The Breakers Palm Beach :

As you first enter the 1,040-foot driveway at The Breakers Palm Beach a magnificent fountain replicated from the Boboli Gardens in Florence stands as massive centerpiece against the Roman Villa Medici facade. Overhead, the flags atop the 1926 Italianate double Belvedere towers snap erect in the Atlantic sea breezes. A score of eager young attendants meets your car and once inside the mahogany-glass doors a 200-foot-long fantasy of Renaissance splendor unfolds. From the reception or concierge desk, gaze at the elaborate barrel ceiling inspired by the Great Hall in Genoa’s Palazzo Carrega. The phantasmagoric beige-green-red plaster work squirms with rosettes, human faces, lions, horses and dolphins. Outside, an expansive Mediterranean courtyard flanked by loggias evokes a near century of moonlit soirées, raucous birthdays, chic cocktail parties, and countless weddings. In fact, last November Modern Family’s sexy Colombian star Sofia Vergara in gorgeous bridal white performed nuptials with her beefy fiancée Joe Manganiello (True Blood) surrounded by hundreds of guests in the four sumptuous gilded ballrooms.
          
Historic Legacy Family Owned
Only oil billionaire Henry Morrison Flagler (today’s ExxonMobil) possessed the big cash to create his Florida touristic vision of east coast trains and grandiose resorts. Originally called the Palm Beach Inn (1896), The Breakers reveals a “fiery” past. In 1903 a blaze destroyed the original hotel and a year later a 402-room, colonial-style wooden structure was built. A 1925 inferno, allegedly started by a guest’s “new, electric Marcel curling iron,” was transformed in an astonishing 11 1/2 months to its present-day, neo-Renaissance glory thanks to New York architects Schultze and Weaver of Walforf-Astoria fame. The 140-acre, AAA Five Diamond Award property with 538 guestrooms inclusive of 68 suites spends $25 million annually “in its ongoing revitalization and expansion.” Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the family-owned property employs 2000 associates with fluency in 50 languages. In some ways, The Breakers resembles a vast, complicated village as well as highly efficient, world-famous resort.
          
The Rooms:
While the historic rooms are small, the comfort level remains very high. My Caribbean-style, beige-and-peach ocean view room (#3190) featured a mahogany frame king bed with dresser, mini-bar, 1930s sports photos, louvered windows, a 52” LG flat-screen TV, private electronic safe, bathrobe and slippers, private-label toiletries, bathroom TV mirror, glassed-in stall with rainforest shower head, hair dryers, make-up mirrors, wireless and high-speed internet access, in-room movies, and wireless keyboard and PlayStation videogames. Besides the guestrooms, high rollers can claim a few nights in the 1735 sq. ft. Badgley Mischka Imperial Designer Suite (starts at $3500) with five ocean-view, step-out balconies, private living room, wet bar, and eight-seat dining area. All rooms boast complimentary benefits: no resort fee; unlimited wireless internet and local calls; use of the Ocean Fitness facility and classes; daily newspaper; business center computer and printer access; Family Entertainment Center; kids’ meals (0-2 years); and selected resort and kids’ activities.
          
At Your Finer Tips:
Here on America’s most privileged public island, Florida bulges out to its easternmost point. The Gulf Stream wanders so close you feel like plunging and luxuriating in the azure waters. Dive-flagged boats bob at anchor while fishermen troll for sailfish less than two miles offshore. Guests may stroll along the paved 500-foot boardwalk, swim in the four seaside pools, and practice yoga or cycling in the high-tech 6,000 sq. ft. Ocean Fitness center equipped with advanced Life Fitness and Technogym exercisers, kettlebells, lateral ellipticals, and pylometrics (jump training). The Beach Club hints of the French Riviera with 25 Beach Bungalows (300 sq. ft.). Besides five whirlpool spas, three restaurants, and half-mile beach, teak-accented units display stocked bathrooms, patios with chaise lounges and umbrellas, sofas, safe, wireless Internet access and cordless phone, flat screen TVs and PS3/DVD players, an amenity package and personalized concierge service. Watersports abound: scuba, deep-sea fishing, boogie board rentals, swimming lessons, snorkeling, and paddle boarding.
          
Kid Friendly:
Family and kids are privileged players in The Breakers experience. Behind the Beach Club, the Family Entertainment Center houses a multiplex that provides an arcade (skee ball, air hockey) + video game room lounge (Xbox 1 and PlayStation 4) and toddler’s playroom. Parents should adore Camp Breakers with scheduled crafts, indoors-outdoors activities, based on a Breakers theme, and Bonfires on the Beach (complimentary: November-Feb). For peace of mind the resort will childproof rooms with advance notice and equip them with mini-fridges and step stools. Other family activities are croquet, children’s playground, outdoor sports court, bike rentals and tours. Don’t miss an historical hotel tour combined with the nearby Beaux-Arts, 55-room Henry Flagler Museum and home (fee). It’s a dazzle of priceless furnishings, marble floors, portraits, grand ballroom and his 1912 personal restored railroad car No. 91.
          
Lush landscaping and Grounds:
Thankfully, even with its ....