Colony Hotel Redoing Pool and Outdoor Area

The town of Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the request by the owners of The Colony to demolish and reconstruct the pool and outdoor dining area of the hotel at 155 and 135 Hammon Ave, as first reported by the Palm Beach Daily News.

Designers said that the proposal for a new pool, bar, shaded dining space and landscaping will restore elegance and symmetry to the pool and courtyards.

At their meeting on May 22, board members praised the design.

“I think it’s fabulous,” Commissioner Kim Coleman said.

The owners, Sarah and Andrew Wetenhall, bought the hotel for $12 million in December 2016. Since then, they have renovated the undying room and ballroom.

Colony Hotel Redoing Pool and Outdoor Area

Now, their hotel, which was designed by the architectural firm of Simonson & Holley in 1946, is being considered for landmark designation. This consideration is the reason that their request to renovate the outdoor space went before the landmarks board. 

The new pool is to be more centrally located and almost entirely enclose a central square of lawn, accessible by a single pathway, that may be used for entertainment. The current outdoor bar will be replaced with a freestanding circular bar.

“We’re taking the Bahamian look and sending it back to the Bahamas and coming up with something that’s more appropriate” for Palm Beach, said Jorge Sanchez of SMI Landscape Architecture.

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“It’s a very exciting project for us,” Sanchez said. “In the late 1950s and ’60s, [The Colony] was the place to go in town. It should be [again], and it’s being redesigned to be a town-serving hotel.”

Most of landscaping will be replanted, the sidewalk along Worth Avenue will be extended, and a seashell wall will be built on the east side of the ballroom, along with other improvements.

The project has not yet been scheduled. It should take about three months to complete and could occur either this summer or next, according to Peter Papadopoulos of Smith & Moore Architects.