{"id":200183,"date":"2026-03-21T07:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/200183\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T07:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:21:09","slug":"lauren-mincberg-luxury-travel-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/200183\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Mincberg: Luxury Travel Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABOUT ME\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was born and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago. I transferred to USF<\/a> from a Chicago school after my sophomore year of college. After spending my first birthday on the beach (I\u2019m a December baby), I knew there was no turning back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have always enjoyed visiting new places, but I think it was a trip to Greece with my husband when I realized I wanted to really start exploring places even further, learning about other cultures, languages, and customs.<\/p>\n

A friend I went to high school with noticed all my travel photos on social media, reached out, and suggested I get into doing this for a living. I took her advice and haven\u2019t looked back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"MY LOCAL KNOWLEDGE<\/p>\n

For a luxury getaway in Tampa Bay, I like Opal Sands Resort & Spa<\/a> and the new Opal Sol Resort<\/a>. The design and layout of the hotel really help the beach and resort flow together seamlessly.<\/p>\n

For a staycation, my favorite spot is Longboat Key, hands down. It\u2019s here, but it\u2019s not here \u2014 YKWIM? The beaches are perfect with soft, powder-like sand, and the new St. Regis Longboat Key Resort<\/a> is a beautiful addition.<\/p>\n

My favorite \u201chidden gem\u201d spot in Tampa Bay is The Sail Plaza<\/a>. It\u2019s one of my favorite places to grab a drink and people-watch.<\/p>\n

For a casual lunch or business meal, my favorite spot is Sweetgreen<\/a>, and my go-to order is the Hot Honey Chicken Bowl.<\/p>\n

When visitors are in town, Columbia<\/a> for dinner is a must, and I\u2019m ordering 1905 salads and a pitcher of mojitos!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a big breakfast person, but I will take an energy drink from Storm<\/a> or a smoothie from BARE Blends<\/a> any day.<\/p>\n

If I were designing a family day out in Tampa, we\u2019d probably ride bikes to Hyde Park<\/a>, grab lunch at Forbici<\/a>, dessert at The Hyppo<\/a>, followed by a little shopping.<\/p>\n

My favorite spot to experience art or culture in the Tampa Bay area is the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts<\/a>. It\u2019s a fun, unique experience each year. I also enjoy The Dal\u00ed Museum<\/a> and the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre<\/a> for live music.<\/p>\n

For a workout, you\u2019ll see me at Life Time<\/a> or JETSET Pilates<\/a> most days of the week, but I also enjoy biking on the Riverwalk when spending time outdoors.<\/p>\n

For an evening out on the town, Hotel Bar<\/a> is my favorite spot for drinks. The rooftop at the Edition<\/a> is usually a fun vibe for a night out with friends.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m not working, I enjoy Pilates, dinners with my girlfriends and hanging out at home with my family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABOUT ME\u00a0 I was born and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago. I transferred to USF from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[92584,135,92585,137,136],"class_list":["post-200183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-people-of-tampa-bay","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-confidential","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}