Sandwiched between the urban centers of Miami and Fort Lauderdale to the south and Florida’s Space Coast to the north, the “odd couple” of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast comprise the quintessential Florida experience—tranquil, untouched shorelines and waterways occupied by egrets, storks and pelicans, and on the flip side, lavish resorts rising from golden sands that are part of a busy panorama of fun-in-the-sunshine recreation.
It’s a disparity most visitors are delighted to explore.
Palm Beach
It can get a little posh in Palm Beach. Croquet and polo are local favorites. Opera performances sell out. Cars that cost more than the average house tool along palm-lined promenades, while enormous mansions—more like palaces, actually—front private beaches. And in certain boutiques, a set of sheets might run you $500.
But don’t tighten your Gucci belt just yet, because Palm Beach has its value side, too, especially during the off-season—roughly from mid-April to mid-December—when hotel rates can be up to 40 percent lower, even at legendary showplaces like the Boca Raton Resort & Club, the Four Seasons Resort, The Breakers, and The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach.
“It’s about getting the biggest bang for the buck,” says Jorge Pesquera, president of the Palm Beach County CVB. “It’s a marvelous opportunity to enjoy one of the most affluent destinations in a very affordable manner.”
Groups will discover an enormous range of experiences in a county larger than two U.S. states (Rhode Island and Delaware), with a 47-mile coastline of beaches and an interior strewn with enough golf courses to earn the region its registered nickname, “Florida’s Golf Capital.”
Pack light? Probably not, if you’re deciding between a night at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts or a day at Lion Country Safari—featuring a 500-acre drive through a wildlife preserve—or even a jaunt below the waves on a snorkel tour through brilliantly colored offshore reefs.
The county’s accommodations scene is equally diverse, and despite Palm Beach’s high-end reputation, you’ll find hotels and resorts in assorted price ranges. For every Breakers there is a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. In addition, about 40 of those properties specialize in meetings and conventions, with space configurations to suit both corporate seminars and huge trade shows, including the 1,043-room Boca Raton Resort & Club, which has 67 meeting rooms, and PGA National Resort & Spa, home to a 35,000-square-foot conference wing.
Meanwhile, set three miles from the international airport, the 350,000-square-foot Palm Beach County Convention Center offers 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 25,000-square-foot grand ballroom and more than 23,000 square feet of additional meeting space.
Treasure Coast
While some streets in Palm Beach seem to be paved with gold, the beaches of Florida’s Treasure Coast have seen literal gold; the area gets its name, in fact, from the doubloons that occasionally wash onto the sand, left behind by 18th century Spanish galleons that sank offshore during long-ago storms.
But treasure hunting isn’t the only reward of meeting in this laid-back region of Florida, which is anchored by the cities of Vero Beach, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie. The area is a gold mine of relaxing eco and recreational activities that include swimming, snorkeling, surfing, horseback riding on the beach, and exploring local flora and fauna at places like McKee Botanical Garden, an 18-acre subtropical jungle hammock, and Pelican Island, the nation’s first national wildlife refuge, which is set within the Indian River Lagoon and is accessible via a boat tour from Captain Hiram’s Resort.
Equally laid-back are the accommodations and meeting spaces, though the region will get an infusion of glitz from its southern neighbor, Miami, when Costa d’Este—a new boutique hotel owned by singer Gloria Estefan and her producer husband Emilio—opens this summer. The 94-room oceanfront property, managed by Benchmark Hospitality, will feature a spa, a Cuban-cuisine restaurant and a 1,170-square-foot function room adjacent to an outdoor pool and patio.
Scheduled to open June 1, Costa d’Este joins a diverse roster of Treasure Coast properties, from Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and the Vero Beach Inn, which offer meeting space for 120 and 300, respectively, to the Courtyard by Marriott on Jensen Beach, offering conference space for small groups.
Larger groups, meanwhile, will find ample space at two Port St. Lucie venues: Club Med Sandpiper, offering more than 20,000 square feet of dedicated conference and meeting space, and the PGA Village, boasting 54 holes of championship golf, 13,000 square feet of meeting space and an on-site Hilton Garden Inn.
For More Info
Indian River County COC 772.567.3491
www.indianriverchamber.com
Palm Beach County CVB 561.233.3000
www.palmbeachfl.com
St. Lucie County TDC 772.462.1539
www.visitstluciefla.com
