09 Mar 2017
Tags: Florida, what's new, hotel openings, Restaurant Openings, Renovations, Events
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (March 8, 2017) — Inspiring vacationers since the late 1800s, The Palm Beaches continues to expand upon its variety of world-class experiences. Conveniently located between Miami and Orlando, America's First Resort Destination® is a collection of 39 diverse cities and towns that spans more than 2,200 square miles and stretches across 47 miles of pristine Atlantic Ocean beaches, from Boca Raton to Jupiter and Tequesta. With something for everyone, this slice of paradise invites visitors to come discover what's new, as it continues to prove that this destination is “The Best Way to Experience Florida®.”
NEW HOTEL OPENINGS
Since June 2014, Palm Beach County has added 635 new hotel rooms. Another 708 rooms are under construction, and are expected to be completed between October and March of 2017.
This January, another exciting development opened in Downtown Boca Raton. The new 200-room, 13-story Hyatt Place hotel is in the heart of downtown, and is only one mile from the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Expected in just a few months, Aloft Delray Beach will break ground in the SofA (South of Atlantic Avenue) district. Developers expect the 122-room hotel to open in 2018.
West Palm Beach is set to become home to one of eight new Canopy by Hilton Hotels. The brand's concept is touted as an energized and natural extension of its neighborhood, with local design, food and drink, and culture. Later in 2017, ground will break for the new 150-room, 14-story hotel, which will be built two blocks from CityPlace.
The Boca Raton Mandarin Oriental is set to debut in Downtown Boca Raton in late 2017. The 158-room property will include two adjacent towers that will form part of an upscale mixed-use development. The property will feature 65,000 square feet of luxury lifestyle retail, as well as a world-class private club, which will offer social, fitness, spa and championship golf amenities. It will also offer extensive banqueting and meeting space, including an expansive 4,500 square-foot ballroom and a variety of adaptable conference rooms. This is Mandarin Oriental's second property in Florida.
HOTEL RENOVATIONS
In December 2016, The Breakers' new Seafood Bar was unveiled. Long regarded for its remarkably fresh and impeccably prepared seafood, phenomenal wines and cocktails, the Seafood Bar received a full makeover by Adam D. Tihany, design consultant to Peacock + Lewis Architects. The new design features a bespoke nautical theme with stunning detailing to create the sense of dining aboard a private luxury yacht. While resonating a fresh, new elegant aesthetic of modern sensibility, the Seafood Bar's renovation has elevated its beloved, panoramic ocean view, its captivating aquarium bar, and of course, its fresh seafood.
In Fall 2016, the AAA Four Diamond-rated Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa unveiled the results of its $6.8 million renovation that infused the popular resort with a relaxed, breezy coastal style. The new design blurred the lines between indoor and out, bringing ocean-inspired colors and textures in, while encouraging guests to step out and enjoy the fresh air and beachfront setting. Renovated areas include the guest suites, lobby area, dining and meeting spaces.
Waterstone Resort & Marina, an upscale, art deco, waterfront resort hotel in Boca Raton, was announced as one of the newest additions to Curio – A Collection by HiltonTM in October 2016. The 11-story boutique hotel's 139 guest rooms and suites offer private balconies with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, Lake Boca or the Intracoastal Waterway. A particularly distinguishing feature is the Waterstone Resort & Marina's nearly 200 feet of boat docking facilities and promenade. It serves as the centerpiece for watersports, boating and sailing options, as well as enchanting waterfront dining.
In 2016, the 33,000-square-foot Sports and Racquet Club facility at the PGA National Resort & Spa recently underwent an impressive $4 million comprehensive facelift. Upgrades include state-of-the-art exercise equipment, an indoor racquet ball court, three aerobics studios with new sound systems, a five-lane saltwater lap pool, a spin room with video road mapping, an indoor volleyball court, two lighted pickle/paddle ball courts, 18 Har Tru tennis courts (11 lit for night play) and one lighted hard court with a hitting wall. This year, the property completed their spa facility renovation, which include a soothing new look in the ladies' locker room and lounge, as well as a new sauna, steam and wet area. The renovation also included a completely refurnished outdoor deck at Waters of The World, complete with cabanas and lounge furniture.
Earlier this year, the Hilton Palm Beach Airport also completed their new 9,300 square foot Majestic Ballroom, which can accommodate up to 1,000.
Completed in January, the West Palm Beach Marriott displays a new functional, modern re-design that provides an authentic Palm Beach feel. With black, gray, and white colors complemented with gold and teal accents, the comfortable, contemporary areas provide spacious areas to relax, mingle or work. A social zone, communal table with computers and complimentary printing are also part of the new features.
TRANSPORTATION
Brightline, the express inter-city passenger rail service, is expected to begin this summer. The highly-anticipated train will connect West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale in 30 minutes, and later this Fall is expected to connect Fort Lauderdale to Miami in 60 minutes. Phase two of Brightline will connect West Palm Beach directly to the Orlando International Airport's in just two hours.
NEW RESTAURANTS – NOW OPEN/COMING SOON
James Beard Award-nominated Chef Clay Conley and his partners in Buccan Group opened Grato, a modern Italian trattoria-inspired restaurant in West Palm Beach, in early 2016. Grato, which means “grateful” in Italian, features an approachable family-style menu and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Serving lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, Conley showcases his mastery of ingredients and technique through rustic Italian cuisine and soulful dishes, made from the highest-quality local ingredients.
Opened last spring, C.W.S. Bar + Kitchen has brought a craft beer garden and rustically cozy and inviting whisky bar to Downtown Lake Worth. This new restaurant serves up a wide range of spirits, craft cocktails, and 28 local and imported craft beers. The new venue's communal dining and drinking set up has created a buzzing social atmosphere for locals and visitors alike. The casual scratch kitchen offers menu items such as Bavarian pretzels, sausages, house-baked rolls, cured meats, burgers and cheese boards. Entertainment is also offered select nights of the week.
In September 2016, celebrated South Florida Chef and season nine “Top Chef” finalist Lindsay Autry, along with partner and seasoned restaurateur Thierry Beaud, opened THE REGIONAL Kitchen & Public House to critical acclaim. Located in downtown West Palm Beach's popular dining and entertainment destination, CityPlace, Autry's hand-crafted, soulful menu blends her Southern roots with Mediterranean flavors. Guests of The Regional find a rather unique attribute to her kitchen: an open pantry stocked with hand-selected fresh, local ingredients from local farms to complement the American cuisine on Chef Autry's evolving menu. This February, lunch was added to their offerings.
Chef Clay Carnes, winner of The Food Network's “Cutthroat Kitchen: Time Warp Tournament,” opened his new restaurant, Cholo Soy Cocina, in September 2016. Cholo Soy Cocina is a cozy restaurant in West Palm Beach that serves a new kind of Latin street food. With an inventive menu, Chef Carnes' concept is that of a small eatery serving a well-focused selection of fresh tacos, Andean-inspired street foods, and dishes reflecting regionally-grown ingredients, as well as tortillas made of organic, non-GMO white corn grown in Alachua County.
Che!! Restaurant, the popular international eatery from Spain, also opened its first U.S. location in Delray Beach in September 2016. This casually sophisticated dining destination blends Argentine and Spanish influences, with the allure of a modern steakhouse in a grand, waterfront setting along the buzzing Atlantic Avenue.
In November 2016, Rapoport's Restaurant Group opened a new restaurant concept called Rappy's in Boca Raton. Rappy's has service for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and catering, as well as a full-service bar. Additionally, there is a 30-foot deli takeout area offering virtually every item on the menu to go.
Bowery Palm Beach opened its doors within CityPlace this past December, led by Bowery Founders and TV reality stars Joe Cirigliano and Karena Kefales. Chef Anthony Theocaropoulos (Theo) delivers a playful mix of menu items, from Mediterranean to American coastal cuisine. The new dinner and live music venue offers both lunch and dinner, as well as a happy hour.
Sant Ambroeus Palm Beach, the popular Milan-based restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine, opened this winter in Palm Beach's Royal Poinciana Plaza. Executive Chef Marco Barbisotti's carefully crafted menu includes Vitello Tonnato, Caprese, Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, Risotti and Cotoletta alla Milanese, alongside sea-inspired dishes and Florida fresh ingredients. Also on the menu are homemade signature desserts, such as a creamy millefoglie dessert, tiramisu, cakes and pies. The décor is inspired by the 1950s cafes of Italy.
Costa, one of the newest eateries on Palm Beach, opened this winter in Worth Avenue's Esplanade. The restaurant focuses on classic flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, including specialties from Spain and Morocco. The casual, yet elegant, design features an open kitchen and bar with an unpretentious atmosphere.
Chef/owner of the popular Coolinary Café, Tim Lipman, opened his second culinary venture in Palm Beach Gardens in January 2017. The Parched Pig is his new craft beer and wine bar concept. Although it doesn't have a formal kitchen, the menu is focused on fresh oysters, fancy toast and complex charcuteries plates. Lipman hopes to debut house-made charcuterie through The Parched Pig's own meat-curing system later this year, as well as house-aged beers.
Set to open later this March, The Butcher Shop Beer Garden will add to West Palm Beach's culinary offerings. The new market, eatery and pub will settle in to an early 1900s building. Although the building is historic, the décor and menu will very much be modern, with retro touches. The menu, rooted in hormone-free and antibiotic-free quality meats with an Eastern European flair, will also offer three-liter, self-serve beer towers.
Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant, an award-winning Napa-style tasting room, will open its first Palm Beach county location this April in The Gardens Mall. Featuring its own propriety varietals crafted from its winery, Cooper's Hawk will offer unique dishes paired with guided wine selections for the perfect pairing.
The Jupiter waterfront will welcome 1000 North, a new restaurant partly-owned by NBA star Michael Jordan, in 2017. The first floor of the 340-seat restaurant, which also will have an indoor and outdoor bar, will be open to the public, while the 1,500-square-foot second floor will be dedicated to members and their guests only. The second floor will have a 450-square-foot outdoor patio for food and beverages.
A new food and drink-centric district is coming to West Palm Beach later this year. The Warehouse District, an eclectic urban neighborhood comprised of eight vintage-style buildings, is experiencing a transformation spearheaded by local food and beverage vendors, artists, fitness enthusiasts and entrepreneurs. Boasting a New York-inspired food hall, Grange Hall Market, a the 85,000-square-foot district is located southwest of the Palm Beach County Convention Center near downtown West Palm Beach. Grange Hall plans to hold their official preview party later this month in advance of the official launch. Elizabeth Ave Station opened earlier this year, with pop-up shopping space featuring wares from local artisans and entrepreneurs.
This Spring, Blake Malatesta, the awarding-winning former chef of 50 Ocean in Delray Beach, is opening his first restaurant. MIA Kitchen & Bar, a modern, adventurous restaurant focused on Floridian cuisine, will be located on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. The name stands for the core values of the concept—Modern, Inventive, Authentic—but it's also a play on the names of the eatery's sister restaurants. Malatesta, now a partner with restaurateurs that own family-style Italian eateries Mamma Mia's Trattoria and Mamma Mia's Express, set out to open his own modern concept. The restaurant will serve inventive dishes with uncommon ingredients like alligator, rabbit and frog legs.
Boca Raton's first-ever Hawaiian poké restaurant, The Poké Company, will open as a make-your-own poké bowl eatery later this year. The fast-casual restaurant is described as “the Chipotle of poké,” and patrons will be able to create their own concoctions with traditional, sesame-soy and house specialty sauces.
NEW ORGANIC WINERY AND CRAFT BREWERY UPDATE
Newly opened in April 2016, Sons & Daughters Farm & Winery is an organic farm that also produces organic wines, most notably from Hibiscus Sabdariffa. Their organic wines are all grown, fermented and bottled on their 17-acre farm. Visitors can sit down and savor a glass in their communal tasting room.
NOBO Brewing Company, also scheduled to open in 2017, will become the fourth brew house on tap in Boynton Beach's NOBO (North Boynton Beach) District. Led by two brothers, the five-barrel brewery will have a neighborhood approach, serving "small batch local handcrafted beer."
Nano-brewers Dominick Peri and Ken Gross will open Prosperity Brewers in Boca Raton later this year. The one-barrel brew house will be located inside a 2,400-square-foot warehouse bay, 900 feet of which have been fashioned into a tasting room and lounge area. The duo will brew a number of styles and offer a diverse range of constantly-rotating recipes from 15 taps. The brewery's core profiles are currently slated with an IPA, double IPA, hefeweizen, wit, English mild and saison. With more than a dozen wine and liquor barrels already in-house, the team also plans to launch an in-house aging program.
The creators behind Tequesta Brewing Company and Twisted Trunk are expanding once again – this time with Steam Horse Brewing. Plans are set to open the 6,000-square-foot brewery and tasting room in West Palm Beaches' new Warehouse District this Spring.
Downtown West Palm Beach will soon have its first craft brewery, tap room and wine vault, called West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault. Set to open in the first half of this year, the brewery will be located only one block away from the West Palm Beach Brightline station. The brewery's owner will sell his own private-label bottles of California small-batch wines at the wine vault, and nowhere else in the world.
Prosperity Brewers, NOBO Brewing, Steam Horse and West Palm Brewing & Wine Vault will join 12 existing craft and nano-breweries in The Palm Beaches, which include Due South Brewing Co., Copperpoint Brewing Co. and Devour Brewing in Boynton Beach, Accomplice Brewery & Ciderworks and Dixie Grill & Brewery in West Palm Beach, Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewery, Barrel of Monks and Brewzzi in Boca Raton, Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Civil Society Brewing in Jupiter, Tequesta Brewing in Tequesta and Twisted Trunk in Palm Beach Gardens.
In other exciting brew news, Due South Brewing Company is expanding their production facility, almost doubling in size for a total of 27,000 square feet. The added space will allow for an indoor beer garden, a large air conditioned tap room, a dedicated area for barrel aging and a sour program. The expansion is scheduled to be completed this summer. In February, Due South was selected as the craft beer partner of the new Ballpark of The Palm Beaches. Due South Beer will be available at the Due South Party Deck section of the stadium as well as at the leftfield and home plate bars during every game.
NEW ATTRACTIONS
The Ana Cecilia, a 170-foot Halter Marine general cargo ship built in 1972, was sunk 1.25 miles off the Lake Worth Inlet in 85-feet of water in July 2016, where it is in the natural process of becoming a marine habitat as part of the artificial reef system managed by the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM). It is the 45th ship to be scuttled in Palm Beach County (PBC) in recent decades, drawing divers away from natural reefs, ensuring their sustainability. Later this summer, the county expects to sink its first submarine.
Conservation Course, a new miniature golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus' sons, Gary Nicklaus and Jim Fazio, debuted to the public in November 2016 at the South Florida Science Center & Aquarium. The custom-designed course, described as “a golf course laid out in a huge butterfly garden,” was developed as a green space to provide recreational and environmental benefits to visitors, while educating people about Florida's native habitats. Each hole is named for a plant or animal found in the Everglades, and has signage with educational language.
Also in November, the long-awaited 10-mile Bluegill Trail celebrated its completion. The multiuse trail for pedestrians, hikers, cyclists and equestrians connects Riverbend Park in Jupiter to Grassy Waters Preserve in West Palm Beach, and offers spectacular views of the Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area.
The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society announced the unveiling of new exhibits in its Florida wetlands section this past December. The crown jewel is the John and Carole Moran 'Panther Prowl,' home to both cougar Micco and a rescued Florida female panther, Sassafras, nicknamed Sassy. Sassy was in the temporary care of Naples Zoo before arriving at the Palm Beach Zoo. She was rescued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Collier-Seminole State Park. It is believed the orphan's mother was hit and killed by a vehicle on U.S. 41 East in early October 2015. Mardi, the zoo's resident white alligator also received a new spacious home with stunning underwater views. The bald eagle exhibit, the roseate spoonbill, and the ibis exhibits were also upgraded. Later this year, the Zoo will also open a new Lorikeet Loft experience, which will allow guests to walk through the habitat and feed lorikeets for an additional nominal fee.
PGA Arts Center opened its doors in Palm Beach Gardens this January. The two theatres can seat 260 and 280 patrons respectively. Shows will be offered Wednesday through Sunday at select times.
The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches opened last month for Spring Training 2017, welcoming the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros, along with their many fans. The state-of-the-art, two-team facility offers a fan-friendly layout with a 6,500-seat stadium as its centerpiece. The Astros and Nationals training areas each feature a six-field layout that is inviting and easily navigated by fans.
Through April 30, 2017, guests are invited to wander the pathways of the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and enter the mystical world of Sophie Ryder's during the “RISING” The Mystical World of Sophie Ryder exhibit. Her hybrid creatures dance and prance and play among the rare palms and cycads. Hares and Minotaurs, strange amorphous figures fashioned in wire and bronze, some with human attributes are characters beyond human form. Their gestures, points of contact and attitudes impel us to regard first and foremost, their feelings.
Later this spring, Lighthouse Cove Adventure Golf is opening their new “Burger Shack” restaurant pavilion with a 4,000-gallon fish tank, an attached and enclosed state-of-the-art playground, 20 flat screen TVs, and an extensive wine list and local craft beer selection.
A New Market Tour & Cooking Class is being offered twice a month by West Palm Beach Food Tours. Guests can join cookbook author and restaurant critic, Judith Olney, for their market tour and cooking class. The epicurean experience includes an insider's tour of a local market and a hands-on cooking class with lunch and wine for $95. Market locations vary and include the award-winning West Palm Beach Greenmarket, an Oriental Market, an Italian Market and a Mediterranean Market.
NEW AND REFRESHED CULTURAL EXPERIENCES
In February 2016, The Norton Museum of Art began its dramatic transformation to “The New Norton.” The Museum, a cultural icon in the destination since its founding in 1941, is set to debut its new facilities in 2018. The expansion and renovation will further serve visitors by enhancing its 6.3-acre campus with an additional 12,000-square-feet of gallery space for exhibitions, an education center with two new classrooms and student gallery, a 210-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium, an adjoining 9,000-square-foot sculpture garden, a 4,000-square-foot soaring Great Hall, a versatile dining pavilion with garden terrace, and six restored historic-houses to accommodate an artists-in-residence program and the Director's home. This September 5, 2017, Earth Works – Mapping the Anthropocene* comes to the Museum with more than 30 of the artist and photographer Justin Guariglia's works. During the past two years, Guariglia was embedded in missions undertaken by NASA scientists working over Greenland. His works from the missions will be on display through January 14, 2018.
In summer 2016, the interactive Silverball Museum in Delray Beach opened to great delight. Featuring more than 150 video games and pinball machines dating as far back as the 1930s, this unique museum brings a bit of nostalgia to visitors. Evoking childhood memories for adults while creating new memories for younger generations, the 9,000-square-foot museum offers classic videogames such as Atari, Asteroid and Baby Pac-Man, two-floors of pinball machines, arcade games and even the original skee ball alleys from New York's Coney Island - Eldorado Arcade.
Mounts Botanical Garden's new permanent garden exhibit, Windows on the Floating World – Blume Tropical Wetland Gardens, will open this May as Mount's largest garden it its 40-year history. The new series of see-through walkways and moveable aquatic plants that will allow visitors to feel and connect to the tropical wetlands around them. Windows on the Floating World will feature transparent, open-gridded, 3-foot wide walkways on the surface of the wetlands to give visitors the feeling of walking on water. A Bromeliads wall, along with an area for wading birds and waterfall will also be key features of the new garden.
The award-winning Maltz Jupiter Theatre has announced its plans for an approximately $25-$30 million expansion to begin following its 2017-2018 season. Construction for the regional not-for-profit Theatre is expected to be fully by November 2019. Under the current plan, the Theatre's improved stage will be ten feet deeper and six feet wider on either side, enabling the Theatre to qualify for Pre-Broadway and National Tours. A third-floor rehearsal studio will provide actors with a view, and residents will have the opportunity to see actors working and rehearsing. A proposed second space will provide the opportunity for audience diversity. The Theatre's Goldner Conservatory of Performing Arts will double in size, allowing students the opportunity to receive a high-quality, dynamic arts education in state-of-the-art facilities.
NEW SPA & WELLNESS EXPERIENCES
Celebrated for its award-winning spas and wellness offerings, The Palm Beaches hosted its inaugural Spa & Wellness Month in October 2016. The month-long promotion provided exclusive savings at more than 20 of the destination's most prominent spa and wellness facilities. The success of the Spa & Wellness Month will continue in 2017, when it celebrates its second year.
About Discover The Palm Beaches
Discover The Palm Beaches, formerly the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, is the official tourism marketing corporation that promotes the collection of 39 cities and towns and 15 tourism districts spanning more than 2,200 square miles and 47 miles of pristine beaches from Boca Raton to Jupiter and Tequesta, commonly referred to as “The Palm Beaches.” Tourism is among Palm Beach County's major industries, generating $4.55 billion in direct visitor spending and supporting more than 60,000 jobs. Once recognized as a tropical escape for elite travelers in the late 1800s, America's First Resort Destination® is making its resurgence as The Best Way To Experience Florida®, welcoming a record-breaking 6.9 million people in 2015. The Palm Beaches are home to nearly 17,000 hotel rooms, ranging from historic resorts to boutique inns. The destination features more than 100 family-friendly attractions, world-class luxury and antique shopping experiences, 125 miles of peaceful waterways for on- or in-the-water activities, more than 150 artificial reefs that line the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf Stream current, 160 golf courses, award-winning restaurants, and a thriving entertainment scene boasting more than 200 art and culture organizations. For more information about The Palm Beaches, visit www.ThePalmBeaches.com and connect on social media via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PalmBeachesFL, YouTube at Discover The Palm Beaches and the hashtag, #ThePalmBeaches.
Editor's Note: For downloadable high-res images and video, please visit: http://barberstock.com/thepalmbeaches
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Ashley Svarney, Director of Public Relations & Communications
Discover The Palm Beaches
Office: 561-233-3030; Cell: +1 954-592-6683
Veronica Arrieta, Manager of International Public Relations & Communications
Discover The Palm Beaches
Office: 561-233-3002
