On our way back to MLE we caught the 3:30pm flight. There was a couple sitting with us in the lounge at the St. Regis and their flight had been delayed by 30 minutes.

We made one stop at another resort where they filled the remaining seats of the plane. About 10 minutes from reaching MLE we headed into a rather strong rain storm with zero visibility and very strong turbulence. It was rather intense as the cockpit is open and as the plane would drop you'd see the reaction of the pilots. Just before reaching the runway the clouds broke and we were able to safely land and were quickly shuttled to the St. Regis lounge. The rain then hit the airport and the lounge butlers peaked outside to watch the rain. They commented how this strength of rain was not normal. A flight that had departed for the St. Regis had to turn around and those passengers came back and were accommodated for the night at a nearby hotel.

Here is the interesting part. When the rain reached MLE no seaplanes were landing. We asked the staff at the lounge about the couple who had their flight delayed and were due to depart 30 minutes after us. The staff explained that their flight could not land and in that case it is very likely that the seaplane landed in open water and had to wait for the storm to clear. Eventually they told us after landing in open water the plane flew to the nearest resort that either the airline or the St. Regis had a relationship with to accommodate those guests. It was quite interesting to hear all the logistics the staff at the St. Regis lounge are responsible for. Still can't imagine what it would have been like to land in open water and have to sit and wait for things to clear.

BTW while the menu seems extensive there is very little available in the way of hot food at the St. Regis lounge. Most of it is small portions of frozen food heated up, like hamburgers and tiny slices of pizza. They are able to take you to a hotel for a nice meal or to the main island for a meal and a tour, but once you leave the lounge you cannot come back unless you are departing on a seaplane due to security reasons. They are able to hold your bags and bring them to the airport when you are ready to leave. What is nice is that someone from the St. Regis is there to assist you from the time you depart the resort all the way to the check-in desk for your departure.