The Boca Raton Celebrates 100 Years as a South Florida Icon

As an aspiring retiree, I absolutely thrive in South Florida.

You’d think I was a New Yorker the way I long to take flight to The Sunshine State upon the first cold snap. I visited Palm Beach for the first time in college, and the Rolls-Royces and two martini lunches at Ta-Boo (RIP) instantly enchanted me. Last year, I wrote an editor’s guide to Palm Beach, based on my 20 years of Worth Avenue wanderings.

In January, I flocked to the other side of the state, visiting Naples (and Four Seasons’ newly-opened Naples Beach Club) for the first time. My seasonal affective disorder (SAD) lifted upon arrival. Talk about a vibe shift!

As a journalist, though, I acknowledged a glaring omission in my Florida field reporting: I’d never visited Boca Raton! In the peak of “season,” though, I recently remedied this oversight by traveling to —where else? — THE Boca Raton.

Visionary architect Addison Mizner (who famously owned a pet spider monkey named Johnnie Brown) opened the Ritz-Carlton Cloister Inn on February 6, 1926, so this year, the sprawling property celebrates its centennial. It’s never been grander, either. The only Forbes quadruple five-star resort in the Americas, The Boca Raton offers five distinct hotels within one iconic resort:

• Tower — family-friendly suites in close proximity to the Harborside Pool Club
• Yacht Club — adults-only, all-suite accommodations with personalized concierge services
• Beach Club — as its name suggests, the beachside hotel at The Boca Raton
• Cloister — the O.G.!
• Bungalows — the extended hideaway for long-term guests

I stayed in the Tower, in a spacious ocean-view one-bedroom corner suite. Tower guests have access to the newly reimagined Top of the Tower, a private lounge on the 27th floor with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean and a rotating selection of compelling sips and bites throughout the day.

After dropping my luggage off (and receiving more than a few branded welcome amenities from the attentive team of butlers), I beelined downstairs to the adjacent Harborside Pool Club for a poolside Huli Huli salad and a crispy Diet Coke. Let the healing begin!

Harborside Pool Club offers guests three pools, a 450-foot lazy river, two water slides, luxury cabanas with personal butler service, and a Pool Bar (didn’t you hear about the Huli Huli salad?). Because my visit coincided with spring break, I witnessed the pool at its busiest. I’m pleased to report that, even during peak season, there were plenty of poolside lounge chairs and attentive waitstaff available.

‘Major’ly Good Food

The Boca Raton features more than 1,000 rooms and suites across the property and enough restaurants to ensure that guests never need to venture off-site to be wined and dined. Dallasites in particular will enjoy knowing that Major Food Group maintains a major presence at The Boca Raton, operating four restaurants on the property. In addition to the beloved Sadelle’s, there’s The Flamingo Grill, Principessa Ristorante, and Japanese Bocce Club, a modern Japanese spot that overlooks the bocce courts.

The family-friendly resort buzzes all day long, starting early in the morning when the scent of toasted bagels leads you straight to Sadelle’s. I started my day there, enjoying a particularly decadent grapefruit brûlée (that crackled like its namesake dessert) with my vanilla latte and a copy of The New York Times.

For dinner, I highly recommend making a reservation at The Flamingo Grill. (Request a table outside on the terrace.) The midcentury chophouse succeeds in its aim to evoke South Florida’s golden age. The entire menu captured this native Texan’s attention. I started with a jumbo shrimp cocktail served over heaping crushed ice because, hey, I’m just a girl. For my entrée, I feasted on the Chicken Diane, with roasted mushrooms, brandy, Dijon, and cream sauce, paired alongside silky whipped potatoes. I took my dessert to go, enjoying the key lime cheesecake in my deep soaking tub. If Addison Mizner could only know!

On my last night, I took The Boca Raton’s complimentary water taxi across for dinner at Marisol, an oceanside indoor-outdoor Mediterranean restaurant that offered spectacular people watching. (Editor’s Note: I sat next to a former Real Housewife on what appeared to be a first date. DeuxMoi who?!) My knowledgeable waiter served as my mezze spirit guide, and we collaborated on an ideal lineup: whipped feta with crushed pistachio, the Chef’s daily crudo, and shawarma lamb chops, served with crispy lemon potatoes and tzatziki, which stood out as my best dish of the trip.

A Destination Spa

I visit a lot of spas, enough that I fall into the category of “expert” when prompted to self-identify my rank. Allow me to state for the record that Spa Palmera ranks in the top three of the best spas I’ve ever been to. Available exclusively to members and hotel guests, Spa Palmera spans 50,000 square feet and has won Five Stars in Forbes Travel Guide from 2023 to 2026. Inspired by the grandeur of the Alhambra Palace in Spain, Spa Palmera features 44(!) treatment rooms and a private spa pool in the middle of a lush courtyard.

The vast treatment menu offers everything from sound therapy to signature services like the Alhambra Body Ritual. In addition to a 90-minute Lavender Fields massage, I started my spa day with the Ritual Bath. After time in the steam room, I experienced “the thermes,” including a ritual soak in an oversized soaking tub, followed by a Swiss shower, deluge, and time in the jacuzzi.

Do as the Romans do. Or in this case, the Spaniards.

Throughout my stay, I ran into Texas friends who choose, year after year, to make The Boca Raton their home away from home with their families. Even I left wanting more.

100 years old and the glow-up shines brighter than ever. The Boca Raton, you’re an icon.