If you're familiar with Clearwater Beach history, you may remember the old Clearwater Beach Hotel.
After the 2004-2005 hurricanes, the hotel had damage and it became what it is today, The Sandpearl Resort.
The Sandpearl was built in 2007 and was actually the first construction on the beach in 25 years, spurring much of the development we see there today.
The resort has 250 rooms, a spa, private beach, and restaurants.
"One of the things that was important to Mr. Chisholm whenever he built the hotel was that it gave back to the environment, you know, the term green is very important to him," said Eric Waltz, general manager of the Sand Pearl Resort. We have a saying, 'we didn't go green, we started green from the very beginning.' And the LEED certification is one of the things that is very important and sets us apart."
LEED stands for Leadership, Energy and Environmental Design. So much of that may not be visible to guests but a lot of it is happening behind the scenes.
The pool is geothermally controlled. They have wells that go underground and constantly circulate water.
They also have an ozone system that uses about 10% less chlorine than your traditional pool.
"It's a very busy place, but it's got the best sunsets. We have a fire pit on the beach that, you know, if you're here at sunset, the sky turns orange. The fire is lit around in the fire pit. There's nothing like it on Clearwater Beach," says Waltz.
