Reuben Brothers buys Chesterfield Hotel in Palm Beach

53-key hotel was built in 1918

Chesterfield at 363 Cocoanut Row with Simon and David Reuben (Google Maps, Getty)
Chesterfield at 363 Cocoanut Row with Simon and David Reuben (Google Maps, Getty)

Reuben Brothers bought the Chesterfield Hotel in Palm Beach, a boutique property developed in 1918.

A company led by Richard Launder sold the hotel at 363 Cocoanut Row to an affiliate of Reuben Brothers, the private equity and investment firm led by British billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben, according to property records and a spokesperson for the buyer.

The 53-key hotel, with 11 suites, sold for $42 million, or $792,000 per room.

The historic hotel is home to the Leopard Lounge Bar and includes a courtyard and swimming pool. It’s three blocks north of the high-end retail street Worth Avenue.

It previously sold for $6.5 million in 2011. The nearly 33,000-square-foot hotel sits on a 0.4-acre lot.

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Rates for this upcoming weekend start at more than $800 a night at the Chesterfield, according to the hotel’s website.

Hotels in South Florida have generally recovered faster than in other parts of the country, due to a boost in leisure travel during the pandemic from cities with stricter lockdown restrictions. The region has seen an increase in average daily rates and occupancies. A recent STR report found that nationwide, hotel gross operating profit per available room reached its highest level since before the pandemic, with Miami leading that growth, up 141 percent since November 2019.

In March, occupancy averaged about 82 percent in Palm Beach, up 11 percent compared with March 2021. according to STR data. The average daily rate in March rose 39 percent to about $358 per night, and revenue per available room (revPAR), grew 54 percent to $295.

Last month, Electra America Hospitality Group and Korman Communities paid about $84 million for a new apartment building in downtown West Palm Beach that was converted to a hotel.