PALM BEACH: CASTLE ON THE SAND
from Travel + Leisure, October 1990

From the outside, it could be just be another upscale condo. But sweep up to the porte cochere, surrender your car keys to the GQ-cover carhop, and step past the giant entry’s brass-handled doors; you’ll know immediately that you’ve arrived someplace extraordinary—the new Ocean Grand, Palm Beach’s first true luxury hotel since the Breakers opened in 1926. 
 

It’s a grandeur that is uncontrived, elegant. That first vista of creamy marble stretching high and far is augmented by an antique commode here, a perfectly tailored armchair there, and a profusion of flowers. The Ocean Grand’s real secret is intimacy: just 169 luxurious rooms, most with ocean view, each large and balconied; bathrooms have acres od shiny gray marble. Public areas are spacious. Guests gather for tea or cocktails in the Living Room or snuggle up with Cognac and a good book in the adjoining Library. Throughout the hotel, service is friendly, polite and solicitous. Boardwalk steps descend from the pool terrace to the Atlantic beach, with its royal-blue cabanas.