View source for The Boca Raton Resort

{{Short description|Resort and club in Boca Raton, Florida}}
{{Infobox hotel
| hotel_name       = The Boca Raton
| image            =
| location         = [[Boca Raton, Florida|Boca Raton]], [[Florida]], USA
| coordinates      = {{coord|26.341403|-80.077562|type:landmark_region:US-FL|display=inline,title}}
| opened_date      = February 6, 1926
| closing_date     =
| developer        = [[Addison Mizner|Mizner Development Corp.]] and [[Ritz-Carlton]]
| architect        = [[Addison Mizner]] (original)<br />[[Schultze and Weaver]] (1930s expansion)<br />Donaldson Group Architects (1969 tower)
| owner            = [[MSD Capital|MSD Partners]]
| number_of_restaurants = 15+
| number_of_rooms  = 1,038
| number_of_suites =
| floor_area       =
| floors           =
| parking          = [[Valet parking]] only
| website          = {{url|https://www.thebocaraton.com/}}
| footnotes        =
}}
'''The''' '''Boca Raton''' (often called the '''Boca Resort''' by locals) is a luxury resort and club in [[Boca Raton, Florida]], founded in 1926, today comprising 1,047 hotel rooms across 337 acres. Its facilities include a 18-hole golf course, a 50,000 sq. ft. Forbes Five-Star spa, eight swimming pools, 30 tennis courts, a full-service 32-slip marina, more than 15 restaurants and bars, and 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boca Raton - Palm Beach Hotels - Boca Raton, United States |url=http://www.forbestravelguide.com/hotels/palm-beach-florida/the-boca-raton |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Forbes Travel Guide |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boca Raton: Luxury Resort Hotel & Beach Club in South Florida |url=https://www.thebocaraton.com/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=The Boca Raton Resort |language=en}}</ref>  The property fronts both Lake Boca (part of the [[Intracoastal Waterway]]) and the Atlantic Ocean. The resort was operated as part of Hilton's [[Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts]], and it is now privately owned by an affiliate of [[MSD Capital|MSD Partners]] with the new name, The Boca Raton.
==History==
[[File:The Cloister Inn- Boca Raton, Florida (8680920684).jpg|thumb|Cloister Inn, 1928]]
The resort first opened on February 6, 1926, as the 100-room Ritz-Carlton Cloister Inn. Originally designed and built by Boca Raton's city planner, architect [[Addison Mizner]], who intended Camino Real to be the main street of his new city, it was to have been one of two hotels, with the other being an oceanfront hotel. However, the [[Ritz-Carlton|Ritz-Carlton Investment Corporation]] became involved in the project and wanted the oceanfront hotel redesigned, so construction began on the smaller and financially more viable 100-room inn on the west side of Lake Boca Raton.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Boca Raton Resort & Club: Mizner's Inn | publisher=History Press | author=Curl, Donald | year=2008 | location=Charleston, SC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=A brief history of Boca Raton, Florida | publisher=History Press | author=Ling, Sally J. | year=2007 | location=Charleston, SC}}</ref>
Mizner's development company, hurt by the end of the [[Florida land boom of the 1920s]] and the [[1926 Miami hurricane]], declared bankruptcy in 1926. Philadelphia utility millionaire [[Clarence H. Geist]] bought its assets in 1927, and he expanded the Cloister Inn into the Boca Raton Club.<ref>[http://www.bocahistory.org/pdf/span_river/SRP%20May%201974.pdf Sale of Mizner Properties], ''The Spanish River Papers'', May 1974, Vol II No. 2, Boca Raton Historical Society; {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510062024/http://www.bocahistory.org/pdf/span_river/SRP%20May%201974.pdf |date=May 10, 2012 }}</ref> The architectural firm [[Schultze and Weaver]] doubled the inn's size, and a cabana club was constructed where the "Addison on the Ocean" condominium building now stands.
Subsequently, the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] used the club as [[barracks]] during [[World War II]]. Touted by officials as "the most elegant barracks in history," it housed soldiers during the [[Boca Raton Army Air Field]]'s operation.
After the war, the Boca Raton Club's ownership and ultimately name were changed. The [[G. David Schine|Schine]] family purchased the club in 1944, renaming it the Boca Hotel and Club. While it was affectionately known on brochures as The Boca Raton, the resort was part of the identical Schine portfolio which included the [[Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel|Biltmore Hotel]] in [[Coral Gables, Florida|Coral Gables]] and the [[McAllister Hotel]] in [[Miami]].
[[File:Boca (Boca Raton, Florida).jpg|thumb|Tower overlooking the golf course]]
[[File:Boca Raton Resort porte-cochere entrance photo D Ramey Logan.JPG|thumb|"Boca pink", taken in 2013]]
[[Arthur Vining Davis]], whose brainchild was the [[Arvida Corp.|Arvida Corporation]], was responsible for modernizing the hotel. Opening the Boca Raton Club Tower in 1969, the building is still considerably taller than any other building in southern [[Palm Beach County]]. In addition, its famous "Boca pink" color has made it more famous than its stature of 300 feet (ninety-one meters) and twenty-seven floors, and it is commonly referred to as the "pink hotel".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070321014947/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=bocaratonclubtower-bocaraton-fl-usa Boca Raton Club Tower{{!}}Buildings{{!}}Emporis]}}</ref> Arvida also constructed the resort's beach club in 1980, on the site that Mizner had intended the main hotel to stand on.
VMS Realty, Incorporated (Van Kampen, Morris, Stone), the successors to Arvida regarding ownership, purchased the property in 1983 and renamed it in 1988 as the Boca Raton Resort & Club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bocaresort.com/ |title = The Boca Raton: Luxury Resort Hotel & Beach Club in Florida}}</ref>
In 2004, [[The Blackstone Group]], a private investment firm, acquired the resort as part of its $1.25-billion acquisition of Boca Resorts, Inc., the publicly-traded owner and operator of five Florida resorts.<ref>[https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/10/18/daily33.html "Blackstone enters $1.25B deal to buy Boca Resorts"], ''[[South Florida Business Journal]]'', 2004-10-21. Retrieved on 2018-08-07.</ref> In February 2009, the Beach Club finished a $150 million renovation, while the cloister and tower rooms were redesigned in 2006. In May 2009, [[Hilton Worldwide|Hilton]] announced that the resort would be the 13th property to join [[Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts|The Waldorf Astoria Collection]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hilton Adds Boca Raton Resort to Waldorf Astoria Collection |url=https://www.hotelexecutive.com/newswire/28423/hilton-adds-boca-raton-resort-to-waldorf-astoria-collection |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=www.hotelexecutive.com |language=en}}</ref>
[[MSD Capital|MSD Partners L.P.]], led by [[Michael Dell]], purchased the Boca Raton Resort & Club on June 4, 2019.<ref>[http://www.thebocavoice.com/boca-resort-announced-sale "Boca Resort sale announced today"], ''Boca Voice'', 2019-04-22. Retrieved on 2019-07-09.</ref> The new owners, as of 2020, have made a proposal to invest $75 million for renovations to the hotel, restaurants, and amenities.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-12|title=Michael Dell's MSD Partners plans major changes to Boca Raton Resort & Club|url=https://therealdeal.com/miami/2020/06/12/michael-dells-msd-partners-plans-major-changes-to-boca-raton-resort-club/|access-date=2020-06-17|website=The Real Deal Miami|language=en-US}}</ref> The property continued to be managed by Hilton under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand until its departure in July 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ostrowski |first=Jeff |date=2019-06-06 |title=New record: Boca Resort sells for nearly half a billion |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/business/2019/06/06/new-record-boca-resort-sells-for-nearly-half-billion/4963486007/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=The Palm Beach Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jelski |first=Christina |date=2021-07-15 |title=Boca Raton Resort will drop Waldorf Astoria name, launch reno |url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Boca-Raton-Resort-will-drop-Waldorf-Astoria-name-launch-reno |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=Travel Weekly}}</ref> As of July 12, 2021, the resort was renamed as The Boca Raton.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Boca Raton: Luxury Resort Hotel & Beach Club in Florida|url=https://www.thebocaraton.com/|access-date=2021-07-15|website=The Boca Raton Resort|language=en}}</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="nolines">
File:The Boca Raton Entrance and Cloister 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Entrance and Cloister
File:The Boca Raton Private Golden Beach 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Private Golden Beach
File:Lazy River at Harborside Pool Club at The Boca Raton.jpg|alt=Couple in the lazy river at Harborside Pool Club at The Boca Raton
File:Golf at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Golf at The Boca Raton
File:Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton
File:The Boca Raton Entrance 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Entrance
File:The Boca Raton Yacht Club 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Yacht Club
File:The Boca Raton Tower and Harborside Pool Cub 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Tower and Harborside Pool Cub
File:Lazy River Children at Harborside Pool Club at The Boca Raton.jpg|alt=Children in the lazy river at Harborside Pool Club at The Boca Raton
File:The Boca Raton Tennis Aerial 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Tennis Aerial
File:Tennis at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Tennis at The Boca Raton
File:The Boca Raton Cloister 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Cloister
File:The Boca Raton Beach Club Suite Room 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Beach Club Suite Room
File:The Boca Raton Yacht Club and Beach 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Yacht Club and Beach
File:The Boca Raton Yacht Club Room 1080x608px (2).jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Yacht Club Room
File:The Flamingo Grill at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=ptions The Flamingo Grill at The Boca Raton
File:The Boca Raton Tower Suite 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Tower Suite
File:The Boca Raton Beach Club Room View 1080x608px.jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Beach Club Room View
File:The Boca Raton Tower Double Bed 1080x608px (3).jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Tower Double Bed
File:The Boca Raton Tower Room 1080x608px (2).jpg|alt=The Boca Raton Tower Room
File:Marisol Oceanfront Dining at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Marisol Oceanfront Dining at The Boca Raton
File:Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton 1080x608px (3).jpg|alt=Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton
File:Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton 1080x608px (2).jpg|alt=Forbes Five Star Spa Palmera at The Boca Raton
File:Maison Rose at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Maison Rose at The Boca Raton
File:Sadelle's at The Boca Raton 1080x608px.jpg|alt=Sadelle's at The Boca Raton
</gallery>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{official|https://www.thebocaraton.com/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120229042045/http://www.bocahistory.org/exhibits/exhibits_mizner.asp History regarding the club]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180613100244/http://www.bocaresort.info/ Real estate at the Boca Resort]
{{Boca Raton, Florida}}
[[Category:Hotels in Florida]]
[[Category:Resorts in Florida]]
[[Category:Golf clubs and courses in Florida]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Boca Raton, Florida]]
[[Category:Hotels in Palm Beach County, Florida]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Revival architecture in Florida]]
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1926]]
[[Category:Hotels established in 1926]]
[[Category:Addison Mizner buildings]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Palm Beach County, Florida]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:Hotels in Boca Raton, Florida]]