Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

beatiful beach

Prós: Very quite and relaxing place. Great ocean frond location with residential area(mid rise) residential surroundings. Attentive service in understated aesthetically pleasing surroundings. Beachfront bar/coffee shop a great place for lunch but very limited menu. Restaurant more than adequate but not outstanding.

Contras: Hardly anything. You need a car to get around but you must use valet parking,at inflated rates,though the parking is on the sides of the hotel close and easily accessible.

Prós: staff was great, food was superb, place is really nice

Contras: cost

Prós: The hotel property is right on the beach, and the beach staff is friendly and accommodating, periodically bringing guests complimentary smoothies and frozen grapes and oranges. The pool area is lovely and well-kept, as are the dining rooms. The rooms are comfortable and luxurious. The breakfast buffet, though expensive, is delicious, ample and very fresh.

Contras: For a hotel of this caliber there was some unevenness in the staff. On certain days at the beach, the staff was available and responsive; on others they were entirely absent, and it was difficult to get anyone's attention. The outside dining areas, though lovely, were crowded, and every morning we had to wait 10-15 mins to be seated outdoors. When we first arrived, no doubt because we booked a "bargain" room through Kayak ($500/night as opposed to the $1,000 rack rate on the Four Seasons website), we were given a room with a direct view of the beach bar kitchen, together with smells and noises from the vent. We asked that the room be changed, and it was, though again we were given one of their less desirable rooms. I suppose most unfortunate was that when we asked, on our last day, for a late checkout - even offering to pay something for the privilege - we were told, icily, that the hotel could not accommodate us - not even for an hour - because of our "room category" (meaning, no doubt, the "cheapie" Kayak rate). The hotel was quite clearly not full, and as an experienced traveler, I know this would have been an easy accommodation for the hotel to make. Instead I left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.