotel, architect Chuck Hull, a longtime principal of Atlanta-based Smallwood architectural firm, said he drew inspiration from Italian villas, in particular the villas outside of Venice, Italy. 

“Designing a project like this is not so much about solving problems as it is about creating a stage set for life,” Hull said. “So, looking at inspiration for this project, we really have taken advantage of the fact that it’s not overscaled. It’s rather intimate. It’s a boutique hotel.” 

The hotel’s club is modeled after a grand home, he said. 

“This project really has been an extraordinary project for me,” Hull said. “I’ve done hotels all over the world — Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and, of course, the United States — but I’ve never had a client come to me and say, ‘I want the best of everything.’ That’s a great opportunity, but also a great challenge. We’ve done our best here in obviously trying to take advantage of what is a great site.” 

Site work is underway by DeAngelis Diamond. John DeAngelis, co-founder and co-chairman of the local construction company, thanked the McCabe family for trusting his team to help bring the destination to fruition. 

“This is just another example of their bold vision and their belief in what Naples is and what it can become. It’s truly, truly remarkable,” he said. 

DeAngelis shared some statistics to provide a perspective about the size of the six-story building, which will be high enough to view Gulf sunsets. The hotel will have 366,000 square feet of floor area, more than five dining venues, 24,000 square feet of state-of-the-art spa and wellness space, a rooftop pool bar and restaurant, and a parking deck. 

“Truly, this place is going to be remarkable,” DeAngelis said. “We can’t wait to build something truly special.” 

In a partnership with Marissa Collections of Naples, Sterling’s boutique app will launch within the next week, Philip McCabe told the many founding members of the Sterling’s club in attendance. 

“I’m so excited to be on this journey with you all. What we’re creating here is not just special; it’s impactful for this community and for the entire world of hospitality,” said McCabe, director of operations for his family’s company. “The next time we’ll all be here together will be at the grand opening, and I’m just manifesting myself sitting up in that Club Room and having a martini in my hand.”