Trip Report | Palm Beach Gardens

Overview

Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County, located on the east coast of Florida between Miami and Orlando. It’s about a 20 minute drive from the island of Palm Beach, which is famous for glitz, glam, beautiful palm tree-lined streets, high-end shopping, and nightlife.

Accommodations

We’re lucky to have family with a beautiful home in the area, and we visit every year. However, if we had to book hotel accommodations, we would explore the Hyatt Place West Palm Beach. A category 3 Hyatt, it would cost about 18,000 points/night. We love Hyatt Place for family trips because our family of five can comfortably fit in one room. They also offer free breakfast which is super convenient. While this particular Hyatt Place is close to lots of action in West Palm Beach and is about a mile from the beach, it doesn’t appear to have a pool (which could be a deal breaker for certain families with kiddos).

As an alternative, there are a ton of Airbnb’s and VRBO’s available in Palm Beach Gardens and the surrounding areas. At a quick glance, there’s a variety of options ranging in size, number of bedrooms and price depending on your family’s size and budget. While you can’t book using Hyatt points or Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can apply Capital One miles to “erase” or reimburse anything coded as travel on your Capital One Venture bill. You can also utilize Citi points to get cash back, which would essentially reimburse you as well. Plenty of options!

Activities

Our primary focus in Palm Beach Gardens is always the pool and the beach. I swear our kids turn into fish while we’re in Florida. However, below are some places we’ve visited before or plan to visit.

Juno Beach - We usually frequent Juno Beach which is about a 15 minute drive from where we stay. It’s so perfect for families though because there’s a parking lot directly across from the beach (so it makes lugging all the beach gear as painless as possible), access to bathrooms and outdoor showers, and a cute quick-service restaurant right on the pier.

Cox Science Center & Aquarium - We spent a day here one year and it was super fun with the kids. We actually meant to go to the zoo, but took a wrong turn and decided to spend the day here instead. 😂 It didn’t disappoint!

Palm Beach Zoo - One of these years, we will make it to the zoo! We hear they have an albino alligator which sounds pretty cool.

Lion Country Safari - Friends of ours have done this and they recommended it to us.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center - We haven’t made it here yet, but I think it would be visit sometime.

Gardens Mall - On a rainy day, why not head to the mall for a little shopping? The Gardens Mall is really nice and has all the well-known, mainstream stores in addition to high-end designer brands as well.

Worth Avenue - We like to visit the famous Worth Avenue in Palm Beach just for fun. This shopping district is lined with the highest-end stores and boutiques, beautiful fountains, meticulously maintained landscaping, and sidewalks so clean you could almost eat off of them. Just a beautiful place and plenty of options to grab lunch, dinner or a snack.

Dining

Palm Beach Gardens has so many dining options! There is something for every taste and every budget. Here are some places we’ve tried over the years and would absolutely recommend:

The Breakers Seafood Bar - This is a definite splurge, but the food, service and views can’t be beat! If you’re looking for a special meal while in Palm Beach, you can’t get any better. They specialize in the freshest seafood imaginable including oysters, clam chowder, crab claws and more. We’ve also had the pecan crusted grouper, crab cakes, fresh-baked rolls and the gorgonzola truffle fries. All to die for! Don’t forget to grab one of their specialty cocktails at the bar that doubles as a fish tank.

Carmine’s La Trattoria - Everyone in Palm Beach Gardens knows Carmine’s. Quintessential authentic Italian food comes in huge portions and it’s a very family-friendly spot. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, a quaint gift shop, and a market and bakery that you have to see to believe. For dinner, my favorite is the Chicken Milanese, Mark loves the veal chop, and the kids always share a giant pizza. Rave reviews all around.

La Goulue - The intimate cozy setting, the white tablecloths, the traditional French cuisine - I felt like I was transported to a chic Parisian restaurant! Feast on classic favorites like onion soup, beef tartare, foie gras, roast chicken and steak frites, among lots of other things. We also spent a considerable amount of time at the bar sampling the creative cocktail list. You just can’t go wrong with La Goulue.

Henry’s Palm Beach - An American bistro serving elevated comfort food. The vibe is Palm Beach chic without being stuffy. Menu items include oysters on the half shell, pigs in a pretzel dough blanket, lobster role, butter crumb Dover sole, chicken pot pie, and beef wellington. Everything we tried was delicious!

Rocco’s Tacos - The cutest place to grab some traditional Mexican cuisine and margaritas! We love dining on the outdoor patio. Everything is wonderful but you definitely can’t miss the guacamole made tableside!

Palm Beach Grill - We’ve dined here once for a family dinner several years ago. I’d love to visit again now that the kids are a little older. It’s a refined American steakhouse with traditional fare that I would probably compare to a Capital Grille-type restaurant. Not the most kid-friendly spot, but definitely doable. And even better for a date night!

The River House - Great local restaurant that offers fresh seafood, steaks, sides to share, and a tiki bar right on the waterway. Request a table on their outdoor patio in order to eat, drink, and watch the boats go by! I would consider this spot casual and very family-friendly.

Sant Ambroeus - Imagine a mixture of vintage Italy and ritzy Palm Beach with a dash of NYC. There’s a stunning main dining room (our table had two velvet sofas instead of chairs) and a more casual but sleek and trendy bar area. Also offers a coffee bar and gelateria. We couldn’t have loved our food more - I had the conchiglie alla aragosta (homemade mini shell pasta, lobster, shrimp and cherry tomatoes) and it was mind-blowing. There’s also a grassy area adjacent to the restaurant which is a real bonus with kiddos in tow.

La Goulue terrace (date night for mom and dad)

Louie enjoying dining outdoors at the River House

Conclusion

Our family loves Palm Beach Gardens and the special memories we’ve made here over the years. If you’re looking for a beach destination with great restaurants, shopping and kids’ activities, we’d highly recommend that you put it on your list.

Points & Miles Breakdown

Accommodations - Free for us, but if we booked hotel accommodations, we would pay 90,000 Hyatt points for 5 nights (18,000 points each); this would include the free hotel breakfast.

Flights - Paid 159,825 Southwest points for 5 roundtrip tickets from Pittsburgh to Ft. Lauderdale (31,965 each). Also paid a total of $56 in taxes and fees ($11.20 per ticket). Had we paid in cash, the tickets would have cost $2,724 ($544.96 each). This seemed high to me, but likely because it was spring break and therefore peak season.

To earn Southwest points, Mark and I either a) apply for Southwest cards or b) transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from Chase to Southwest. Or a combination of both!

If you are interested in learning more about racking up points and miles, let me know! I’d love to help strategize credit card welcome bonuses with you and I’m happy to answer any questions.

Trip Report | Palm Beach Gardens

❤️ Liz

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