Hi all,

What are some things to do or see there?

A friend of mine is planning a trip there.  It looks like they booked a place here:

http://www.aloftsarasota.com/

It looks like a trendy or upscale kind of place.

Thanks in advance.

There are plenty of things to do in Sarasota.  It is a very Artsy type of area.  One of the areas that is pretty close to them over the bridge is an area known as St. Armands circle.  Plenty of shops and restaurants.  If you take your time strolling through it, you can burn a few hours easily.  My favorite restaurant there is Columbia, food is excellent.  Near there hotel is a place called Marina Jack's, has nice boats there and a restaurant open to the public.  Tell them to go online and look up Sarasota events, there's usually something going on every weekend somewhere in town.  Also 1st street by S Lemon Ave has some local restaurants and more shops to stroll through.  Hopefully that helps them a bit.

+1 on St. Armands and 1st Street.

Sarasota Jungle Gardens is nearby as well.  Pretty neat if you're into tropical birds.  They have a flock of roaming flamingos that will eat bird food out of your hand.  Kids (old and young) will love that.

Siesta Key is within 15 minutes or so and routinely places first among US beaches.

As some have already mentioned, St Armands Circle is nice and right next to that is Lido Beach.  There's there's the obvious Siesta Key Beach and Siesta Key village with more shops and restaurants.  There is a large art population in Sarasota so if you are into that check out a Ringling Museum.

Other than that just stay away from the northern part of the county/city and you will be ok.  And just a warning there is a large homeless population in downtown Sarasota and that hotel is smack dab in the middle.  Most won't bother you, but towards the end of the day when they have thrown a few back they can be pretty aggressive sometimes.

Another restaurant to check out on St. Armands is the Blue Dolphin.  They serve breakfast and lunch, and have the best french toast ever.  +1 on Columbia's restaurant as well.  If your friend is into outdoors stuff, there is always fishing charters, kayaking tours, etc.

Lots of good ideas already thrown your way, also have them try Yoder's or Der Dutchman (Amish restaurants with great food and excellent pies ).

There is a drum circle on Siesta Key Beach every Sun night (starts around 6pm I think).  Family friendly and something different - like being at a Bernie rally .

+1

Blue Dolphin on St Armands is my favorite lunch place. It's great! Columbia is also very good for dinner/lunch.

Thank you everybody.

I emailed him the link to this thread.