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Palm Beach Gives Itself Away

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 18, 2006
For the second straight year, Palm Beach County is giving itself away.

In an effort to draw people to its website, the popular South Florida destination has created a Spring Training Baseball Getaway. The lucky winner gets a four-day, three-night trip for two that includes Southwest Airlines tickets, accommodations at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott, and tickets to exhibition baseball games at Roger Dean Stadium – the only spring training site shared by two teams (St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins).

According to Enid Atwater Liberti, vice president for corporate communications of the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the winner will be drawn from web-site entries on Feb. 1.

Eighteen of the 30 major-league teams – including the two based in Palm Beach County – train in Florida. The other dozen prepare for the season in Arizona.

In addition to previewing the 2006 baseball season, the contest winner can choose from a wide variety of warm-weather alternatives, including 160 golf courses, more than 1,000 tennis courts, and 2,000 restaurants. Palm Beach County’s 200 hotels have more than 15,000 rooms – many of them close to a myriad of beachfront activities.

According to Liberti, the county has made a full recovery from Hurricane Wilma and hotel space is filling quickly. The benign winter climate helps; the average annual temperature of Palm Beach County is 78 degrees F.

County attractions include the mansions, historic beachfront hotels, and upscale shopping of Palm Beach; the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm; the adjacent CityPlace shopping and dining center; and Lion Country Safari, featuring a new alligator moat and a giraffe feeding exhibit.

Tennis great Chris Evert gives half-day lessons at Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, while golf lessons are available at the David Peltz School at the Boca Raton Resort & Club and Golf Digest School in Palm Beach Gardens – home of the PGA National Resort & Spa. The PGA Resort’s newly-renovated, 40,000-square foot spa has European accents and more than 100 treatments.

A name (Stress Busting Massage) and reputation (The Breakers) may keep visitors in Palm Beach – especially now that The Spa at the Breakers was rated one of the nation’s Top 25 by readers of Conde Naste Traveler. The venerable oceanfront property is sparkling again after a $15 million renovation that included the creation of private bungalows.

Not far from Roger Dean Stadium in north county, the Jupiter Beach Resort offers a De-Stress Muscle Massage perfect for visitors returning from the ballpark.

To sign up for the free trip and learn more about Palm Beach County, log onto www.palmbeachfl.com.

Further information is available from the Palm Beach County CVB, Suite 800, 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL 33401 (800-833-5733).

Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is president of the North American Travel Journalists Association, and a frequent contributor to AAA Traveler and USAirways Magazine.

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