On a recent visit to Vero Beach, in central Florida’s Indian River County, I discovered a gem of a town that has everything a visitor to Florida might want: great dining, shopping galore, nightlife and the Vero Beach Hotel and Club (www.verobeachhotelandclub.com), an elegant hideaway directly on the beach with luxurious guest rooms overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The resort is opening in phases, so their White Orchid Spa and oceanfront restaurant, the Indigo Room, won’t be open until early 2008, but Heaton’s Reef Bar & Grill is serving meals and does a great Friday night happy hour with live music. Heaton’s is situated between the ocean and the resort’s gorgeous pool and spa area, so you can sip your martini while watching the sun set or relaxing in the Jacuzzi.

After checking into my room, I discovered that there was only a two-cup coffee maker.  A maid came by for turndown service and I asked for more coffee filters – she returned with a larger coffee pot, extra mugs and more coffee filters. This level of service was also provided by Mike, the beach attendant, who brought me directions to the outlet mall, and by the doorman, who took my packages after my stroll to the shops and offered to place them in the trunk of my car. Truly, the Vero Beach Hotel and Club is an all-around standout.

The hotel is located on Ocean Drive, as are a wide range of shops that are set along this quaint main street. Upscale ladies’ clothing stores like Cricket’s and the Twig offer resort wear and dressier options, while Kemp’s Shoe Boutique is must-do – designed to resemble an upscale living room, Kemp’s interior invited me inside, where I spent time trying on shoes by Stuart Weitzman, Kate Spade, Juicy Couture, Michael Kors and Lilly Pulitzer.

If you’re looking for lingerie, try Very Fitting, which carries everything from the elegant to the racy and also stocks luxury linens.  The Gifted Cook carries cookware and table settings and Hearth & Hound has everything the dog lover, and their dogs, might need. Ocean Drive is an eclectic shopping street with a better-than-usual selection of main street stores on tap. Make a point of including a stop at Cravings in your shopping itinerary for a pastry and a cappuccino.

Never tired of shopping, I next headed to the Outlets at Vero Beach (www.verobeachoutlets.com), located about twenty minutes from the beach on Route 60. With over 75 stores, the Outlets provided me with yet another opportunity to make a start on my holiday shopping. On a sad note, Bombay and Company is going out of business nationwide, so their outlet store was having a fantastic sale – I finally found the perfect ottoman for my living room. At the Springmaid-Wamsutta outlet I found 500-thread count queen sheets marked down from $113.00 to $14.00. Of course I made a bee line to the Ralph Lauren outlet, as well as to Calvin Klein, Lenox, Nine West and the SAS Factory Shoe Store.

Vero Beach offers many dining options, including the Ocean Grill, also located on Ocean Drive and a short walk from the hotel. With a nautical interior (and great gift shop attached!), the Ocean Grill is a bustling favorite, so be prepared to wait for a table. Service was excellent, but on the busy night I was there, the entrees were hit or miss. Carmel’s is another Vero mainstay, an upscale restaurant located in a strip mall about a ten-minute drive from the hotel. The steaks were excellent, but stay away from the filet mignon meatloaf, which was billed as a house specialty and sounded intriguing, but turned out to be dry and flavorless. The desserts, however, were killer.

For nightlife, Vero Beach offers a few options, none of which are of the raucous, beach-town type. Lively, yes; party like it’s 1999, no. And many venues are located on Ocean Drive. There’s Waldo’s at the Driftwood Inn, a smallish outdoor bar with live music on the weekends, including the Landsharks, a local favorite. And right across the parking lot from Ocean Grill is Mulligan’s Neighborhood Grill and Raw Bar, where there’s nightly calypso music. On the night I was there, there were a lot of locals ordering beer, frozen drinks and appetizers. It’s a great place from which to watch the sunset as it’s right on the beach.

A few blocks further down on Ocean Drive is the piano bar at the Polo Lounge, which also features two restaurants. Off Ocean Drive, the Riverside Café is located about a mile away, right on the river. The open-sided restaurant and bar was hopping with a happy hour crowd, locals and tourists alike, all waiting for sunset views. The Café has live music every day from 4 to 7 p.m. and the staff rings a bell that gives patrons the warning that sunset is five minutes away.

Vero Beach is the perfect location for a romantic break or a girlfriends’ getaway. Not a lot for the kids to do, but a gem of spot for adults.