The family that plays together: Palm Beach resorts, hotels offer children's amenities

A years-long effort to expand fun for kids — from playgrounds to game arcades — is paying off at Palm Beach’s resort hotels as a family travel boom heats up interest in children’s amenities.

In the wake of the pandemic, parents nationwide are seizing travel as a way to treat their kids to extra-good times.

Most families planning to travel in 2023 say their kids are the reason why, according to an October survey by the Family Travel Association and New York University’s hospitality school. That’s not lost on Palm Beach’s hotel officials.

“Coming out of the pandemic, families are looking for more-meaningful interactions while on vacation,” Tricia Taylor, The Breakers’ executive vice president and general manager, told the Daily News.

Providing that for guests of all ages, she said, inspires loyalty — including among “the little ones, who grow up to remember The Breakers as a special place.”

Gone are the days when Palm Beach catered primarily to adult visitors such as turn-of-the-20th-century captains of industry and their wives. Family travel has boomed in recent years and “significantly increased” in the past year, Mohamed Elbanna, regional vice president and general manager of the Four Seasons Palm Beach, told the Daily News.

Island hoteliers say it’s important to provide activities for the whole family — including grandparents — especially for the fidgetiest among them: kids.

The town's oceanfront resorts are well-suited for that with their multiple pools and recreational beachfronts.

At The Breakers, which was founded in 1896, children’s activities have long been a staple. But they’ve mushroomed in recent years, especially after the hotel in 2003 opened a 6,100-square-foot game- and activity-filled indoor-outdoor family entertainment center with an adjacent Italian restaurant that features a pizza oven.

Nearby the center, a 4,500-square-foot playground opened by 2010 and has been updated several times. A 2021 redesign features a multi-dimensional marine theme with depictions of fish, sea turtles and octopus amid slides, tunnels and bridges.

More:Breakers in Palm Beach partners with Tihany Design to reimagine the resort

“It was inspired by The Breakers’ oceanfront location, with a nod to the magnificent marine life and reef located only a few fin kicks from shore,” communications director Sara Flight said.

One of four pools at the 140-acre hotel property offers a zero-depth entry for tykes and nine of its 10 restaurants offers children’s menus.

In addition to its adult spa, The Breakers features a kids' spa. Services there include a vanilla cupcake-scented manicure. The use of a children-friendly vanilla cupcake scent was inspired by the hotel's Mary Lily's ice cream parlor, which opened onsite in 2018.

A mini nine-hole golf course was added in 2021, augmenting other sports kids enjoy at the hotel including basketball and tennis.

“There’s always something new and exciting to experience at The Breakers,” Taylor said, noting the hotel annually invests an average of $25 million into enhancements. “Many parents who visited when they were young love bringing their own children back to continue the tradition.”

At the Four Seasons, kids’ amenities also have been a focus. The Four Seasons brand entered Palm Beach in 1994, when it merged with the Ocean Grand Hotel and pumped $2 million into the property.

After the 6-acre hotel began a summer camp-like children’s activities program, Kids for All Seasons (serving ages 4 to 12), it built an onsite game-filled entertainment center in 2003.

The opening of a tot room and teen game room followed. A second pool opened in 2018 during a property-wide makeover.

More:Spas at Four Seasons, Breakers, Eau earn five stars from Forbes Travel Guide

Meanwhile, complimentary children’s cooking classes for guests — from cookie-decorating to pizza-making — began in 2021 at the Four Seasons’ Florie’s, the only U.S. restaurant aligned with three-Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco.

Polo lessons for kids (and adults) are offered, too, as part of a polo-themed family travel package. American polo pro Nic Roldan teaches the lessons at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.

“He also came to the Four Seasons one day last season and gave lessons on foot (instead of polo ponies) and kids loved it,” the Four Seasons’ communications manager Eileen Sturgis told the Daily News. “We always try to enhance children's programming by considering the wonder of a child while on vacation.”

In nearby Manalapan, children were a key driver behind a multimillion-dollar remodeling in 2021 at Eau Palm Beach Resort. Chief among the new amenities at the 7-acre property are children’s activity centers near an outdoor water-splash area.

For ages 3 to 12, a staffed club called Loggers boasts colorful marine-theme murals and arts-and-craft areas, as well as high-tech features.

More:Eau Palm Beach unveils results of yearlong multimillion-dollar remodeling project

A 4-foot-tall light wall glows with 1,300 colored pegs that can be rearranged to design images. Among other things, a mini-theater for movies and play-acting has tiered seating shaped like a sand dune. The teen club, called Hide Away, features karaoke, virtual-reality games, an arcade and other activities. On weekends, a Kids Night Out program offers supervised activities if parents want a night out on their own.

“Families are looking to reconnect,” Eau’s marketing director, Michelle Phillips, told the Daily News. “We’re making reconnections … completely effortless.”

On a smaller scale, Palm Beach’s boutique hotels have grown their children’s offerings. At The White Elephant, for instance, rooms reserved for families with children are equipped with toys, games and teepees. Complimentary flavored shaved ices are served poolside, while a hotel cart periodically makes the rounds with such offerings as ice cream sundaes.

Responding to the needs of family travel, White Elephant managing director Bernhard Duerrmeier noted, means “crafting experiences specifically to each group, including children.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach resorts, hotels offer lots of fun activities for children