The Cheeca experience can begin nearly as soon as you reach Miami if you choose to opt out of the 90-minute drive from the airport in favor of a 25-minute ride on Cheeca’s roomy helicopter, which seats six. Private aircraft and charters can alight at Marathon Airport, 30 miles south of Cheeca. The lodge’s concierge can arrange limousine transfers. Once on the property, the resort’s lush grounds quickly envelop you. An urn-shaped fountain and flower-lined courtyard flank the entrance. As you stroll around the sprawling compound and view the saltwater lagoon, filled with lobsters and snapper, the long pier stretching enticingly away from the sandy beach and hammocks swaying in the wind, your business agenda might seem very remote.

But if you are here to work, meetings at Cheeca can easily be integrated with the fishing schedule. Guests can set up shop in their choice of configurations at the 4,200-square-foot conference center. For more intimate gatherings, the scenic oceanfront boardroom comfortably fits 12, or for high-level entertaining, consider using the presidential suite. Formally known as the George Bush Presidential Retreat, it has display cabinets containing memorabilia from the senior Bush’s presidency and his private life.

The Bush family is one of the more recent dynasties to make Cheeca a second home. The resort’s storied past began in 1946 when it first opened as the Islamorada Olney Inn. It became the Cheeca Lodge when Carl and Cynthia “Che-Che” Twitchell, heirs to the A&P grocery chain, bought the property and rebuilt it, giving it a moniker that was a combination of their names. In the 1970s, the resort passed into the hands of Coca-Cola bottler Carl Navarre, and the Cheeca Lodge & Spa was born. Since the early days, celebrities such as Ted Williams and Bing Crosby have come to play at Cheeca, and presidents Harry Truman and Richard Nixon made it their hideaway before the elder Bush wet a line here. Sports icons Jack Nicklaus and Chris Evert still visit. Descendants of three early Islamorada families lie in Pioneer Cemetery on the resort’s premises.

RUSTIC TO STYLISH
To return the resort to the luster of its heyday, Cheeca—currently managed by Rock Resorts—undertook a $30 million renovation in June 2003, updating its grounds and 202 rooms and suites. In the main lodge, the spacious rooms are stylish, with high-speed cable Internet access, a plasma TV and whirring ceiling fans. Peek-a-boo doors surround the bathtub, rain showers sooth tired muscles and airy balconies provide ocean, sunset or courtyard views. The resort’s bungalows have spiral stairs that lead directly to the beach. The presidential suite, with its dark wood and rustic, masculine ambiance, is not quite as sophisticated as the bungalows, but it is roomy and proves a welcome oasis for those who seek privacy and plenty of kitchen space.

THE GROUNDS, rooms and suites at Cheeca Lodge & Spa underwent a $30 million renovation in 2003.

But most guests come here for the bounty of outdoor activities. The resort collaborates with Bay & Reef to arrange deep-sea fishing charters for groups of up to six. Captains Xavier Figueredo and Elizabeth Jolin own the full-service charter company, and the knowledgeable pair lead a variety of escapes, from scenic ecotours seeking manatees among the mangroves to snorkeling and backcountry fishing. Golfers can tee off on the par-3, nine-hole executive course, while tennis players will enjoy the six all-weather, lighted courts.

Cheeca’s Avanyu Spa is small but peaceful. Choose an aromatherapy massage or a mango sugar scrub from among a number of other facial and body treatments. The spa area has its own pool with cabanas where the staff can anoint you with cocoa butter during the tropical island massage or cool you with iced aromatherapy towels to kick off a hand-and-foot relaxation treatment.