The Breakers Palm Beach

Family-Friendly Oasis As a parent of young children, I often dread hotel stays. However, this place was a game-changer. The family suite was spacious and thoughtfully designed with child safety in mind. The kids' club was a hit, offering engaging activities that allowed my wife and I some much-needed relaxation time. The restaurant had an excellent children's menu with healthy options (a rarity!). The staff were patient and accommodating with our little ones. For families looking for a stress-free vacation, this hotel is a godsend.

Oceanside Luxury in a Historic Setting Returned to the Breakers Palm Beach for a long weekend of R & R. A spectacular, historic property, luxurious without being pretentious. The drive up the beautifully manicured entrance transports you back to the elegance of a bygone era. Several really good dining options, without the need to leave the property. The Flagler Steakhouse, housed on the upper floor of the golf clubhouse, offers steaks, seafood and an extensive wine list. The Italian Restaurant is relaxed and informal, with interesting pizza and pasta options. The Seafood Bar is also excellent and low-key. The Spa is outstanding. On-site shopping is plentiful and varied. The golf course is a beautifully-kept, shot makers gem that used to host a PGA Tour event during the golden age of Hollywood. Why only 4 out of 5, then? Well, regrettably there are precious few “Kid-Free Zones” for adults to relax and unwind. While there used to be a dedicated pool (the South pool - there are 4 pools on property) for adults only, that pool is now overrun with screaming kids as are the 2 other large pools. There is a small lap pool for adults, but it is for swimming laps - not for relaxing and enjoying some solace alone or with your partner. While I have nothing against kids (we have raised 2), many of us who represent the demographic The Breakers is catering to (e.g. wealthy middle-aged adults) come to a facility like this for a respite from the chaos of their lives. Unfortunately, The Breakers doesn’t provide much of that anymore. I’m sure we’ll come back, but I can’t say that I’ll look forward to it like I used to.

Changes over the years but still reinventing and keeping up excellent quality I've been to this property a few times over the past 40 years and it is always like being there for the first time. The rocks where my dad crashed the catamaran 40 years ago have been moved as has the entire beachfront and pool areas. As it keeps changing, it has also reinvented itself to a new generation of families and the quality is still primo, even if there is a bit of sticker shock with the F&B (and I'm pretty hard to shock). But nearly $200 for one person to eat dinner at a smart-casual fish restaurant is pretty steep, wouldn't you say? But the banana cream pie was great! My mother says not that long ago you could stay from Friday to Sunday for all of $200 on a Florida weekend summer special. That train has left the station. This is a great hotel to reach by plane; it took less than 20 minutes to get from the front door of the hotel to my airplane gate (that's with Clear and Precheck). I had a suite with a resort and partial ocean view. It's called a Deluxe suite and i think it is a good room at a good price point for that property. You can also get a connecting room to it. My room 2193 was pretty close to the elevators and at the end of a corridor and I liked the quiet location and the view was fine but nothing special. You have to wonder if getting a better view is worth an extra $1,000 a night. I didn't get upgraded as the property was quite busy, even though you might have expected it to be quiet in mid-July. I often had to wait half an hour at breakfast or at dinner to get a table. Suites don't seem to get priority here, and I think they should. My suite was fine and lots of treats were there on arrival and the bathroom had nice amenities that were not the usual labels. The facilities are pretty good; there are 4 pools for every taste and the water was warm. The ocean was nice with lots of lifeguards around. No problem getting a lounge anywhere. I didn't use the spa; $300 for a massage (with all the extra charges) is a bit steep. The gym closes at 8pm (I would like to be able to go in at night) and it's got everything you need, but they didn't go out of their way to make it special and I would say it is a bit less than I hoped for. There is nothing to dry a bathing suit. You can get bicycles and keep them till sundown. Fun to ride the bikes around the neighborhoods and see the mansions up close; it's a 3 minute ride to the Flagler Museum, definitely worth a visit. Right there is also a little shopping mall with some good restaurants such as Saint Abroese. Lots of eating outlets and I was pretty happy with the menus. I would have liked dinner in the dining area in the lobby but they put on loud techno music at night and it's too hip for what I can stand, but it's a great social scene for those who like it. Breakfast in the Circle Room is beautiful and all the buffet items were excellent and they serve high quality items. The buffet is $50 per person plus tax and 20% tip. Also ate at Henry's of Palm Beach and the Beach Club, all of which were fine. Prices are high; it cost me $65 to get fish tacos and french fries for lunch (including tax and tip). I guess they are charging European prices here but at least it's good. They have Sunday brunch and that's $250 a person. Ouch! There is a nice big sundry shop with newspapers and food. A few vegetarian options here would have been nice. Uber picks up pretty quickly at the hotel. In the lobby there are quite a few signs explaining the architecture of the place, and several of the beautiful public rooms are open for viewing such as the ballroom and some of the meeting rooms. There is an exhibit off the lobby about the history of Mr. Flagler (the hotel's founder) and the hotel. As hotels go, this is one of the most beautiful and historic in the US and it gives European resorts a run for its money (and I'm wondering what the F&B prices will be in Europe on my next trip if this is what I am now paying here). I've been here over many years and seen the place change. It is much larger and the price has probably exceeded inflation, but it is maintaining its quality and appealing to a new generation of families. It's a nice elegant place and I'm looking forward to returning with wife and kids later in the year.

Horrible Hotel Horrible experience! I booked 2 rooms through Amex centurion and I was supposed to get amenities such as a room upgrade and a an early check-in, sadly they refused to give me any of those benefits! Not only that, one of the rooms was not even ready until 6 pm!

Still the one! We had not been to the Breakers for nine years and we are happy to report it is as great as ever. The service is uniformly impeccable. The food in each of the restaurants - the Circle, Beach Club, Sea Bar, HMF, Flagler Steak House and Italian restaurant was fresh and wonderful. special shout out to the HMF for the inventiveness of its menu and the breadth of it wine offerings. The beach was particularly clean and lovely this go around and the pools were their usual magnificent selves. My only quibble is that the so called quiet pool at the far south end should be made adult only. Yes, the Breakers is expensive it - it it is worth it (at least when I go off high season).