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The Breakers Beachfront Experience The Italian Restaurant The Seafood Bar - Casual Oceanfront Dining & Cocktails even threw in the famed Guerlain facial massage or "gymnastic for the face" from Paris, 1939. Don't overlook other amenities like a heated sand-quartz massage bed, the Vichy table, co-ed courtyard and three lounges, and ultra-sleek, creamy white European manicure sofas. Wealthy guests played golf at The Breakers in 1896. As Florida's oldest 18- holes, the Ocean Course (redesigned in 2000) is a misnomer since no hole has any direct or indirect sea view. But the facade and Belvedere towers loom from every sculpted green like a friendly giant. Short at 6,167 yards the par-70 course teases with tight fairways, elevated greens and several nasty traps. Even rusty, I loved the ease of movement and scored a coveted birdie and four pars. Next to the Flagler Steakhouse the John Webster Golf Academy provides world-class instructors with an indoor/outdoor learning center, video swing analysis, a Titelist club re-fitting machine, and hitting bay. Their Breakers Rees Jones course 11 miles west of the resort was renovated in 2004 and challenges with 7,100 yards of lakes, doglegs, staggered bunkers, lush foilage, and a learning center. Without a doubt, The Breakers Palm Beach takes food and beverage very seriously. A definite emphasis on diner intimacy and menu scrutiny belies its nine outspread venues. On my first night, I ate yummy Asian at Echo: a spicy "dragon" tuna roll with eel sauce, seaweed sunomono salad, kung pao lettuce wraps, Thai roast duck, kalbi wagyu flatiron steak, and togarashi scallops. At Flagler Steakhouse they serve a terrific kale- fig-provolone salad with linguica dressing, a humongous 24 oz. tomahawk rib-eye, and near-perfect key lime pie. (Both restaurants are accessible by shuttle.) For breakfast, I loved the homemade corned beef hash in The Circle's oversized rotunda where locals flock for the splashy Sunday brunch. But it's HMF (think Flagler!) back in the Florentine loggia off the main lobby that grabs everyone's attention. Mixing tapas and drinks, the former Tapestry Bar/L'Escalier now pops and sizzles with nocturnal energy. Hospitality designer Adam Tihany's ode to the "Palm Beach cocktail party," HMF's bold décor juxtaposes a 3,000-bottle polished stainless steel 30-foot Wine Wall with ornate chandeliers and the ocher, hand-painted "Palazzo Davanzati" elongated ceiling. After nervously cradling a 2005 Romanée-Conti ($18,000!), I was brought down to earth by Master Sommelier Juan Gomez with succulent "small bites" and nifty wine pairings: from wood roasted Chilean sea bass in a vegetable barigoule with gremolata + Tenuta il Bosco "Oltrenero" Cuvée Brut from Lombardy to Churrasco Steak Chimichurri + Flechas de los Andes "Grand Malbec" from Mendoza, Argentina, 2010. Besides their 28,000-bottle wine collection, go sample "Railcar #91" (Courvoisier VSOP, fresh lemon juice, honey, orange foam) or a 1907 Pereira d'Oliverias "Riserva" Malvazia Madeira Port at a mere $150 a glass. The next day I biked towards world-renowned Worth Avenue with a quick pit stop at one of Palm Beach's best-kept secrets, The Leopard Lounge, inside the charming, English-style 42-room Chesterfield Hotel (great for afternoon teas or a quick lunch of tasty crab cakes, and overstuffed Cobb salads). Unlike most shopping meccas, renowned architect-eccentric Addison Mizner's Worth Avenue (1923) suffuses incomparable flair and heightened Mediterranean charm. Window-shop the elegant boutiques or amble through the eight "Via" alleyways and bougainvillea- strewn courtyards. My adventure continued at West Palm Beach's Norton Museum of Art (in its $60 million expansion campaign). I found ineffable treasures: Cezanne's Portrait of Alfred Hauge and Gauguin's Agony in the Garden. Spiritually recharged, it was back to the enchanted island "on the breakers." ML VIP treatment at The Breakers Palm Beach: The Flagler Club, a restricted access 25-room boutique hotel on the sixth and seventh floor, offers concierge service, elevated breakfast presentation, daily snacks and a terrace vista of Palm Beach and beyond. Amenities include airport pickup, a Tesla house car with six-mile radius, customized itinerary, PranaSleep adjustable bedding, stocked mini-fridge, spa-like marble bathrooms, 55-inch Samsung HD Smart Curved TV, and complimentary valet pressing service. Price: $2,100 per night through April 30th, $900 starting May 1st. The Breakers Palm Beach, One South County Road, Palm Beach, Florida 33480. 1-888-273-2537 www.thebreakers.com TRAVEL