a Atlantic Beach’s Hotel Palms was scheduled to open its doors as a renovated and rebranded boutique hotel the very day that Hurricane Matthew skirted our coastline in late 2016. There were sandbags still lining the doorways when their first guests checked in shortly thereafter, recalls Greg Schwartzenberger, who owns the hotel with his wife and interior designer, Julie, and his sister, public relations maven Stevan Brown. The three are all native to the area, and say the short natural disaster delay put perspective on their new business in their beloved beach town, but didn’t stop progress. Mainly because Hotel Palms is designed to be embedded in the neighborhood, a true part of its architectural and cultural vernacular, and a place for slowing down. With a keen pulse on art and design, as well as local culture, the hospitality philosophy of the eleven-room modernized 1940s motor court hotel is to be an “organic shelter,” says Julie. It is meant to evolve over time with the imprinted layers of its visiting, curated artists as well as the vestiges of events that have led to impromptu art moments. In this way, staying at Hotel Palms is more like staying in someone’s home — the objects and arrangements fluid and indicative of a collected history. While a stay here also has the perks of a fine hotel, the goal is for each guest to feel like an “Unlikely Local,” the hotel’s trademarked phrase, which means getting a taste of living in Atlantic Beach. Customizable Unlikely Local itineraries are offered, along with free beach cruiser and foam board rentals which will likely come in handy. The beer and wine lounge, a small but airy room with a bar, seating, and complimentary wifi also offers coffee by locally-owned Show Pigeon Coffee. The lounge is open to the hotel’s central courtyard, which all of the guest rooms face. Laidback and communal, the courtyard offers lots of seating, an après-beach shower and a fireplace for chilly nights. “We tell people, when you stay here you feel like you live in the neighborhood,” says Greg. “That’s ultimately the experience we want guests to have.” The concept for Hotel Palms was born of the owners’ familiarity with the locale. “Being all born and raised here, and then traveling, we saw a need for a cool hotel in the neighborhood and it didn’t have it,” says Brown. “We believe the best hotels are a fabric of their own neighborhoods,” adds Julie. “Atlantic Beach is a special place, and we have a unique perspective on what it should be like to truly be that fabric.” The inspiration was fed by a trip to Austin, Texas, where Greg saw a lot of great one-story motor motels transformed into boutique hotels. “He got us fired up,” says Julie, whose interior design company Edge and Lines is the Palms’ design partner. “Design-wise, we wanted to 25th Anniversary ARBUS 15
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