Having been closed to guests for 17 years, the recently opened Palm House hotel in Palm Beach has reached another milestone under the owner that carried out a top-to-bottom renovation after buying the property in bankruptcy several years ago.
The luxury hotel at 160 Royal Palm Way opened on the day before Thanksgiving under a partial “certificate of occupancy,” or C.O., issued by Town Hall following a successful building inspection. That document allowed the hotel to open with 36 of its 79 guest rooms, along with the main public areas, the main dining room, two kitchens and the pool courtyard.
On Dec. 20, after passing another inspection, the town’s Planning, Zoning and Building department issued another partial C.O. to allow the opening of the remaining guest rooms and the poolside “function room” for events.
The property is “not quite ready” for a full C.O., Panning, Zoning and Bulding Director Wayne Bergman wrote in an email to the Palm Beach Daily News
“A small area in the basement garage is still under construction,” Bergman said, citing drainage work that awaits completion.
The hotel is owned by an affiliate of London-based L+R Hotels and branded as part of the company’s Iconic Luxury Hotels collection. Also known as London and Regional Group Hotel Holdings, the hospitality investment and management company was approved to buy the Palm House property for nearly $40 million in a 2019 court-authorized bankruptcy sale.
In a Dec. 23 email to the Palm Beach Daily News, Francisco Macedo, senior vice president of Iconic Luxury Hotels, said it took a coordinated effort to earn the certificates of occupancy.
“Our team worked tirelessly to open Palm House in time for the holidays and Palm Beach season, but it was the collective effort of many partners, including our construction team at Hedrick Brothers, that truly brought this vision to life. Without their expertise and commitment, we wouldn’t be here today,” said Macedo, on behalf of L+R Hotels.
“We are also deeply grateful to the town for their invaluable collaboration throughout this process. This has truly been a collective achievement, and we are immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together.”
When the hotel opened about a little more than a month ago, officials said they would be embarking on a so-called soft opening, which would afford time for the staff to refine operations and work out any kinks.
“During the first few weeks, we will be prioritizing lower occupancy to ensure highest level of service as the hotel team finds their flow with our entry into the Palm Beach season,” hotel General Manager Chris Jaycock said at the time.
In addition to passing building inspections, the hotel had to submit so-called “business tax receipts” in order to qualify for its C.O.s
Guests and visitors to the property have found the lobby-and-bar area decorated in pinks and greens, with mirrored-and-vaulted ceilings, Murano-glass chandeliers and a wall installation featuring thousands of seashells. The latter was designed by former Palm Beach resident Crista Wilm of Christa’s South Seashells in Palm Beach.
The L+R affiliate, which finalized purchase of the property in 2020, is billing Palm House as the first U.S. property to open under L+R’s Iconic Luxury Hotels brand. L+R’s overall portfolio includes more than 105 hotels worldwide, including the Marriott Hotel in West Palm Beach.
Palm House’s room count includes 21 suites. Double-occupancy room rates start at $1,289 during the “peak season” and drop to $499 for the off-season, according to hotel officials.
The Iconic Luxury Hotels umbrella includes England’s Cliveden House in Berkshire, which drew international headlines when Meghan Markle stayed there on the night before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
The Palm House property has a complex history. It had operated as the Heart of Palm Beach hotel before it was purchased in 2006 by a company controlled by former developer Robert V. Matthews, who closed the property the next year and announced plans to renovate. He is today serving a 65-month term in federal prison in Pensacola after pleading guilty to charges that included conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering while using investor funds earmarked for his failed renovation.
The property’s tangled journey included not only criminal charges but municipal code violations, SEC investigations, a foreclosure action and the bankruptcy sale in 2019.
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