The Chesterfield Palm Beach is located in  the heart of a residential section of Palm Beach but still only two blocks north of the world famous Worth Avenue. Designed in the manner of a European bed and breakfast, it was built as The Lido-Venice in 1926 and renamed The Vineta in 1928. The hotel was renovated in 1937 by Palm Beach architect John L. Volk. While the hotel is registered with the Palm Beach Preservation foundation as a historical landmark, you can be sure our eyes are set firmly to the future. It undergoes annual refurbishments, none of which, however, are permitted to change the basic historic character of the property. Named The Chesterfield Palm Beach in 1989, the hotel today is a proud member of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection and Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

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Eyebrows may have shot up among Palm Beach real- estate watchers when the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office last Friday recorded a deed showing that The Chesterfield hotel had a new owner.

Well, sort of a new owner, at least on paper, according to the folks at the historic inn at 363 Cocoanut Row.

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Even though the “special warranty deed” showed that The Chesterfield was bought for $6.5 million, it’s business as usual at the boutique hotel, which remains the only U.S. property in the United Kingdom-based Red Carnation Group.

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“There was a change in corporate structure to the property on Friday,” acknowledged hotel spokeswoman Arnelle Kendall, explaining that it was an internal transfer of ownership “from one entity to another. It’s still very much a Red Carnation hotel.”

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Kendall provided no reason for the sale, but property owners make paper transfers for a variety of business reasons — for tax-related issues, say, or to satisfy the request of a lender.

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The deed shows that the original owner, T-H Court Limited Partnership, transferred ownership to a corporation named Chesterfield PB Hotel Property Inc. The Aug. 26 deed was signed in South Africa by part-time Palm Beacher Beatrice Tollman, acting on behalf of Tollman-Hundley Court Corp., “the sole general partner” of the seller. (Tollman’s husband, hotelier Stanley, you might remember, pleaded guilty in 2008 to U.S. tax evasion; charges against his wife were dropped as part of his plea deal, which included $105 million in settlement payments.)

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Whatever the reason for the sale, the price on the deed was about $3.3 million more than the $3.2 million “total market value” set by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser office for the property in the 2011 tax rolls.

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One more clue that the sale was internal: The company that sold the property was Florida-based, while the buyer was established in corporation-friendly Delaware, the home state of so many entities that own Palm Beach properties.

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Meanwhile, the hotel continues a phased renovation project to upgrade its 52 rooms and suites as well as refurbish the popular Leopard Lounge restaurant and bar. The latter will close in November for two weeks of renovations, and the re-opening party is set for early December.

Other Red Carnation hotels are in Great Britain, Switzerland and South Africa.

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The Palm Beach Post                                                                                                                                                 

 Sun, Dec 4, 1927                                                                                                                                                        

 Page 11

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Definite opening dates for two Palm Beach hotels were announced last week when the new Palm Beach opened December 1, and A. D. Cushing, manager of the Vineta, formerly the Lido-Venice, said the hostelry would open its season January 14.

 

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The Palm Beach Post                                                                                                                                                      

 Sat, Oct 28, 1933                                                                                                                                                                  

 Page 6

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Mrs. Paty Again Will Operate Vineta Hotel

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The Vineta Hotel will be leased again to Mrs. Lina King Paty, who operated it last season, under a court order signed Friday in Circuit Court. The hotel is in receivership and is being operated under the direction of the court.

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The new lease it is to provide that the operator not run any other competitive hotel, that the lease may be terminated with or without cause at any time, and that if the American Plan is used, no greater proportion be charged under heading of meals than for rooms under the European plan.

 

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The Palm Beach Post                                                                                                                                                           

Fri, Jun  26, 1987                                                                                                                                                                   

Page 16

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Palm Court Hotel Closes Suit To Decide Ownership

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Palm Beach  -- Managers of the plush 66-room Palm Court Hotel, site of a four-star restaurant, have closed the doors for the summer. A Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce official said the managers have vowed to reopen the hotel October 1, despite a lawsuit that left the hotel’s future management in doubt. The hotel now is legally in the hands of 66 investors who purchased rooms last year, said attorney Michael Hanzman who represents them. Hanzman said the rooms of the hotel, which has the prestigious address of 363 Cocoanut Row, were sold to investors in 1985 for about $200,000 each in a condominium rental arrangement.

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But in May 1986, the developers, Palm Court Inc. and its president, Carl Sax, filed suit against the unit owners, claiming they had defaulted on their obligation to maintain sufficient liability insurance. The unit owners filed a counter-suit,  charging Sax with misrepresenting the investment and claiming expenses were less than they actually were Henzman said.

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Another hearing on the suit set for July 28 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court will clarify future ownership, he said. Neither Sax, nor hotel general manager, James Baldridge, would comment on the suit or plans,for reopening the hotel in the fall. Jesse Newman, executive director of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, said, however, that he had talked to the principals involved in the case and that all were determined to reopen October 1, in time for the tourist season.

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Units in the hotel were sold to private individuals as investments and the hotel management rented them for the owners. Closing the hotel was logical since business had dropped sharply with the summer season, Hanzman said.

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Hanzman said the hotel was renovated in 1985 and Palm Court Inc. claimed the cost was about $14 million. But Hanzman said the owners’ suited claimed there was fraudulent misrepresentation and that the actual value was only about $5 million. The hotel and its restaurant L’Auberge de France, each won a Mobile Travel Guide 4-star rating, one of the highest ratings given, in 1987. Chef Michel Huchet said this week, however, that he was leaving and did not plan to return.

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The Palm Beach Post                                                                                                                                                        

Tue, Oct 4, 1988                                                                                                                                                                   

 Page 115                                                                                                                                                                              

By Peter Whoriskey                                                                                                                                                                           

Palm Beach Post staff writer

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Palm Court to Reopen Under New Group

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Palm Beach -- The Palm Court Hotel, which has been closed for more than a year, will reopen November 22, under new management. The hotel will be managed by Hotels of Distinction, a Boston based firm with a reputation for rejuvenating hotels. Hotels of Distinction manages the Boston’s Copley Plaza, the Back Bay Hilton and the Grand Hotel in Montreal, said Alan Tremain, president of the hotel management company.

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Tremain pledged that his company will continue to deliver the same high standard of luxury, service and cuisine offered before the hotel’s closing. Bbefore closing, the restaurant and hotel had earned a four- star rating from Mobil.

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In the midst of a protracted legal dispute, the stately 66-room hotel was forced to close in June 1987. Following more than two years of legal wrangling, Carteret Bank emerged as the owner and operator of the hotel. Carteret signed a three-year contract with Hotels of Distinction September 1. Carteret is seeking to sell the hotel, however, according to Carteret Vice President Patrick Lippmann, and is involved in very promising negotiations with a buyer.  Lippmann declined to identify the party.

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Tremain maintains a residence in Palm Beach. Lippman said that influenced his decision to choose Tremaine’s company from among seven being considered. “We felt it would allow him to better understand the details of running a hotel in Palm Beach,”  Lippmann said.

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William R. Ebersol, former general manager of the Ritz-Carlton in Boston and in Chicago, is the hotel’s new general manager.

The luxurious hotel on Coconut Row, near Worth Avenue and the beaches, has catered to the elite since it was built in 1926. Winter rates ranged from $140 to $450 a night. In 1986, Palm Court Inc., the hotel’s developers, sued people who had purchased hotel rooms, claiming they had defaulted on their obligation to maintain sufficient liability insurance. The unit owners filed a countersuit, charging Palm Court Inc. President Carl Sax with misrepresenting the investment and claiming expenses of less than they actually were. A settlement reached in August gave ownership of the hotel to Carteret Bank.

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The Palm Beach Post                                                                                                                                                         

Thu, Dec 14, 1989                                                                                                                                                                

 Page 40

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Sale of Palm Court Hotel is Completed

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Carteret Savings Bank has completed its sale of the Palm Court Hotel in Palm Beach for $3.16 million to a limited partnership formed by Tollman Hundley Hotels of New York, court records say.  Carteret was awarded ownership of the hotel in 1988 after a two-year legal fight with two developers, Carl Sax and Lanny Horowitz  to whom Carteret had extended loans for renovation of the hotel.

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The new owners expect to spend $1 million on renovations to convert the facility into an English/ European theme. The 66-room hotel on Coconut Row will open under a new name, Chesterfield Hotel Deluxe, on December 27. Tollman Hundley owns the Chesterfield Hotel in London among about 1,000 hotels worldwide, including Days Inns in Florida and the Club Med Resort in St. Lucie County.

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Palm Beach Daily News                                                                                                                                                         

28th October 2022

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History Throwback: The Chesterfield Will Reopen in Palm Beach, Rebranded as The Vineta Hotel

Palm Beach Daily News – 28th October 2022

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The Chesterfield will undergo a complete renovation, offering updated bars, a restaurant, and a smaller number of rooms.

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Goodbye, Chesterfield. Hello, Vineta.

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The historic Chesterfield, a landmark boutique hotel in the heart of Palm Beach that sold for $42 million in April and closed in September, will have new life under its new owners, with a name that hearkens back to its founding.

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The pale pink building at 363 Cocoanut Row that closed in September for renovations now will be called The Vineta Hotel, a nod to its name from 1928 through the late 1970s, the new owners, London-based Reuben Brothers and family-run luxury hoteliers Oetker Collection, announced this week. The hotel’s reopening date is planned for late 2023, according to a news release.

 

“This is a monumental moment in the brand’s history as we announce our first Masterpiece Hotel in the United States,” Oetker Collection CEO Timo Gruenert said, adding that many of the brand’s guests regularly visit or live in Palm Beach. “We, therefore, look forward to extending Oetker Collection’s unique hospitality ethos based on our values of family spirit, elegance and genuine kindness, to this wonderful town with The Vineta Hotel.”

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The Oetker Collection now has 12 hotels, with 10 open and two in development. In addition to Palm Beach, the brand has properties in vacation destinations such as Geneva, St. Barth’s, the French Riviera and Capri.

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Originally named the Lido-Venice, The Vineta has a storied history. It opened in 1926 as a hotel, whose owner, Lido-Venice Corp. of New York, had the building’s interior decorated in an appropriately Venetian style. It was renamed The Vineta in 1928 and became condos in 1980, and by 1985 was operating as The Palm Court hotel-condominium. In 1989, it became part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection and was renamed The Chesterfield.

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For decades, the Palm Beach hotel known as The Chesterfield operated as The Vineta, seen here in an undated photograph. The new owners of the hotel have renamed the venue The Venita Hotel and reopening is planned for 2023.

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The history and central location of The Vineta Hotel was a major draw for the Oetker Collection, spokeswoman Nicole Vassallo said. “They really will only open hotels where guests frequent and had experiences there they really enjoyed,” she said. From famous celebrities to royalty: It’s last call for fans of the Leopard Lounge in Palm Beach

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Client input is so important to the organization that when Oetker Collection was developing The Vineta concept, general managers at other locations reached out to guests with whom they have strong relationships to get their thoughts, Vassallo said. “The response that they got was overwhelmingly positive,” she said.  In 1986, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1991, Palm Beach designated the building a landmark, which protects its exterior walls from significant alterations without permission from the town’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Without that approval, the iconic pale pink and Mediterranean Revival architecture will remain unchanged.

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Inside the building is a different story.

Paris-based interior designer Tino Zervudachi is leading a sweeping renovation of the hotel, the owners said in a news release. The number of rooms will be reduced from 53 to 41, the release said.

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“The concept behind the interior design for The Vineta Hotel is to infuse it with a fresh Palm Beach feel by bringing in clean lines, a relaxed ambiance, and a stylish and younger feeling palette of colors,” Zervudachi said in the news release. “It’s my aim to create a real new venue for visitors and residents alike — taking extra care to enhance the exterior dining spaces both at the pool and the courtyard — by establishing a cosmopolitan look that blends European design cues with the destination’s unmistakable aesthetic.”

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But what will become of the popular Leopard Lounge, which drew locals, travelers and celebrities to sit in its glossy black booths with slits of light coming in through the shuttered windows, under a hand-painted ceiling? The leopard-print carpet and the leopard statue that sat atop the slick black piano were iconic.

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It’s still too soon to say, but Vassallo said the team hopes to “breathe new life” into the space while honoring its heritage.

The former Leopard Lounge will be one of four dining and entertainment environments on the first floor of the Vineta. The iconic courtyard, with its flowering vines and lush palms, will become an al fresco dining area. Oetker Collection plans to add a new “statement bar” with a handful of seats. A Mediterranean-inspired indoor-outdoor poolside restaurant will round out the dining options.

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“We are incredibly excited to be working with Oetker Collection on The Vineta Hotel in Palm Beach — a place very close to my and my family’s heart,” Jamie Reuben of Reuben Brothers said. “With Oetker Collection’s renowned and refined approach to luxury hospitality, I am confident that the hotel will become a staple in Palm Beach for generations to come.”

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