Gliding along the herringbone brick drive, past palms planted in orderly rows and a gleaming fountain, toward the iconic twin Belvedere towers, one gets the impression that The Breakers has things well in hand. The resort is the perfect spot for guests who want to let down their guard and hand over the reins to someone else for a while. With over a century of practice, The Breakers astutely commands its 140 acres of seaside Palm Beach, a lavish resort exemplifying old-school luxury at its

Gliding along the herringbone brick drive, past palms planted in orderly rows and a gleaming fountain, toward the iconic twin Belvedere towers, one gets the impression that The Breakers has things well in hand. The resort is the perfect spot for guests who want to let down their guard and hand over the reins to someone else for a while. With over a century of practice, The Breakers astutely commands its 140 acres of seaside Palm Beach, a lavish resort exemplifying old-school luxury at its finest.

Founded by oil magnate Henry Morrison Flagler in 1896, the original hotel, called the Palm Beach Inn, burned down in 1903. Rebuilt in the same glorious location along the pristine east coast of Florida in 1904, The Breakers soon became a place to see and be seen. The Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Astors, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan all hobnobbed here with other wealthy and influential magnates. A second fire in 1925 devoured the wooden structure again. When it came time to rebuild, architects looked to the Villa Medici in Rome for inspiration; it took 75 Italian painters to complete the artwork on the soaring arched ceilings of the Italian Renaissance-style hotel. These days The Breakers is considered nothing short of a masterpiece.

At one end of the accommodations spectrum, the Standard Superior Room is a cozy and efficient 250 square feet with pale seagrass-green wallpaper and bright white trim. The Imperial Suite counterbalances with 1,650 square feet of wide-open living space, balconies, and tropical touches. Extravagant Italian armoires, custom carpet, and marble baths are found throughout, and while there are flat-screen TVs in every room, the view from the large windows always steals the show. The soothing natural palette of sandy tans, blues, and corals of the tropical landscape are echoed in the rooms' décor.

This inspiration extends to the Spa at The Breakers, where pomegranate, honey-papaya, or kiwi-coconut salt scrubs welcome your senses to South Florida. If you need incentive to workout in paradise, spend some time on the treadmills at the Oceanview Fitness Center, where a commanding view of the beach dangles before you like a carrot just out of reach. Or stroll over to the tennis courts, play a few sets and find out what Tennis magazine already knows—that The Breakers has some of the top tennis courts in the country.

Kim Grant has been writing about the best places to stay in North America since the day after graduating college in 1984. Since then she has written over 35 guidebooks and for countless websites and print publications. She is also the editorial director of a forthcoming website on the best places to stay and the travel acquisitions editor for Countryman Press.