Flagler Club — a private, 21-room boutique “hotel-within-a-hotel” atop The Breakers Palm Beach — has been recently refurbished in collaboration with famed New York City-based luxury hospitality design atelier Tihany Design. The update was headed by partner Alessia Genova, who had direct oversight of the project, which features a contemporary and elegant décor that showcases custom-made carpets, warm wood pieces and tropical artwork.

The venue is named for Henry Morrison Flagler — a Standard Oil Company (Exxon) partner with John D. Rockefeller — who turned his vision toward Florida in the 1880s and constructed hotels and railroads from Saint Augustine south to Palm Beach. The magnate, credited with transforming South Florida into a vacation destination, founded The Breakers resort around 1896, and it immediately became — and continues to be — a posh winter retreat.

© The Breakers Palm Beach

Its current reincarnation, a grand Italian Renaissance-inspired palace, was developed in the 1920s by Flagler’s brother-in-law William R. Kenan, Jr. Family members continue to operate one of the country’s most outstanding resorts, a AAA Five Diamond and Forbes 5-star property listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The organization invests about $30 million annually with preservation and renewal projects, such as the one at Flagler Club, in which the modernization reconfigured some of the original 25 rooms to 21 accommodations to include additional two-bedroom, two-bathroom suites.

© The Breakers Palm Beach

Spacious bedrooms and suites boast bold, custom-designed carpets and furnishings with upholstered headboards, chaise lounges and leather pieces. Luxe rooms feature 75-inch televisions, adjustable beds and remote-controlled blackout shades. Complimentary personal services begin with pre-arrival planning and transfers via the new Mercedes-Maybach electric SUV Flagler Club House Car. Guests are met in the porte cochere and escorted into the lobby under the arched, hand-painted gilded ceiling and walk along a custom-crafted, 200-foot-long floral carpet. Guests then take an elevator to the exclusive sixth-floor sanctuary where they are greeted by assistant hotel managers, who are always available to obtain complimentary access to the Club House car, pressing and restaurant reservations with priority seating.

Here, solid cream-colored settees, pastel side chairs and round marble pedestal tables furnish the space atop a graphic brown and white carpet. On the adjacent outdoor rooftop terrace, which overlooks the legendary fountain and palm tree-lined entry drive, sleek off-white upholstered furniture is accented by striped, floral and solid pillows that repeat the interior color palette.

© The Breakers Palm Beach

An array of artfully crafted buffet selections is presented between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and include breakfast; a mid-day selection; hors d’oeuvres at cocktail hour; and after-dinner pastries and cakes. Complimentary beverages include high-end selections, with Veuve Cliquot as the house Champagne.

We experienced meals at five of the resort’s 10 restaurants: Flagler Steakhouse, Henry’s Palm Beach,  the Ocean Club amidst the oceanfront pools and cabanas, dinner at Seafood Bar, and a late supper at the glamourous HMF.

© The Breakers Palm Beach

The Breakers’ world-class resort amenities include tennis and golf, an oceanfront fitness facility, four pools, The Shops at The Breakers, and amazing family-friendly facilities and activities.

I walked along the ocean and the IntraCoastal Waterway and spent hours at The Spa at The Breakers, a private, serene cocoon with spacious locker rooms, a wet room with a steam bath and an outdoor patio where chaise lounges surround a wading pool.

Flagler Club offers the intimacy and attentive indulgences of a tiny boutique retreat plus all the amenities, conveniences and services of the superlative resort it is.

Flagler Club at The Breakers Palm Beach
1 S County Road
Palm Beach, FL 33480
tel 561 655 6611