The Best Hotels in West Palm Beach for Every Traveler

Next door to the Convention Center, barely a hop from the Kravis Center performing arts complex and across the road from Rosemary Square, the Hilton neatly embraces business and leisure travelers. It’s a modern high-rise hotel with an imposing lobby awash with mottled glass and polished steel. Palm tree-dotted gardens cradle a T-shaped resort-like pool along with the Galley grill house and bar that gives off a pleasing Mediterranean vibe. The beaches are just a few minutes’ drive away.

On a quiet residential street several blocks south of Rosemary Square, this Spanish-style villa built in 1925 is a good example of the Mediterranean Revival architecture popularized in Florida resorts in the early 1900s. Beautifully restored and boldly decorated by the owners – expect heavy antique-style furniture, tiled rug-laid floors, elaborate mirrors and vibrant furnishings – it occupies that exciting space between stylish, quirky and eccentric. Five rooms face either a small courtyard pool or lush gardens, and all have private outside entrances.

Overlooking Palm Harbor Marina and the Intracoastal Waterway near Flagler Bridge, the Ben reputedly “channels the spirit” of the historic country mansion, Ben Trovato – built nearby for a noted author, hostess and bon vivant in 1892, it helped put West Palm Beach on the map with the elite crowd. So, although the undistinguished exterior resembles a modern eight-storey block, inside you will find eclectic attention-grabbing design and decor with the almost playful influence of some roaming global collector. Embracing the views, the Rooftop Experience combines an outdoor Italian lounge-restaurant with cabanas, a fire pit and a heated saltwater pool.

The fancy-framed Van Gogh prints behind reception are presumably there to inject sophistication into what is a perfectly comfortable and spacious though relatively unfussy hotel a few blocks north of the airport. More reproduction artwork, clubby chairs and retro-cabinets fill the lobby areas, while suites feature kitchens and seemingly mismatched (though still perfectly serviceable) furniture. There’s no bar or restaurant, but the outside pool overlooks a small fountain-graced lake.

Canopy’s hefty glass-and-steel facade near Royal Park Bridge houses bright, sleek, almost Scandi-style rooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling windows. Yet, the most striking aspect is the stylish nod to nature’s tenacity. The six-story-high atrium features a plant wall along with an LED-lit banyan tree root installation. Elsewhere, potted plants, shrubbery and even reclaimed wood abound in tandem with locally sourced art and craftsmanship. The “amenity deck” on the rooftop features a Florida fusion restaurant and an elongated outdoor pool.

Billed as an extended-stay hotel, the Residence features commodious suites with kitchens, work desks and contemporary design – here, that includes swanky chairs in the lobby and plentiful pops of purple and mauve in the rooms. Breakfast is complimentary, while the fitness center and outdoor pool are functional rather than fulsome. Yet, the varied amenities of downtown are just minutes away on foot.

Encased within a low-rise just south of Grassy Waters Preserve about six miles (10km) west of downtown West Palm Beach, the accommodation here feels and looks more generous and inviting than the façade might suggest. Golfers will delight at tackling the neighboring Emerald Dunes Golf Course, and it’s a straightforward drive east into downtown and the beaches. A complimentary breakfast and an outdoor pool make it more than a pit stop.

In the heart of downtown, barely two blocks from Royal Park Bridge, this six-story corner building calls itself a “business casual” hotel – which likely means both business and leisure travelers are drawn to the appealing right-on location. A designer lobby morphs seamlessly into a lively lounge-restaurant-bar area with almost nightly live music. The spacious all-suite accommodation features partially screened-off sleeping and lounging areas with state-of-the-art media and work centers. A pair of indoor hot and cold plunge pools offset the lack of a swimming pool.