LilMsFoodie

I will be at the Boca Raton resort this weekend. I have to take classes to keep a license current but I have a fairly open Saturday. The resort looks lovely. We were originally booked at the Ritz Carlton on south Palm Beach but the damage from the hurricanes has forced the conference to move. I haven't spent any time in Boca. Looking for any comments.
I'm not into partying but a nice dinner and quiet activities might be in order for this hurricane weary person. LMF

Tandoori_Girl

LMF, is that the old Addison Mizener-built resort in Boca, but with updates? It is gorgeous. I wish I could come join you.

Patrick

A couple of years ago I won a certificate for a weekend there -- you'll appreciate this, as a door prize from a Brunschwig & Fils party. It was a wonderful place.

Can you still capture a reservation at La Vieille Maison for dinner?

Tandoori_Girl

Patrick and I are threatening to come join you, LMF. We are both drooling at the idea. Gee, maybe my license is a bit uncurrent too.

LilMsFoodie

It is the Mizner one and I guess we are at the beach club. My architectural tour of Palm Beach has been cancelled on sunday as the hurricanes have done more damage than was originally thought. Certainly not much info out there yet about that area. I love getting credit for my license doing something I would do anyway.

I haven't been to any B&F parties where they give away gifts like that Patrick and I've had an account with them forever.

I have heard of Vielle Maison but probably won't get there this time. I'll make a report. I was looking forward to the Ritz because my husband usually got auto-upgraded to a suite there. They have extended this privilege to me now which is nice I think. LMF

MarthaB

My husband and I stayed there about four years ago. We had an ocean view room which was nice especially at night. The room itself was large, but, some of the furnishings were not in the best shape, at least in our room, but definitely adequate.

Enoy your stay, LMF. It's definitely a good place to unwind a bit.

Sending you some sunshine...

Martha

mnf

I'm looking at the resort right now - my office has a view of it. You will love it. There are some fabulous restaurants on property that are rated the best in Boca. Lucca - is an upscale italian that is very good. The property is restricted to members and guests so it is very exclusive. The spa is also top rated and amazing.

Off property and down the street are some of my favorite restaurants. Bong is an excellent asian fusion restaurant. My office is in Mizner Park which is the center of Boca. We have some nice shops (the resort runs a shuttle if you don't want to drive) and 4 very good mid-price restaurants. Mark's - most expensive high end, Gigi's - good nightlife and very good seafood, Pranzo - good italian and Max's (my favorite) american bistro food and great fish preperations. In Mizner, we have a very nice museum - if you are in to that. Another nice restaurant is the Addison - another original Mizner building with a beautiful courtyard.

Boca is pretty much back to normal after the hurricanes - except we lost much of our beautiful landscaping.

Let me know what else you like to do (or eat) and I can point you in the right direction.

LilMsFoodie

Is Mizner Park where Robb & Stucky is located? That's my company. I should probably check out their showroom...or maybe not. Lucca sounds good to me. Thanks. I have booked the spa instead of that class.
LMF

mnf

Yes - Robb & Stuckey is here and they have a beautiful showroom. You could come over and have lunch or brunch (Mark's has a nice order off the menu brunch). But it is hard to beat the lovely brunch at the resort - but everything there is very expensive.

PrettyLake

My vote is for Max's Grille, also. Always eat there when I go to Boca to visit my college roomate and have never been disappointed. It's interesting to see what a great job the townspeople did planning Boca-no billboards, parking lots at the beach hidden behind dunes,gas stations and shopping areas screened with lush landscaping-controlled growth and strict zoning and ordinances paid off. I think Boca is one of the nicest towns on the Gold Coast. Enjoy your visit LMF. Wishing you the best through the next difficult first year.

Patrick

LMS, I guess I lied when I said "a few years ago". I've been thinking and place it now about 1985. The party was on the docks at West Palm Beach in and around a huge sailboat that they made a sail for out of their new-at-that-time "Chinese Laundry" print fabric. We stood on the docks, they shucked oysters and we tossed the shells into the water. Sipped champagne, ate sliced filet of beef and had open bar. I somehow won the big prize of the evening from the Boca Raton Resort -- I think B&F had recently provided many of the fabrics for their remodeling at that time -- gee, I hope it's been redone since then! That was the last party like that I know of that they threw. Those big budget parties kind of went out the window after the 80's. At that time I was their largest "independent" designer account in SouthWest Florida, which is why I was invited along with a lot of big wigs, of which I am not one.

By the way, I'm sure we had dinner or maybe it was brunch at the resort, but my memory is a little foggy on that point. What I do remember is that all the Boca women at the pool were wearing what appeared to be "metallic" swimsuits. I remember wondering why they didn't rust, but figured it was because they never went in the water in them. LOL.

Patrick

By the way, I have no idea who LMS is? Fingers are quicker than the mind no doubt.

Tandoori_Girl

Patrick, visions of un-loveliness. I'll never forget going to the Miami airport in the 70's and all those old ladies in go-go boots and wigs and way too much make-up. LMF, you'll have to send a fashion report.

GoTravel

In the Mizner building, unless you have a suite, I think the rooms are rather small. Love the Boca Raton Resort.

Not a big fan of the beach club either but they are on the beach. I like an upper floor in the high rise. Rooms are bigger and you have a view of the waterway and the ocean.

It's a wonderful resort and I think you'll enjoy.

pir8

I am going to Boca Raton on Tuesday and leaving on Friday, mostly business during the day, but in the evening time what fun things are there to do. I am staying at the Marriott, what (if any) good restaurants are around?

LilMsFoodie

I'm back from Boca Raton and found the resort lovely and well maintained.
They were still struggling to clean up after Frances and Jeanne (The Breakers and The Ritz in Palm Beach are still closed) but everything was open and operational.

I had a huge room, a Jr. Suite in the tower. The decorations were lovely, lots of room, good beds with good bedding. The bathroom fell short of luxury standards but was ok. Room service coffee was in the room within 15 minutes of my call each morning. That gets big kudos with me.

I was upgraded to a suite as the hotel was overbooked. Every room was full with all the conferences that had to be moved from Palm Beach. With all this unexpected traffic in early August, the hotel was able to meet requests quickly and efficiently. Guests have no choice but to use valet parking but there was no delay.

I regret that I can not give better marks to the restaurants. I had breakfast in the Cathedral Room and ordered off the menu, not the buffet. Cold toast, hard poached eggs and a soso corned beef hash. Nice room and good service.

Lucca is a lovely restaurant, part of the Nobu restaurant group, but the food was not up to the price range. I had a simple ragu over housemade noodles. This is a good test of an Italian kitchen and Lucca purports to be a country Tuscan restaurant. The meat (pork and veal) was rough cut and not tender. The pasta was housemade and perfect. It was good but not worth $38 for the ala carte dish. I did get a great 1/2 bottle of Brunello for $62.00 which was a super value if you love this great wine. Bar Luna is a gorgeous bar across from Lucca and a great place for after dinner drinks which I enjoyed with fellow interior designers.

Saturday I had a casual dinner with colleagues at Max's Grille. Everything was excellent. Much better Lucca taking into account the difference in style and importance. Max's is a casual grill offering well prepared simple food. I had a 6 oz. filet that was prepared perfectly. It came with sauteed veggies and some grilled shrimp. A plain and delicious dish. Excellent breads served with hummus. Nice sparkling wine by the glass.

Saturday I went to the Palazzo Spa and have to report it is one of the best spas I have been to. It is new but built in the Alhambra style just like the Boca Resort. Every part of this spa was perfect. It was quite expensive, making even the Ritz spa look reasonable but the services were excellent and the price was appropriate given the level of service and talent of the facilaist and masseuse. I don't know that I can afford to return here any time soon but if I won the lotto, I'd be there in a flash.

LMF

Patrick

LMF, it's a rough life keeping your license current isn't it? LOL. Sounds like you did it in style.

You're saying the pasta with ragu was $38? For that it should have been truffle ragu at the very least!

mitchdesj

We are going to the Boca resort on october 21; we've been there twice so far, always over xmas, it's way too busy at that time of year, I prefer the Breakers during the holiday.
I have to say that the spa is outstanding, out of this world, decor and services.
The golf course is very nice also.
The Beach Club during the xmas holidays is to be avoided at all costs unless you have small children with you; they set up trapeze/circus school and giant inflated toys by the beach area; if you want quiet time, forget it.

LilMsFoodie

As I looked at my review, I noticed I wrote "early August", when I meant October. The past few months have been a horrible blur but I do know what month it is, really.

Yes Patrick. $38 bucks for a bowl of pasta and ragu, no sides. I did have a very nice salad course, mesclun, sliced pears, pine nuts and asiago. It was about $12. Pretty pricey for their captive audience. Lots of great places in Boca if you want to leave the estate. We were tired however and wanted to try what the resort had to offer.

Now I just have to figure out how to get back to that spa. LMF

LilMsFoodie

Just an FYI, I received an email this morning from The Breakers resort in Palm Beach. They have reopened, effective today. The email noted that they were 100% occupancy for the weekend and heavily booked for the rest of the month. Good news for Palm Beach. LMF