Ponte Vedra Inn & Club celebrates 90 years of business

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Long an iconic fixture of Northeast Florida’s beach communities, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club first opened its doors in 1928. This year, in honor of its 90th anniversary, the historic inn will be offering special events, packages, spa treatments and more to guests and members as it celebrates nine decades of business.

“What we’re going to be doing is having different events throughout the year, which will be a nod to the various decades that we’ve been open,” said Ponte Vedra Inn & Club Director of Marketing Craig Schoninger.

The year-long celebration, Schoninger said, officially kicked off Dec. 31 with a “Roaring ‘20s Gatsby New Year’s Eve” party.

“We had cars from the ‘20s, people were in costumes and as you were entering the party, it was like going into a speakeasy, where you had to have a secret password to get into the party,” he said. “It was a really big success, and our guests really enjoyed it.”

Other special events will include a 1940s World War II Officer Ball Dinner, a disco night, a sock hop and a 1980s Halloween Masquerade Ball, among others.

“I’m particularly excited about the ‘Surf Club Deck Dance,’” Schoninger said. “All around the property there are historical photographs, but there’s one in particular that is of this Surf Club Deck Dance, where everybody’s in dinner dresses, there’s an orchestra and the ladies are all dressed up, and what we’re going to be doing is recreating that photograph.”

Along with themed events, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club will be offering various specials and packages for guests of the hotel and spa, including a special “$90 weekend” later in the year, which will feature spa treatments, couples’ dinners and more, all priced at $90. On the more extravagant end, a “90 Year Anniversary Grand Celebration Package” will be offered for a jaw-dropping $90,000, and will include a three-night stay in the penthouse suite, round-trip transportation to the resort by helicopter or private jet, his-and-hers diamond and emerald jewelry, a twilight pool experience and a half-day of exclusive access to the entire spa, among other perks.

At the Spa at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, guests can enjoy the new Diamond and Emerald Ayurveda Facial, created in honor of the inn’s 90th anniversary.

“It’s a 90-minute service using the Ayurveda technique, which involves a lot of massaging of the different nerves around the entire body, so you get the different aspects of that with the emeralds that have healing powers that help for clarity,” Spa Director Melissa Deese said. “We created that to launch for the 90th anniversary, and then of course we just opened up the cryotherapy as well, back in December.”

A form of cold therapy, cryotherapy uses nitrogen vapor to drop the body’s temperature to between minus 90 and minus 120 degrees Celsius. According to Deese, cryotherapy has benefits that can make the sessions preferable to traditional ice baths.

“Ice-cold baths are very hard to sit in; they don’t drop your temperature to negative 90 degrees Celsius and they have that cold, wet feeling,” she said. “This one is just three minutes, and it’s a dry cold, so your skin doesn’t feel damp at all when you get out. It’s very easy to recover, but you’re getting all the benefits of the cold therapy.”

Cold therapy, Deese explained, can help with inflammation, muscle recovery and regeneration, and even weight loss.

“You can burn anywhere from 500 to 800 calories in just one three-minute session,” Deese added.

For more information about Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and its 90th anniversary specials and events, visit www.pontevedra.com/inn_and_club/