Shangri-la Springs, United States Stuns Tourists With Its Glorious Revival Of History And Luxury!

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Published on October 14, 2025

Bonita Springs is continuing to unveil 1 of its astir charming treasures, nan Shangri-La Springs historic boutique hotel and plot retreat has reopened and is now afloat accessible to nan public. Located antecedently down walls and hedges, Shangri-La Springs’ verdant grounds, spa, integrated plot and intriguing history now supply yet different compelling logic for visitors to sojourn Southwest Florida.

For years this concealed plot was accessible only to invitees, celebrities and insiders. Now, arsenic barriers came down successful 2023, nan world tin spot what for decades laic down closed gates: 8 tropical acres dotted pinch fountains, statues, ancient trees and a flowing mineral spring.

A Storied Past: From Heitman Hotel to Shangri-La

The property’s history stretches backmost to nan 1920s. Built by real-estate visionary Gilmer Heitman, nan original Heitman Hotel offered a spot to enactment for group waiting for their homes to beryllium completed. The grounds see a earthy mineral spring, nan very outpouring that gave Bonita Springs its name, agelong believed by section indigenous group (the Calusa) to person treatment properties.

Over time, nan edifice changed hands galore times. In 1963, Dr. R.J. Cheatham renamed it Shangri-La and transformed it into a wellness and wellness institute. The existent owner, Lama Hana Trust, a conservation organisation, purchased nan tract successful 1998 and pledged to sphere its historical integrity.

Before caller restorations, overmuch of nan spot was hidden down walls and hedges. The removal of those barriers successful precocious 2023 transformed nan tract into a visible beacon, a astir magical greenish sanctuary successful nan mediate of nan city.

What Visitors Can Do & See

Boutique Stays & Suites

Shangri-La Springs offers a mini number of impermanent rooms: 2 suites successful nan historical main building, and six king-bedroom rooms successful nan adjacent Villa Ascona adjacent nan courtyard. Rooms are designed for comfort, pinch patios aliases backstage entree to gardens.

Organic Garden & Farm-to-Table Dining

One of nan jewels of nan spot is its 4-acre integrated garden cultivated nether no-till and permaculture principles. The edifice restaurant, Harvest & Wisdom, sources regular nutrient and combines it pinch section integrated proteins. The paper ranges from quiches and salads to Wagyu burgers and imaginative brunch plates.

Spa & Wellness

The spa offers a scope of organic, holistic treatments: massages, facials, scrubs, an eucalyptus steam room, a Himalayan salt-infused sauna, and backstage plot lounge areas. The spa is unfastened regular pinch hours varying by weekday and weekend.

Guided Tours & Events

Tuesdays and Thursdays astatine 10 a.m., visitors tin return a 45-minute history and plot tour of nan grounds for a humble fee. The spot besides hosts creation shows, markets, philharmonic events, seasonal plot sales, weddings and firm retreats.

Natural Beauty & Trees

One cultivated wonderment is nan Mysore fig tree connected site, among nan largest successful Florida. Winding pathways, fountains, ponds, statues and Oak Creek moving done nan spot complete nan immersive plot experience.

Celebrity Legacy & Cultural Appeal

Over nan decades, Shangri-La Springs has hosted luminaries. Legends for illustration Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Al Capone and Elizabeth Taylor reportedly visited nan tract during its earlier eras. While immoderate impermanent lists are anecdotal, nan aura of personage adds mystique that helps marketplace nan spot to funny travellers.

That bequest now becomes a tourism asset, visitors travel not conscionable for a spa aliases gardens, but to locomotion successful nan footsteps of nan past, to ideate nan glitz down nan gates.

Tourism Impact: Why Shangri-La Springs Matters for Bonita Springs

A Unique Niche successful Southwest Florida

While nan region is champion known for beaches, play and quality preserves, Shangri-La offers thing different: a calm, historical centre for wellness, civilization and slow travel. Its reopening adds extent to Bonita Springs’ visitant profile.

Increased Street-Level Visibility

By removing nan walls successful 2023, nan spot becomes its ain billboard. Passers-by now glimpse fountains, tropical foliage and stately buildings, consciousness that wasn’t imaginable before.

Attraction for Day Visitors & Staycations

Because nan grounds and edifice are unfastened to non-guests (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), section tourism extends beyond overnight stays. Tourists journeying done Southwest Florida tin driblet in, dine, stroll gardens and soak successful nan ambience moreover without booking a stay.

Event Tourism Booster

With its wedding, firm and retreat spaces (10 to 400 persons), Shangri-La Springs tin pull groups who mightiness different big events elsewhere successful Florida. When group attendees request lodging, section hotels use too, multiplying nan economical impact.

Cross-Promotion pinch Regional Sites

Visitors drawn by Shangri-La mightiness besides research adjacent Bonita Beach, Lover’s Key, Everglades Wonder Gardens and arts venues successful Bonita Springs. It becomes a hub to stitch together a richer location itinerary.

Looking Ahead: An Invitation

If you admit thing much past conscionable nan oceans blue, past nan Shangri-La Springs successful Bonita Springs connection you a glimpse into nan past of Florida coupled pinch a refreshing extremity successful nan present. The hotel, aft nan last gates closed on pinch nan remainder of nan gardens, reveals itself, not conscionable to nan prima studded people, but to immoderate itching inquiring traveller.

If you stroll nan pathways by moonlight, sip brunch successful nan garden, respire successful nan steam of eucalyptus, you’ll consciousness a spot woven from history and intention. For Bonita Springs, this revival is much than a renovation. It’s an awakening, a destination for those successful hunt of beauty, wellness and stories waiting successful nan shade.

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