AVENTURA, FLA. - José, the man tending bar in the grand lobby of the legendary Turnberry Isle Resort, places a tiny cocktail napkin in front of me and asks what I’d like to drink. As he pours a generous glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, José shares one of the legendary resort’s well-guarded secrets.

“Few people know this, but the entire plan for this resort was sketched out on a cocktail napkin just like this one,” says the congenial bartender.

“And I think they (hotel management) still have the napkin Mr. Soffer (real estate developer Donald Soffer) sketched his original design on.”

Next day, Rachel Pinzur, the resort’s public relations director, confirms the existence of the napkin and says Soffer first drew up his plans to turn 750 acres of Florida swampland into a chic country club in 1967 over a drink with a friend.

The Turnberry Isle Country Club evolved into the Turnberry Isle Resort in the 1970s and by the 1980s global travel sources like Condé Nast Traveler magazine and Frommer’s were calling Turnberry Isle “one of Miami’s classiest resorts.”

Suddenly, Donald Soffer’s name was being mentioned alongside two other legendary Florida hotel developers, George Merrick, the man who built the historic Biltmore Hotel down the road in Coral Gables (Turnberry reminds me a lot of the Biltmore) and Thomas Rowe, who constructed the magical Don CeSar Hotel (aka The Pink Lady) in St. Petersburg.

And just like the Biltmore and the Don CeSar, Turnberry Isle keeps getting better with age, thanks mostly to the loving care of the Soffer family.

In recent years, the Soffers have spent more than $150 million restoring this Grand Dame’s classic Mediterranean good looks and, in the process, added some youthful features.

Above: Turnberry Isle boasts two of the best golf courses in Florida.

Those updates extend to all public areas — guest rooms, the outstanding spa, conference centre, tennis facility, pools, and restaurants — and also include the addition of magnificent gardens and waterfalls throughout the property.

But nowhere are the upgrades more noticeable than on the resort’s two outstanding PGA-worthy golf courses. Originally designed by the master himself, Robert Trent Jones Sr., the courses underwent a $45 million makeover a few years ago, overseen by PGA Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd. His careful remake of the resort’s Miller and Soffer courses did not compromise Trent Jones’ original vision, but his additions, including gently-contoured fairways, challenging water hazards and more menacing bunkers, now place these beauties right up there with the state’s best.

The island green finishing hole on the Soffer Course is equal in knee-knocking thrills to the legendary 17th island hole at nearby TPC Sawgrass. The 64-foot waterfall that supplies a grand backdrop to the Soffer 18th makes it a lot more beautiful to look at, though.

The Soffer Course is the brute of these two, measuring out at 7,047 yards, but the 6,417-yard Miller Course is no pushover, either.

After a challenging round on either course, a date with one of the resort’s superb spa therapists in the property’s state-of-the-art treatment facility is just what the doctor ordered.

Turnberry’s spa even offers a “golf” spa treatment that is designed to help you swing easier. It’s recommended before a game and after having the hour-long treatment that golf swing guru David Leadbetter helped design, I went out and shot the best round of my Florida visit.

The 25,000-square-foot Turnberry Isle spa, in a separate building just off the main lobby, is a pleasure palace featuring a three-storey spiral staircase wrapped in 40-foot-high curved glass and topped with a dramatic skylight. This spa makes you feel good well before you enter one of its well-appointed treatment rooms and surrender your body to therapists who are considered the best in the Sunshine State.

Turnberry’s spa offers 75 different treatments ranging from massages, facials, baths, body exfoliation and hydrotherapy — all are equally good.

Forbes magazine gives the Turnberry spa a four-star rating, but this facility is five-star where I come from and I’ve been to some of the best spas around the world.

Above: Turnberry Isle boasts two of the best golf courses in Florida.

The resort’s fitness centre, located in the spa area, is also a gem and its staff of fitness experts is an elite group with years of training.

The perfect ending to the perfect day at Turnberry Isle is to pull up a chair at the resort’s acclaimed Bourbon Steak restaurant and enjoy some of the complementary duck fat French fries (they replace the normal bread basket) before digging into one of celebrity chef Michael Mina’s culinary creations.

This room opened to rave reviews and has quickly jumped to the top of Miami’s restaurant list thanks to its use of Angus, American Wagyu and Japanese Kobe beef on its menu. The fish dishes poached in oil are pretty incredible, too.

But don’t think that just because Turnberry Isle features high-end items like two of the best golf courses in the U.S., one of the best spas on the planet, and a chic dining room that would not look out of place in New York or Paris, that this isn’t a family-friendly resort.

Quite the contrary. As proof, I point you in the direction of the resort’s newly-added Laguna Pool, the one where all the childish laughter is coming from. The pool is the family gathering spot and was part of the resort’s mega upgrades. It features a 180-foot-long, 35-foot-high water slide and a lazy river canal where kids can float on giant inner tubes — that’s if the kids can pry them away from their parents.

Many of the herbs used at Bourbon Steak and the other fine restaurants on the ßproperty are grown in the “chef’s garden” next to the Laguna Pool. Guests can tour the garden where the fragrances are truly amazing.

The 392 plush rooms and suites are spread throughout the resort in four Spanish-style buildings surrounded by tropical splendour. My oversized room overlooked the golf courses and was stuffed with all the modern comforts anyone could ask for.

During the off season (mid-summer to the end of September) Turnberry Isle offers many attractive packages.

Maybe in the next expansion at Turnberry, they’ll add a museum where the famous “cocktail napkin” can be displayed for everyone to see because it is truly a piece of Florida history now.