A Perfect Fall and Winter Getaway

By Nanci E. LaGarenne

5 minute 08/23/2011

The Brazilian Court Hotel and Beach Club in Palm Beach, Florida is calling me!

My friend Felicia spent a fabulous time there last year. This property is called “award winning” by the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2010. Travel and Leisure called it “one of the world’s best hotels” in 2010, rating it #1 in South Florida and #3 in Florida State. It is a premier wedding destination, known for its romantic setting. And it’s the only Palm Beach hotel that allows dogs (20 lbs. and under). My friend Felicia loved that! She went there last January with her Bolognese, Catherina, and her Daschund, Augusta James. The doggies loved it as much as Felicia. They were pampered with pooch specials and even had their own lounge chairs! The BCH’s Pampered Pet Package offers “pet amenities and complimentary town car services to a local pet boutique.” [expand]

Felicia met designer, author and columnist Simon Doonan at the Authors Breakfast Series. He is a fellow Hamptonite, you know. I can’t wait until January when Felicia goes again, so I am going to check out the Autumn Sale at BCH, which includes a welcome gift, a complimentary continental breakfast for two at the Café Boulud and a room upgrade (as available). All for $299 a night, with a two-night minimum. This offer lasts from October to December 21, 2011.

Felicia couldn’t stop raving about her stay at BCH. “I really wanted to do the Haute Yacht Package,” she told me, “but alas it was just me and the doggies.” She was referring to a three-night stay aboard a yacht, in a suite for two, including a three-hour party where you can invite 10 guests to come aboard for a gourmet catered affair with a karaoke machine, DJ dance music CDs, cigars, party favors and a magnum of Moet. Where is George Clooney when you need him? The cost of this fantasy starts at $8,500 until September 30, based upon availability.

But the rest of the 80 beautifully renovated studios and one, two and three-bedroom suites are not that steep at all. The rooms are unique, “all with their own irresistible charm, luxurious fabrics, provincial colorations and mahogany millwork. One thousand thread count sheets, Wi-Fi, walk-in showers, plush terry robes, stocked wet bars.” If this isn’t enticing enough, the Frederic Fekkai Salon and Spa is on the premises. Felicia treated herself to a Sea Salt Body Polish that “made me glow like a prepubescent teenager!” Wow. She followed that the next day with a deep tissue massage and a Shea Butter Mask for her auburn tresses. She was going to do the curl-relaxing bit, but opted for an updo instead.

Dinner al fresco in the “lushly landscaped” courtyard of the Café Boulud, with its “European café society sensibility,” was superb (pooches allowed!). Felicia took a piña colada back to her room, the Poolside Lanai Suite (private patio), and waited for Mr. Wonderful to show up. When he failed to appear, she took Katarina and Augusta for a walk along the moonlit beach.

There is much to do while down at BCH. Come Fall: The Policeman’s Ball, the International Red Cross Ball, Norton Museum of Art’s Cocktail Culture gala. And those are just a few of the things happening down there. The Flagler Museum nearby has an exhibit called First Train to Paradise, The Railroad That Went to Sea, all about the train to Key West. Runs October 18, 2011 to January 8, 2012. But I must go to BCH come January for Parker Ladd’s Authors Breakfast Series. Martha Stewart will be there, as will Nelson DeMille (love his books), Erica Jong and more. The biographies of Queen Elizabeth and Frank Sinatra are featured. This happening goes until April. Don’t miss it. I wonder if my pot-bellied pig Garth Brooks can come?