- December 23, 2025
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The last few months of 2025 brought sweeping changes to a 785-room resort in Charlotte County. Less than two years after opening, Sunseeker Resort got new owners, new management and a new name. In a transaction that closed in September, Allegiant Travel Company sold Sunseeker to Blackstone Real Estate Group for $200 million.
The travel company opened the resort, which cost $695 million to build, in December 2023. Construction took more than four years due in part to pandemic-related challenges and Hurricane Ian damage.
After buying Sunseeker, Blackstone — which bills itself as the largest owner of commercial real estate globally — changed the name of the property from Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor to Sunseeker Resort Florida Gulf Coast, Curio Collection by Hilton. Blackstone, which also owns a controlling interest in Great Wolf Resorts and added Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort to its portfolio in 2024, also hired Pyramid Global Hospitality as Sunseeker's management company.
Blackstone's future plans for the property call for expanding the resort's meeting space offerings and adding to its events-driven programming and culinary options, Sunseeker Vice President and Managing Director Vince Parrotta says at a Dec. 15 media event.
“The future is incredibly bright,” Parrotta says. “We have an incredible hotel ownership group. The management company is really great. … The owners are already investing.”
Construction will likely begin in May on a 100,000-square-foot conference center, Parrotta says. It will be connected to the resort’s existing meeting space through a walkway. Also on his wish list are a boat slip/dock and water park; so far, months into the new ownership, the conference center is the first item to gain approval from Blackstone.
“We’re looking forward to investing in and working to improve this resort experience for more guests and creating new jobs and driving further economic growth for the Charlotte Harbor community,” a spokesperson for Blackstone says in a statement to the Business Observer.
At 5500 Sunseeker Way in Charlotte Harbor, Sunseeker sits on a 22-acre property along the Peace River. It has 11 restaurants, including three standalone restaurants and eight concepts in a 25,000-square-foot food hall. There is a ground-level swimming pool, 18-hole golf course and an adults-only rooftop pool that is the largest rooftop pool in Florida.
“Sunseeker is intentionally designed to appeal to a broad range of travelers — and we're seeing strong interest across all segments, including families, guys and girls getaways and romantic couple escapes,” Parrotta says in an email.
“Group business remains a core focus, with meeting planners responding very positively to our spaces and amenities,” Parrotta says. The resort includes 60,000 square feet of meeting space.
While the Southwest Florida market has seen a “softening” in leisure demand, Parrotta says via email, “Our group business continues to be exceptionally strong – we're pacing over 20,000 room nights in Q4 for future months and future years, which is a great indicator of sustained interest.”
The resort also hired someone to handle group sales, starting Dec. 15.
Since the change in ownership, the hotel has benefited too from its Curio Collection by Hilton affiliation, with “steady month-over-month growth” across distribution channels, Parrotta says.
As of mid-December, occupancy was about 52%, Parrotta says. The "sweet spot," he adds, is around 60%.
“The resort staffing was built on a model of 70% occupancy,” Parrotta says, “so we've had to make some strategic reorganization.” When it first opened, the Business Observer reported it had a staff of 800.
Today Sunseeker has 600 employees, with about 375 staff working at any given time, Parrotta says. That's a cut in overall payroll of about -25%,
“Right now, we have so much talent that I really want to focus on the team within and promotions from within,” Parrotta says. In early December, Sunseeker promoted six people on staff, the majority of whom worked for the resort since it opened. Those promotions are “just the start,” Parrotta says, and it “energizes everybody.”
Most of the staff lives locally, says Parrotta, who moved into a three-bedroom SunSuite at the resort upon taking the position as vice president and managing director.
“I am looking forward to more local hires,” says Parrotta. “They all have a vested interest in the success of the property because they’re locals,” from places like Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota and North Port.
“Our team comes across like an extension of the destination," Parrotta says. "That’s something special that we can build around.”
In 2026, the Sunseeker dining team will provide “refreshed culinary concepts and expanded offerings," Parrotta says.
Starting in mid-January, its tropical restaurant Half Cracked Tiki Shack will begin serving breakfast. Room service will also be added to the resort’s amenities.
Maury’s, Sunseeker’s steakhouse, will put Italian dishes on the menu and become an Italian chophouse, in part because Parrotta heard from guests that they wanted Italian food.
“We are not changing what works for Maury’s, because it’s extraordinary — the locals love it,” Parrotta says. The idea is to offer items like veal chops and pastas following the closure of the Italian restaurant on-site.
“We have every intention to open once we get this property to 60% to 65% [occupancy] — we'll open the Mexican restaurant again, we’ll open the Italian” restaurant again, Parrotta says.
Also to come: the sports bar Allegiant Stadium will be renamed the Stadium Club.
While the resort attracts people from all over, including the Midwest and Northeast, Parrotta says: “We want to be the locals’ choice” among destinations.
To achieve that, Sunseeker is planning event-driven programming like wine and jazz weekends as well as tequila and bourbon tastings, on top of existing programs like line dancing and trivia nights. The resort also has a website called SunseekerLocals.com with perks for community members.
For those in “drive markets” from Sarasota to Tampa to Naples to Marco Island, Parrotta says: “We want to give a reason to come” with a “consistent offering.”
Rather than changing things all the time, Parrotta says, the resort aims to offer “consistency for the locals” and “consistency for the team, where we can execute at the highest level.”
