The Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, FL, near Palm Beach, is now the latest piece in Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison's sprawling real estate portfolio. Ellison purchased the resort from the Lewis Trust group, which had been the property's owner for more than 20 years. The precise amount he paid hasn't been disclosed, but back in 2019 when the owners first announced they were seeking a buyer, The Palm Beach Post reported they had a price of around $300 million in mind.
More specifically, they were said to be seeking about $1 million per room of the resort, which boasts 309 units right on the water. The Eau dates back to the 1950s when it was a regular hangout for some of the wealthiest families in the world, like the Vanderbilts and the Roosevelts, among various other denizens of the rich and famous.
In a press statement, Simon Lewis of Lewis Trust had this to say about the property's new ownership:
"Though we are sorry to bring our tenure to a close, we are gratified in knowing that Larry Ellison will treasure the resort and guide its hoteliers to even greater heights."
Whether Ellison plans to make any major changes to the resort's day-to-day operations is unknown, and he hasn't commented publicly on his latest acquisition as of yet. But the purchase does call to mind Ellison's staggering $175 million purchase of the massive 16-acre Gemini Estate, adjacent to the Eau and also in Manalapan. That was enough to make Ellison's Gemini purchase the most expensive home sale in the entire history of the state of Florida, and there are few homes in the entire country that have ever gone for more.
Even crazier, the Gemini isn't even Ellison's primary home. His primary home is on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, an island he owns 98% of. The Eau is also not Ellison's first resort hotel, as he also owns the Nobu with locations in Malibu and Palo Alto, California and two Four Seasons resorts on Lanai.
As for the Eau Palm Beach, you can get a sense of what the property looks like in the video below, posted by the hotel's own YouTube channel:
