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They descend en masse in an opulent fleet.
Porsche 911s, Bentley SUVs, garish Aston Martins, G-Wagons and the latest Range Rovers roll in – their passengers spilling out, ready to enjoy themselves at tonight’s ‘Parisian-inspired’ venue.
Valets catch the keys as the ‘young money’ crowd zeroes in on West Palm Beach’s latest hotspot, just a bridge away from the Mar-a-Lago club home to the Florida town’s most celebrated resident, President Trump.
The lavish cocktail lounge Mary Lou’s ‘encourages overdressed opulence’, but guests need little encouragement. Coveted parking spots come with a $500 minimum that they’ll spend on drinks named Back Zip, Mistress and Daddy’s Girl. Expensive and brazen… but that’s the point.
This is the new Palm Beach, once a sleepy enclave of old money dynasties, now teeming with New York and California transplants after a post-pandemic real estate surge that has tripled prices in four years – and shifted the social order for rattled high society types.
There are the ‘hedgies’ – the 30 and 40-something hedge fund titans settling their families into Spanish-style and Italianate mansions and making Palm Beach their home away from Wall Street.
They are joined by the ‘techies’, who fled the west coast for Palm Beach’s lower taxes, relaxed approach to regulation and proximity to a presidential power circle that is cozying up to tech and crypto.
The real estate speculators, dubbed ‘speccies’ by eye-rolling locals, don’t expect the boom to end while Palm Beach is a nexus of global power – and are buying and selling property accordingly. Above all, it’s about the Trump effect.
The nightlife scene – including trendy new hotspots – has expanded over the Intracoastal Waterway to the previously overlooked West Palm Beach, where cocktail lounge Mary Lou’s has lured in newly arrived multi-millionaire types
The stature of Palm Beach, or ‘the island’, as locals call it, has risen on the world stage in recent years thanks to its most famous resident, President Trump
Valets catch the keys as the ‘young money’ crowd zeroes in on the lavish cocktail lounge Mary Lou’s, West Palm Beach’s latest hotspot
Club fees hit $550k in clamor for ‘Wall Street South’
With the town on the world stage and in the news almost weekly thanks to the president, anyone aspiring to be part of America’s elite is now investing there.
Miami Dolphins NFL team owner and real estate magnate Stephen Ross is fueling the surge with his ambitious building projects to turn West Palm Beach into ‘Wall Street South’, attracting more financial institutions and their loaded executives.
Palm Beach, or ‘the island’, as locals call it, has a population of just 9,258 in the summer that swells to around 25,000 in its peak season: winter.
And nearly every inch of its 3.8 square miles has been developed, which is why oceanfront mansions are now fetching up to $152 million.
It’s also why new trendy hangouts like Mary Lou’s and the nightlife scene are expanding over the Intracoastal Waterway to the previously overlooked West Palm Beach.
On the charity circuit, the social scene is dominated by celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, and casino billionaire Steve Wynn. Fox News anchor Bret Baier is also a regular in those circles.
The recent influx has also sparked a restaurant boom and boosted business to old favorites on the island like Buccan, where the Daily Mail confirmed Donald Trump Jr.’s romance with socialite Bettina Anderson as they dined there in December.
Italian restaurants Bice, Renato’s and La Sirena are favorites of the old and new crowd, who have also been flocking to the area’s grand dame, Palm Beach Grill in the exclusive Poinciana Plaza shopping area.
Palm Beach, Florida, long known as a sleepy enclave of old money dynasties, is now teeming with New York and California transplants looking to make the oceanside town their second home
The ‘techies’ fled the west coast for Florida’s lower taxes and more relaxed approach to regulation
Celebs have also entered the scene including fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, whose sprawling mansion (pictured) sits right outside the beach
Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone is among the town’s famous residents, owning a massive property on the north end of Palm Beach
Former casino mogul Steve Wynn also lives in the area, purchasing a gated property with a view of Mar-a-Lago
Elsewhere in the shifting landscape, new private members dining clubs such as The Carriage House – where a membership costs an eye-watering $400,000 – are starting to rival traditional Palm Beach institutions such as the Everglades Club and The Breakers, which has recently upped its initiation fee for golf members to an eye-watering $550,000.
‘People are still coming and from everywhere, all over the country. It’s not as frantic as it was but it’s steady,’ realtor Michael Melear of Douglas Elliman’s Palm Beach office tells the Daily Mail.
‘[They’re] not all hedge fund people. I’ve been working with someone from Tennessee, a successful music producer from California. There’s a lot of tech people, I met a guy recently who has an online gambling website.’
The real estate agent says the surge in newcomers has also upped the stakes when it comes to securing spots for his two young children at elite private schools in the area.
With 58 billionaires living in the city, school admissions have become more competitive and household staff in high demand.
‘I would say this, it’s competitive. You need to get applications in early and meet the administrators. It’s not at crisis level, but with all the new people coming there’s only a certain amount of space,’ he says.
The new money establishments now rival traditional Palm Beach institutions such as The Breakers Palm Beach Hotel (pictured) which has recently upped its initiation fee for golf members to an eye-watering $550,000
Inside the bustling HMF bar at The Breakers in Palm Beach
‘Palm Beach Society has been upended’
Nelson Hammell, a 30-year veteran of the Palm Beach scene who previously worked as a chief of staff to a U.S. Senator in Washington D.C., has a more discerning view.
‘Palm Beach Society today has been upended,’ he tells the Daily Mail.
‘When I first came here it was dominated by the aristocratic names of America – the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, and the Mellons.
‘The very waspy, old-line families flitting between New York, Southampton, Newport, and Palm Beach. They had a very defined world that they followed according to seasons.’
Now, Hammell says: ‘That’s changed with the influx from all over. Many of them can save around 12 percent since Florida has no state income tax, so why not do that?’
He recalled recently meeting a woman – a ‘longtime Californian’ – who moved to the area from San Francisco.
‘She said San Francisco was falling apart because of the homelessness, the drugs and the crime. She’s moved here and said Palm Beach was Nirvana,’ he said.
Hammell, who runs antique homes and garden business Devonshire with colleague Pete Hawkins, counts the elite of Palm Beach among his customers.
They previously had 16 locations around the country, with the late first lady Jackie Onassis once being a favored client.
Of the new clubs for the newcomers, Hammell says: ‘They’re a departure, more like dining and social clubs. No golf or other associated sports. Just a place to meet other wealthy people, much more transactional.
The influx of newcomers has boosted business to the older favorites on the island like Buccan, where the Daily Mail previously revealed socialite Bettina Anderson celebrated her birthday with new boyfriend Donald Trump Jr.
Exclusive Daily Mail photos showed the couple leaving swanky downtown hotspot Buccan in December
The couple were previously pictured having brunch at the Honor Bar, another popular fixture. Above, a row of luxury vehicles are seen parked outside the restaurant
‘The Carriage House has a waiting list [and] there are several others in the works on the island and in West Palm Beach.’
Even the Palm Beach town council has noticed, recently putting a temporary hold on applications on permits to build new clubs.
‘A club membership is for the newcomers to say, “we’ve arrived”,’ Hammell notes.
Yet, the divide remains.
‘Many of the new people have made it on their own abilities, their own smarts, their own networking skills, their education.
‘But the majority of the more established, older Palm Beach society do not associate with the new people, just because they’re comfortable with their own kind. You know, I think that’s a human trait anywhere,’ he admits.
Speaking on the Trump effect on the market, realtor Melear says: ‘Palm Beach is prevalent in everyone’s mind now. So if you are someone with the means to have a second or third home and you keep seeing it on the news you probably think it’s a special place to be.’
‘To say that prices have doubled in four years would be conservative. In specific cases they’ve tripled. You would see single family homes in the $4 million range, now they’re more than $9 million. The absolute floor for a home is around $6 million.
‘Most homes are in the $10 million to $15 million range and that won’t get you a place on the water, those are going to start at $25 million, maybe something that needs a teardown. The really big sales, one recently of $152 million, are generally kept private.’
A view of Palm Beach, Florida, from the north end of the island facing south. To the west is the Intracoastal waterway where many of the rich do their boating, bordered by West Palm Beach
Nelson Hammell has noticed the shift in the city’s social order and landscape as a 30-year veteran of the Palm Beach scene who previously worked as a chief of staff to a U.S. Senator in Washington D.C.
Hammell runs antique homes and garden business Devonshire with colleague Pete Hawkins and counts the elite of Palm Beach among his customers
Trouble in Pink Paradise for the old-timer socialites
One person putting even those figures in the shade is financier Ken Griffin, who has moved his Citadel financial giant to Miami from Chicago. He is building an astonishing $1billion mega estate facing the ocean and just south of Mar-a-Lago.
Sitting at the heart of this shifting landscape is Mar-a-Lago Club, with the walled compound perched prominently on the waterfront at the top of famed ‘billionaire’s row’ – a miles-long road facing the ocean and lined with mansions – nearly all of them an architectural masterpiece.
According to insiders, Stallone is a power-playing regular at the new Winter White House, sometimes dining with the 47th President at his private table, we’re told.
Wynn is also an habitué with wife Andrea.
Fellow well-heeled resident Tommy Hilfiger has spent a fortune renovating the now $85 million home he bought with wife Dee in 2021 on billionaire’s row to consolidate their position in the upper echelons of Palm Beach society.
Meanwhile at the revitalized Colony Hotel, also known as the ‘Pink Paradise’ of Palm Beach, socialites have also taken note.
‘Well listen, some people are very happy to have the newcomers here. But let’s also say, some people are not,’ charity stalwart Gail Worth tells the Daily Mail over her iced tea and Caesar salad.
Even financier Ken Griffin has moved his Citadel financial giant to Miami from Chicago. He is building an astonishing $1billion mega estate facing the ocean and just south of Mar-a-Lago
Meanwhile at the revitalized Colony Hotel, also known as the ‘Pink Paradise’ of Palm Beach, socialites have also taken note
Outdoor seating at The Colony Hotel
Charity stalwart Gail Worth told the Daily Mail said some locals are very happy to have the newcomers, while others, not so much
‘The old-timer mentality is a little bit different. I don’t want to say anything bad, but it’s less flashy.
‘Palm Beach Society is a culture of people who like to give back, who have had successful lives and want to be in a beautiful place, and live nicely and be with other like-minded people.
‘The complexion of the town has certainly changed, but I think in time everyone will become assimilated. It’s going to work out and it will make the town more interesting.’
Sitting with her at the floral motif table is partner Frank Orenstein, a hotel guru and cofounder of the exclusive Four Seasons brand. The pair are Mar-a-Lago club devotees.
And Worth’s explanation of the club’s early attraction is illustrative of the breaking down of social barriers that once permeated Palm Beach life.
‘The original premises of Mar-a-Lago was that anyone could join,’ she says.
‘So you didn’t have to be a WASP and join the Everglades Club or the Bath and Tennis and you didn’t have to be Jewish and go to the Palm Beach Country Club. It could be anyone.’
‘Mar-a-Lago took a hit with many old school Palm Beachers during his first presidency, I’m told by several people, but like Trump himself it has made a resounding comeback.
Palm Beach is home to popular, upscale Italian restaurants such as Renato’s
Guests arriving at Renato’s in Bentleys and other luxury cars
Outdoor seating at The Royal Poinciana Plaza in Palm Beach
‘First time around, a lot of people were very skeptical and people would not go there. Some people who were members just didn’t want to be there anymore,’ says the socialite, who lives beside The Colony which is perched in prime position near the exclusive shopping area of Worth Avenue.
‘But now I’m seeing it’s very different. People want to be there, people want to support him.
‘I believe the town sees Donald as a person of strength who can create change for the whole world. The man has unbelievable energy.’
Orenstein chips in with an illustration of that resurging popularity: ‘It used to be $100,000 to join. Now I’m hearing it’s getting to one million and above and there’s a waiting list.’
Trump bought the home originally owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1985 and refurbished it as a Florida residence before converting it to a members’ only club in 1994.
Describing dining when Trump is in town, Worth continues: ‘Normally you eat outside on this lovely terrace looking out over the Intracoastal Waterway.
‘It’s very exciting because they always play Hail to the Chief when he walks in with his entourage. Sometimes he’ll be accompanied by someone like Sly Stallone and they’ll eat together.
‘Everyone stands up when he enters. And it’s really very touching, tears come to your eyes. Everyone then sits down and he shakes hands with us, he’s very friendly.
‘The tables are close together. We sit right near him because I have a girlfriend who has a standing table and it’s right next to Donald’s.
‘After he’s shaken hands no one really bothers him. People here are sophisticated enough to know that you respect privacy.’
Orenstein adds: ‘Here’s the thing with this guy. He’s been almost assassinated twice. Yep, he’s fearless. He’ll go into any crowd. I mean, he’s not holding back.’
Trump’s famed Mar-a-Lago resort has helped popularize Palm Beach in the last decade. The president is seen arriving for his annual New Year’s Eve bash at the venue alongside wife, First Lady Melania in December 2024
Locals told the Daily Mail that Mar-a-Lago initially ‘took a hit with many old school Palm Beachers’ during Trump’s first presidency but has now made a ‘resounding comeback’
The eternal question: Where’s Melania?
As for Melania, we’re told she is rarely viewed and is certainly never seen in Worth Avenue’s shopping extravaganza or eating with friends in one of the more exclusive restaurants in town.
‘Certainly, Melania is rarely seen,’ confirms Worth. ‘But we do see her on occasion. She will come for, say, a Super Bowl party or family events in the ballroom.
Driven into the DNA of established Palm Beach society is charity. The peak months of the season from January to March is the time for the movers to shake. There are usually three events a day with worldwide celebrities as speakers – and the figures raised are staggering.
The latest event for Worth, co-chair of an annual lunch for Cancer Alliance, saw survivor Sarah, Duchess of York wow the crowd in a speech in which she called her reconstructed breasts Derek and Eric. Tennis legend and ovarian cancer sufferer Chrissie Evert was there too.
The February do at old money hotspot The Breakers Hotel raised $1.2million in a matter of hours from the 400 guests. Multiply any donation haul by roughly 300 and this is industrial scale charity work.
And what else does ‘established’ Palm Beach society do as opposed to the new vintage of residents?
‘It can be a very athletic community,’ says Worth. ‘We play golf, tennis, croquet, there’s a lot of croquet… also boating. We play a lot of cards here too. There’s a big card room at the Trump International Golf Course, so a lot of women play there every day, Canasta mostly.’
Fellow Mar-a-Lago devotee David Aronberg – former State Attorney for Palm Beach County – echoed the new versus old strain in the town’s society. ‘The new money that has come does not always jive with the old money,’ he says bluntly.
‘There was certainly a clash between Palm Beach and the new crowd. But the older establishment has now accepted reality that Palm Beach is changing and there’s no going back. There was a thinking that the newcomers are brash. Now there’s resignation that this is irreversible.’
Aronberg, who saw the time was right to start his own law firm with the influx of newcomers, mingles with recent power play additions to the enclave’s social strata.
He attended a fund-raiser for the Palm Beach Police Fire and Rescue Ball at Mar-a-Lago in January. Among the guests: Stallone, wife Jennifer Flavin and Wynn with Andrea.
Hudson News founder and National Enquirer owner James Cohen and his wife Lisa hosted a pre-event at their nearby home. As well as Stallone, fellow Palm Beacher and TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz – Trump’s nominee for Director of Medicare and Medicaid Services – and wife, also Lisa, were there in a reinforcement of a new pecking order.
Another guest that night at Mar-a-Lago was long-time Palm Beach event guru Michael Kagdis. ‘There’s always been celebrity as well as old money here,’ he tells me. ‘But now you have the like of Stallone who live here full time and he’s prolific around the place.
‘Many celebs are now living here full time because frankly, it isn’t paparazzi friendly. It’s a tight community.
‘Now, very much, a lot of that community is focused on Mar-a-Lago. Years ago the older crowd felt Trump wasn’t polished enough. They didn’t treat him seriously, a little too loud.
‘Some might still feel he doesn’t represent their value system. But that pendulum is swinging and the big-name newer arrivals are very much part of that scene.’
