Now this is a hotel: It's really the only proper response to entering the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida—and to seeing how this most venerable hotel chain successfully melds its five-star philosophy to Naples' family-friendly environs. I arrived at two in the morning, after an 11:30 a.m. flight from JFK managed to leave a little over nine hours late; the one benefit of my exceptionally delayed arrival was a chance to get a look at the hotel's entrance hall without many distractions—distractions I would observe on following nights in the form of a live-music band and a bustling, mixed crowd of couples, families, wedding parties, conventioneers, and, at one point, the economist and television personality Ben Stein.

It's a grand hall, to be sure, with the window...