The Colony Hotel, nestled steps away from Palm Beach’s famed Worth Avenue, is a place like no other. The famous pink facade promises to transport visitors into another world. Inside, the de Gournay-wallpapered lobby exudes tropical luxury with velvet banquets, peacock chairs, and leopard-borne settees. Handsome bellmen wait beside brass luggage carts, and porters offer trays of rosé. Local grandes dames and bronzed tourists feast poolside at Swifty’s, an outpost of the former Upper East Side boîte. A Dolce & Gabbana boutique offers tuxedos and gowns appropriate for the island’s robust social calendar. Even during the rare cloudy days, The Colony is a place of perpetual summertime ease.
Once a year, however, this sunny atmosphere transforms into something cozier and even more merry. The hotel takes the holiday season seriously… as does the best of Palm Beach society, which flocks there to fete it. On December 5, Sarah Wetenhall and Aerin Lauder hosted a cocktail party and a ceremonial lighting of the hotel’s Christmas Tree.
Members of the Vogue100— including Jamie Soros, Gloria Zhu, and Laura Sachs— gathered to mingle with local tastemakers like Sarah Bray-West and Logan Horne. In a sea of festive hues, model Roosmarijn De Kok and podcaster Ali Weiss stood out in all black. Flutes of Champagne clinked as yuletide greetings were swapped.
The festivities also celebrated the launch of The Edit, a curated gift shop inside the hotel.
“I hope you will fall in love with the new addition to our pink paradise,” Wetenhall said to her guests. “And perhaps you will wander over and find something you can’t live without.”
The Edit offers yet another reason for the jet set flock to The Colony’s perfumed halls. Along with unique finds from luxury brands— including, of course, the objet d’art from Aerin—the boutique offers plenty of merchandise, including hats, hoodies, dog bowls, swimwear, ashtrays, and more. No matter their lifestyle, visitors can take a piece of The Colony home with them.
