A classic old Florida gem enjoys new life

People who have never set foot inside the Best Western Palm Beach Lakes Inn typically have the same reaction. Richard Netzel calls it the “Oh My God moment.”

Netzel, director of sales and marketing, says the 135-room highway hotel, just east of Interstate 95 in southeast Florida’s Palm Beach County, is not what people expect.

“It’s classic Florida, a borderline boutique hotel that’s been a part of West Palm Beach’s history for 45 years,” he says. “Elvis stayed here. So did Marilyn Monroe.”

It was quite the hot spot for many years after it opened, with a restaurant and an 18-hole golf course. Palm Beach Lakes flourished with an old mall, auditorium (now a Christian convention center) and an old baseball stadium. Most of those are gone now, but the Best Western remains, minus the golf course and restaurant.

And the hotel is enjoying new life after an outlet mall opened across the street last year.

“The owners put a three quarters of a million dollars into the hotel in the past two years (guest rooms were renovated in 2012) and it was ranked sixth out of 33 hotels listed on TripAdvisor for West Palm Beach,” Netzel says. “We have something special here. It’s a gem.”

The economic impact (of the outlet mall) has been amazing, says Netzel, who took the marketing job at the hotel in 2013. And, by the way, his first impression of the hotel — from the outside alone — wasn’t so good.

“It looked like a midwest funeral home,” he recalls. “I didn’t plan to take the job.”

But then he said he experienced that “OMG moment,” met the staff and fell in love with the place.

The hotel has a crystal chandelier in the lobby imported from Italy 45 years ago, a pool and courtyard, a gazebo, a waterfall, a meditation garden, shuffleboard courts, a giant chess set and a row of wooden rocking chairs.

Recent guests included the Rockettes, the Chippendale dancers and the Marshall Tucker band.

“Revenues are up (so are rates),” Netzel says. “Last year was the best year we ever had and we’re doing even better this year.”