The airline network planners closed out the first quarter of 2024 with a bang.
12.03.2024 - 19:54 / forbes.com
The Palm Beaches (the 39 cities of Palm Beach County, Florida) are well-known for their outdoor activities, from golfing to boating to tennis and even polo. But the area also boasts a surprisingly urban destination, with luxurious hotels, fine dining, theatre, shopping and much more.
On a recent visit, I got to experience the outdoor life, from becoming an apprentice beekeeper at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach to observing the passion of polo in Wellington.
But in West Palm Beach, I experienced a mellow but distinctly urban vibe at The Ben, an eight-story, 208-room boutique hotel overlooking the West Palm Beach waterfront. An elegant member of the Marriott Autograph collection, The Ben is a three-year-old hotel with a gracious, traditional vibe.
The hotel offers big window views of the harbor, marina and scenic Intracoastal Waterway from its luxurious rooms. The Ben also boasts the only rooftop lounge in West Palm Beach, with a heated saltwater pool and adjacent bar. It has several spaces for events like weddings and moderate-sized meetings. The hotel is one block from Clematis Street, West Palm’s “Main Street,” and within walking distance of Rosemary Square.
West Palm Beach is walkable, but affordable electric shuttles from Circuit also transport people from the hotels throughout the city. The shared vehicles reduce emissions and traffic congestion while promoting local businesses. The Circuit stops at hotels, The Square, Worth Avenue and the Brightline, the train between Miami and Orlando, with stops in Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach.
As for The Ben, the hotel was inspired by Byrd Spilman Dewey’s Ben Trovato Estate, one of Palm Beach County’s original great homes. The hotel pays homage to Byrd Dewey, a 19th century best-selling author and local columnist, with its new Book Butler Program at Bedtime. Hotel guests can select a complimentary brand-new best-selling book, which will be hand-delivered by the hotel’s Book Butler accompanied by a snack from the ‘Book Bites’ menu.
At The Ben, you can play chess by the fireplace lounge on the main floor, sit on a cozy couch or swing in a rope chair, or have lunch with your hopefully well-behaved dog. When my wife and I sat down for a game of chess, we were quickly surrounded by a trio of friendly young kibitizers, helpfully suggesting moves.
More energeticou tdoor activity requires just stepping outside. Boating and kayaking are literally across the street on the scenic Intracoastal Waterway. Drawbridges pull up twice an hour so the multimillion mega-yachts can sail through. We were told that a week’s rental of J.K. Rowling’s yacht will set you back $360,000.
The afternoon and sunset is the perfect time to go for a local
The airline network planners closed out the first quarter of 2024 with a bang.
March has come and gone, and personally, I'm not sad to see it go. If you're a fan of winter (and perhaps a snowy winter vacation), you might be on the other side of the table, but I long all winter for the flowers of spring and the heat of summer.
A Central Florida airport within a short drive of Orlando and Tampa is getting commercial air service for the first time in more than a decade.
Imagine spending nearly five months exploring the most fascinating destinations in the world while living in a lavish suite on a luxury cruise ship. From your suite’s private balcony, you can watch the ship pull into secluded islands and alluring ports in Asia, Europe, and Australia. All the while, you have unlimited access to gourmet dining—lobster, filet mignon, Champagne—with every need seen to by a solicitous crew.
AAA has added five North American hotels and one restaurant to its coveted and fast-growing Four Diamonds list.
Thanks to oft-sweltering temperatures, wild animals and various Florida Man tales, people have a lot of feelings about the Sunshine State. But there's one thing everyone can agree on: Florida is undisputedly a year-round vacation destination, mostly due to an abundance of postcard-perfect beaches on 12 distinct and nicknamed coasts, mild winters and an average of 230 to 250 days a year of sunshine. It's even home to what many consider America's first true resort destination, Palm Beach.
Years ago, when I first strolled into Miami Beach’s swanky Fontainebleau, I felt a heightened pizzazz, aswirl in the kind of stimulating panache and prestige that trumpets: Pay attention! For travel lovers of glam getaways—especially those renowned as celeb and A-lister favorites—Fontainebleau Miami Beach is a legendary draw. Today, it continues to be a hotspot of cool goings-on, much expanded and revitalized again and again since its 1954 launch. A $1-billion makeover in 2008 wowed. “Every era of American history has its architectural touchstones, buildings that transcend their time and come to define a cultural moment,” says author Stephen Wallis in Fontainebleau, the newly published, silk-wrapped, oversized hardcover coffee table book (3.4-pounds) by luxury publisher Assouline, which celebrates the curvilinear-shaped resort’s illustrious past, present and forward leap. “The Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach is that kind of landmark,” he adds. “An instant sensation when it opened, it remains an enduring icon, repeatedly updated and evolving to this day.” With principal photography by Peter Arnell, who is Fontainebleau Development’s chief brand and design officer, this striking book highlights treasures and pleasures of the famous Florida oceanside symbol. Dive into its thick paper stock pages that are ripe with riveting photos and illustrations. Wallis engagingly writes about Fontainebleau’s history and mystery, deals and diversions, challenges and change-makers, imagination and innovation.
“Attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.”
The Palm Beach International Boat Show — the yacht world's flashiest event stateside — is returning this year with over 800 boats for both deep-pocked potential owners and window shoppers to peruse.
JetBlue will make significant changes to its network structure, the airline said Tuesday, as the carrier continues plans to return to profitability in the wake of several major strategic upsets.
Since its opening in 1965, Bal Harbour Shops has been the rare outdoor shopping center driven solely by luxury retail tenants. It was the first U.S. location outside New York for both Yves Saint Laurent and Oscar de la Renta. Developer Stanley Whitman claimed it was even the first mall to charge for parking.
The travel industry considers the months following the peak winter and summer periods as “shoulder season.” (If you think of high season as the head, the months on either side are the shoulders. Just go with the metaphor.) And it has long been considered among the best times to get away as crowds are thinner and the rates are lower. From Macchu Pichu to Morocco, here are seven great destinations for shoulder season.