With a name like PGA National Resort & Spa, home of the annual Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens Florida, you'd be right to assume that golf is big here. With five onsite championship courses including one that's brand new Fazio designed, it is most assuredly a golfer's paradise. Since opening in 1981, PGA National Resort and Spa has not only evolved alongside the game of golf, but has also been exceeding guest expectations year-after-year with ongoing upgrades. Currently in their final phase of a property-wide, four-year $100 million renovation, all 379 guest rooms received floor-to-ceiling makeovers.
Some were redeveloped into specialty suites like the one-bedroom Media Rooms that elevate the man cave concept to a five-star level. The rooms offer multiple large screen HDTVs and enough designer leather recliners to accommodate game day partying. The Bridal Suite features bathrooms outfitted with limestone walls and a large soaking tub, while two additional Spa Suites bring spa services directly to you with a second door in the bathroom leading to a room with professional massage tables.
Although there are a total of six eating and drinking venues on the property, the hotel’s best fine dining experience is Ironwood Steak & Seafood. The restaurants boasts a conversation-inducing atmosphere and offers impeccably-personalized service. Executive Chef Sean McKee artfully builds signature dishes using seasonally-fresh ingredients and prime, locally-caught seafood like Mahi-Mahi, Red Snapper, and Florida Spiny Lobsters. In the turf category, the eatery serves 32-ounce Wagyu Tomahawk Bone-In Ribeye for Two and Kansas City 21 day dry-aged prime that are seared in a Vulcan 1,200-degree broiler. The floor-to-ceiling, 1,000-bottle wine room includes 36 vintages by the glass including PGA Private Label Cabernet Sauvignon made in Napa exclusively for the resort.
But the culinary delights coming out of Chef McKee's kitchens aren't strictly confined to the on-site venues. PGA National's very own mobile gourmet iTruck periodically opens up as the hotel’s 92-second hole serving comfort foods such as BBQ pork sliders, Birdie Shrimp, truffle fries and lobster sliders. The resort also hosts festivals throughout the year like the Craft Beer Festival & Burger Bash showcasing more than 120 craft beers and ciders paired with gourmet burgers and live local music. Back in 2013, PGA National set a new Guinness Book World Record for the longest ice cream sundae at their Ice Cream Festival. Reaching a length of 1,250 feet, the sundae snaked through two ballrooms plus the entire length of the resort's 40,000-square-foot indoor conference center. The dessert consisted of 1,850 pounds of Luke's Ice Cream, 1,696 pounds of chocolate sauce, 462 pounds of sprinkles, 840 pounds of whipped cream and 1,748 pounds of bananas.
Recently, Condé Nast Traveler poll ranked the hotel’s spa among its top 25 facilities in the United States. The 40,000-square-foot, European-style Spa at PGA National features Waters of the World, mineral pools infused with healing salts imported from Salies de Bearn in the French Pyrenees as well as Israel an Dead Sea salt. There are over 100 internationally-inspired treatments like the Pure Fiji Coconut Honey Sugar Scrub that exfoliates then moisturizes with a botanical blend of four tropical drift nut oils and passion flower extract. The Hydrafacial Treatment System uses a vacuum-based skin abrasion tip, removing impurities while infusing the healthy underlying skin with deep cleansing active serums.
Even if you’ve never swung a club or don’t plan on it, PGA National's wide array amenities make it a go-to destination for any Florida escape.
