“I grew up coming to Palm Beach,” said Gwyneth Paltrow, standing poolside in the halflight at The Colony Hotel. “My grandparents had an apartment here. It’s really a part of my childhood. A special family place.”
Paltrow was in town to introduce a collaboration with The Colony: her wellness and lifestyle brand, Goop, which turns 15 this year, partnered with the hotel on a one-of-a-kind villa apartment. The two-bedroom pad was redesigned by the New York-based team Ronen Lev in a style that Paltrow described as “sort of French meets California modern.” It is bookable for longer term stays (1-month minimum) and acts as an extension of Goop’s, and by further extension Paltrow’s, approach to living. The company’s clean beauty products stock the amenity offering, and the look and feel is serene–even meditative. Paltrow pursued the alignment not only for her close-to-home Palm Beach ties but also as a commemoration of Goop’s big 1-5.
Yet fans of The Colony’spreppy Floridian verve won’t be left wanting; the villa retains local elements with its original tile floors, rattan accents and plenty of lush botanical motifs (including a wallpaper made in collaboration between Goop and Fromental). Paltrow said she didn’t think she visited The Colony when she was little (“we really just hung out at the condo by the pool”), but had “always heard about what an iconic place it is.” She added: “I have always dreamed of opening a hotel, but I don’t think it’s very realistic for us… you never know.”
Following a cocktail event to preview the space, Goop and The Colony held a seated dinner back at the hotel’s restaurant. Cartier lent its support. There, guests, including Karolina Kurkova, Amy Astley, Francisco Costa, and Julia Van Nice, Paltrow’s best friend (wearing a chic dress with the exact same print as the goop x Fromental wallpaper), enjoyed the genial atmosphere. Many were dripping in Juste un Clou bracelets and Panthère necklaces. Paltrow had family there, too–including her Uncle Bob, who made a toast. All in all, the Colony’s Sarah Wetenhall said the project was “a dream collaboration.”
In her own toast, Paltrow reflected on what had transpired over the past week. She acknowledged that it was perhaps a dissonant time to be having a party. Standing again in the half-light, her message was measured and resonant: “It is my fervent hope that the world can be a little bit of a kinder, less dark place.”