The Best Hotels to Book near Rapids Water Park, Florida

Seven miles from Rapids Waterpark yet a world away, The Ben is your stylish introduction to smart downtown West Palm living. It’s quite a scene, with elegant young things mingling and visitors lapping it up in the jaw-dropping rooftop space, Spruzzo. Palm Beach Island waves seductively to you from the windows of your Marooner Suite, which spoils its occupants with an awesome furnished wraparound balcony. Back up on the roof, settle in for dining – lobster-roll sliders, beef skirt steak – in that rooftop lounge. You can see the glittery lights of City Place and bustling Clematis Street, where there’s always a nightly affair to jump into.

There are few hotels near the Rapids Waterpark as prestigious as The Breakers: an excess of elegance blessed with grand ocean-view suites, further enhanced with four pools, an indoor-outdoor spa and two championship golf courses. Oh, and did we mention 14 boutique shops onsite? The list of impressive amenities goes on and on (tennis courts, family-entertainment center), but you have to sample the Palm Beach experience beyond. That’s why, thoughtfully, guest shuttles and complimentary chauffeured car service are included in your stay.

Close to the artsy city of Lake Worth yet still on Palm Beach island, Tideline Resort shelters you: disconnected from reality, yet still within an arm’s reach of one of the most vibrant communities in the area. It’s an upscale, modern boutique number – all geometric angles and expanses of glass, with a private white-sand beach with umbrellas to shade yourself. Whether you’re staying in a simple garden king or a lavish oceanfront king suite, you’ll have the same good looks: slatted blinds, white- and milk-chocolate modern upholstery. In the latter, we love the wallow-awhile deep-soak tub and spacious walk-in shower. Brandon’s is best for dinner – crispy grouper tacos alfresco, with sweeping breezes and Atlantic views. But we’ll always have a soft spot for the nigiri platter inside at the cosy Mizu Sushi.

Sleep near the sea turtles at elegant, high-rise Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, with its 1,000ft stretch of private beach trimmed by bushes of sea-grape. It’s all yours – and your kids’ – to stroll, spotting protected-sea-turtle nests along the way. Room and suites are warm and cosy, done out in a fine look you might call Caribbean chintz – florid drapes, quilted bed covers and fern-print cushions. Direct ocean views from your king suite are made for in-room massages and dinners on your balcony. Settle back for music and movies by the pool or a snooze and a sway in the garden’s firepit hammock.

From straightforward studio rooms to sprawling luxury villas – via accessible one-bed suites – Crane’s Beach House is anything but one-size fits all. Among the 28 options, there’s a space for everyone – and that includes communal bits, too. The Tiki Bar is a much-loved hangout, with its tropical gardens, punchy mai-tais and live music at weekends, and dipping in the two saline pools soon becomes a habit. It’s just one block west of the ocean, so heading with your towel and cossie out is a no-brainer – ​​and the fashionable dining spot and boutique shops of historic Delray Beach are an easy stroll away.

Welcome to the oldest home in Delray Beach. Immersed in tropical gardens, this century-old Queen-Anne beauty, with its creamy clapboard facade and its big porch, is a timeless retreat after the thrills and spills of adventure park days. The bedrooms – just 11 – have unique artworks, objets and lamps that are almost tribal in appearance, as well as rich, warm walls, slatted balcony chairs and sumptuous bed linens of Caribbean-chintz prints. If you’re here for a special occasion, the ultimate accommodation is the historic cottage. Dinner here is always an event – who could resist colossal lump crab cake with spaghetti squash, pomegranate and caper aioli? All this and you’re only one mile from the beach.

Tropical sophistication just steps from paradise? Without high resort fees? You’ve checked in at the right place: Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel delivers an elevated experience – all business-smart, carpeted rooms and suites of brilliant-white linen – to rival that of its beachfront contemporaries. They’re made for naps if you’ve had one too many pina coladas or berry margaritas at the Oasis Cafe and Pool Bar. Refreshed, take the complimentary shuttle to the beach, or around Boca’s artsy city, before returning for Med-magic food at the hotel’s Umbria Ristorante.

Tell your friends you’re off to The Colony Hotel on Palm Beach Island and they’ll hate you faster than the Beach Butler can deliver drinks to your warm spot on the sand. This pretty in pink hotel – a tall, tiered, cake-like place that opened in 1947 – is brushed with vibrant colors inside and out. It’s like a stage set, all retro barrel chairs and palm-print wallpaper. You get signature Palm Beach chic in every space – and on the sands, grazing on gourmet bites from a cooler delivered by the beach butler. Excitement spills over from the live music in the living room to the impromptu rum tastings at Swifty’s Pool.

A stay at this stylish, timewarped 154-room pile feels more like a beachside sleepover with friends than it does a night in a hotel room in Delray. It’s a playful place, although the rooms, from simple superiors to lavish courtyards, mean business with groomed, clean-lined furniture in earth and stone tones. You get access to their rarefied Beach Club, which sends out the same world-class experience. From all day spa access to endless plates of fresh seafood and local ingredients, The Seagate, come to think of it, is less like a sleepover with pals and more like your own exclusive members-only resort.