Waking up to an ocean view never gets old, and when the view is of the sugar-sand strand of Clearwater Beach, consistently at the top of those "Best Beaches in Florida" lists, it's easier to fall even deeper in love. From my room at the new, 355-room Wyndham Grand Clearwater, which opened in 2017 in the first lot when you turn right off of the causeway onto Coronado Drive, I had a crystal clear view of nearby Pier 60, a favorite spot to take in sunsets, and the white sands dotted with beachgoers.
The Wyndham Grand Clearwater was the host hotel for this year's Clearwater Beach Uncork'd food and wine festival, for which I was a guest judge at their juried chef's competition. As part of the deal, I was set up with a beautiful oceanview king room and was invited to dine for breakfast and dinner at the on-site restaurant, Ocean Hai. Not a shabby gig.
Half of the Wyndham Grand Clearwater is part of the vacation ownership program, and the other half is hotel rooms, which start at $169 per night. All units feature views of either the Intracoastal Waterway or the Gulf of Mexico. The decor in both the common spaces and in the rooms is best described as what I would call "midcentury coastal chic." I incessantly snapped pictures of the gorgeous vintage-style peacock chairs in the lobby and the lighting fixtures at Ocean Hai; it was impossible not to admire the interior design, which somehow manages to be both tasteful and arresting.
Having arrived late in the evening, I sank straight into the comfortable bed, and woke up with an appetite. But as I was judging the festival and planned to visit the culinary booths throughout the day, I chose to go light for breakfast at Ocean Hai, even though the buffet, filled with far too many gorgeous looking carbs -- and other macronutrients -- to count, was calling. I opted for the green tea and apple porridge to start, which was a quinoa-based hot cereal with almond milk, dried fruit and a crunchy sugar crust, bruleed under the broiler to boot. One bite and I thought, "Why isn't everyone bruleeing their Cream of Wheat?"
I also ordered the creative Art of Coffee service, which was a tableside pour-over for one. Even with the steep price tag ($6 for 16 ounces), I loved that it both tapped into the craft coffee trend and Slow Food movement all in one. Also, the coffee was delicious.
We split our time that afternoon between the Wyndham's pool deck, where we sampled at least 15 different cocktails at the festival's VIP lounge area, to the tent where festival revelers sampled delicious bites from more than 20 food brands and local restaurants.
Later, we took the short stroll to Pier 60, which was set up with the weekly Saturday craft market booths, to do some early holiday shopping, mingle with locals and bask in the sunshine on a wooden bench on the first chilly day of the Florida fall.
That evening, we dined at Ocean Hai and were treated to the omakase menu ($75), which is Japanese for the "whim of the chef" tasting menu. My husband and I had pored over the menu in advance and were excited about the prospect of tasting some of the inventive dishes on the menu, like hearts of palm salad with avocado mousse, Florida snapper with yuzu puree, General Tso-style quail or Duck Duck Goose fried rice.
Unfortunately, none of those items were on the tasting menu that night. The food we were served was well-executed and tasty, to be sure, but the dishes put before us were the epitome of "safe": steak, salmon. I had tasted some of chef Sean Ragan's food at the festival's competition earlier in the day -- the yellowfin tuna dish that's currently on the menu is the one he submitted to be judged, and it is fabulous -- so I was disappointed to see these less adventurous dishes on my plate that evening.
After dinner, we practically rolled back to our room on the seventh floor. We had high hopes for a post-meal walk on the beach, which would have been nice, but instead, we pulled open the sliding glass door, sat on the balcony and listened to the waves crash, while hundreds of others watched the sun sink behind the sand.