South Florida's most expensive hotel rooms

Read article : South Florida's most expensive hotel rooms

November 4, 2011|By Doreen Hemlock, SunSentinel

Luxury resorts in South Florida are getting even pricier this winter. Try $7,500 a night for the presidential suite at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

Few can afford that. But hotel consultant Scott Brush says there are plenty of celebrities, entrepreneurs and foreign guests who can pay for South Florida's deluxe digs, some with private elevators.

"The top 1 percent in the country is people making more than $400,000 a year. And if we're 300 million people, that's 3 million," said Brush of Brush & Co. in Miami. "That's a fair size market."

The Boca resort's presidential suite, for example, has hosted actress-singer Jennifer Lopez and the Egyptian billionaire father of Dodi Fayed, whose son died in a car crash with Princess Diana.

The price gap is wide between top suites and most rooms. Average hotel rates were $125 a night in Broward and $155 a night in Palm Beach county last January.

Here are six of the most expensive rooms in the area and what you get for the money:

• W Fort Lauderdale: The Extreme Wow Suite at the hip W spans 4,330 square feet, including a wrap-around balcony accessible from each room and equipped for entertaining. The terrace can hold up to 25 people on its lounge furniture and dining table – more than many homes.

The two-bedroom suite on the 24th floor sports the latest technology: a Bang & Olufsen entertainment system with a 50-inch LCD TV, DVD player, Tivoli alarm clock/radio and an iPod docking station in the living area, smaller flat screen TVs in each bedroom and high-speed Internet access.

It also offers hip comforts in its 2-and-a-half bathrooms: a whirlpool bath-tub, a rain-forest shower that opens to the balcony, plus a free-standing concrete cast tub surrounded by river rocks.

The price this winter: $5,000 a night, up from $4,000 a night last year.

• The Atlantic Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale: Both Oceanfront Penthouses offer luxury brand-items: Molton Brown bath amenities, Frette bathrobes and La Belge chocolates at turndown.

Each has two-bedrooms, a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and marble bathrooms in its 2,200 square feet, not counting the wraparound balconies.

The price this winter: From $1,500 to $3,000 per night, depending on the date, which is similar to last year.

• Boca Raton Resort & Club: The Tower Presidential Suite starts on the 26^h floor and includes two levels on 6,000 square feet, linked by a private elevator and by a spiral staircase.

The suite has three bedrooms, each with a king-size bed and private bathroom. The master bedroom also has fitness equipment inside and an oversized marble bathtub with jets in it.

For entertaining, there's a grand piano. That's in addition to double-height living area with ample seating areas and picture windows, wet-bar and a media pit sporting a large projection TV with surround sound.

The price this winter: $7,500 a night, up about 5 percent from last year.

• The Breakers Palm Beach: The Imperial Suite was renovated last year before other rooms were redone in an $80 million resort upgrade. Its new décor has a marine theme, with starfish designs on pillows and white coral-like branches on lamp bases.

The one-bedroom suite has five step-out balconies with ocean views. There's a six-seat dining area, wet bar, half bathroom for guests, a new sound system and personal concierge services.

The price this winter: Reduced to $5,400 a night from $5,900 because other rooms are more newly renovated.

• Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach: The Deluxe Oceanfront Suite has two furnished terraces and a railed-in Juliet balcony to step outside the way Romeo's beloved once did.

It has two bedrooms and can expand to three or four bedrooms by adding a connecting room. Newly renovated by Canadian designer Brian Gluckstein, the style is upscale beach house, with fabrics in sea-glass colors and custom furnishings with seashell glaze.

For children, there are brand-name accessories, including a crib and changing table from Maclaren's Cabine collection.

The price this winter: $4,500 a night, up from $4,000 a night last winter.

• Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale: The Two-Bedroom Oceanfront Residential Suite on the 17th floor comes with access for four to the exclusive Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge. The 8th floor lounge has free food and drink daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., a separate TV room, sitting area, computer station and a dedicated concierge.

The suite has 1,345 square feet, not counting the balconies. It offers a granite-countertop kitchenette, dining table for four, 37-inch flat-screen TVs, marble bath, plush bathrobes, free DVD rentals and a "digital guest control system" to help you turn on and off the TVs and lights.

The price this winter: $2,500, up from $2,000 last winter.

dhemlock@tribune.com or 305-810-5009