South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
$13K Christmas experience
Ritz-Carlton’s ‘Ultimate Christmas Experience’ can be yours for just $12,999
Ritz-Carlton package includes eating in a gingerbread castle.
It’s a one-time-only kind of thing: You can have Christmas Day breakfast inside a gingerbread castle. Of course, it’ll set you back $12,999 (plus tax and gratuity), but you get a lot of amenities.
The offer is being billed as the “Fully Wrapped: The Ultimate Christmas Experience” by the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale. Once the Dec. 24-26 event is booked by one party (up to four guests), it’s a done deal for everyone.
Not to worry though, there is also the “Holly Jolly: A Gingerbread Dining Experience” that is available through Dec. 23. Breakfast or brunch inside the castle is just $899. Dinner is $999.
What you get for $12,999
The “Fully Wrapped” package includes: A two-night stay at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale Dec. 24-26 in a threebedroom suite with an ocean view
A professional photographer capturing the experience for you. You also get a photo album, a customized mobile app with the photos, a video slideshow and a $305 credit if you decide to order prints. Breakfast for four guests with Santa Claus
Gifts of an American Girl doll, Adidas sneakers, Pandora bracelet, one bottle of Island Company Rum and a voucher for a private Rum Room experience with a mixologist at Burlock Coast, the restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton
Dinner for four in Burlock Coast’s Rum Room
Full-day spa package for one
Poolside cabana with a cabana captain
Snacks and in-room holiday movie
What about the “Holly Jolly” Experience?
The gingerbread castle will be open for reservations-only breakfast from 9-11:30 a.m., brunch from 1-3:30 p.m. and dinner from 6-8:30 p.m.
The family-style meal for six-to-eight guests includes beverages, and the experience comes with a visit from Santa Claus.
What you need to know about the gingerbread castle
The castle took Burlock Coast’s pastry chef Carlos Salazar months to complete, starting in August with planning, and baking for the past two months.
“We came up with an idea of doing a castle, but we didn’t want to make a regular castle,” he recalls. “So we wanted to do something that looked like a sand castle, because we’re just a few yards away from the beach here.”
They then enlisted almost the entire hotel staff to assemble the castle, a process that took four days.
Of course with most of the castle being edible, Salazar and his team have to make repairs.
“The idea is that they can see that it’s edible for the most part,” Salazar explains. “We have people, you know, taking little pieces of the gingerbread or the icing. They don’t believe it’s real. So once in a while we come and fix it, but for the most part people have a little respect for what we do.”
The gingerbread castle by the numbers
There are 3,000 gingerbread bricks brushed with sand sugar to evoke the beach across the street from the Ritz-Carlton. Each brick weighs eight ounces.
To make the bricks, Salazar used 750 pounds of patent flour, 375 pounds of honey, 375 pounds of corn syrup, 75 ounces of ground ginger, 75 ounces of gingerbread spice mix and 162.5 ounces of baking powder.
The royal icing uses 500 pounds of powdered sugar and 50 gallons of egg whites.
There are 450 silver and blue balls used on the corners of the castle towers.
The entire castle uses 500 pounds of Sugar in the Raw.
How to make a reservation
Call 954-465-2300 or email rc.fllrz.room .reservations@ritzcarlton .com.
The Ritz-Carlton is located at 1 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale. For more information, go to Ritz Carlton.com/en/hotels/ florida/fort-lauderdale.
And there’s a gingerbread house in Palm Beach County
There is a large gingerbread house in the lobby of the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort and Spa in Riviera Beach.
With 1,500 pieces of gingerbread and 180 pounds of icing, the resort is touting the confection as Instagram and selfie worthy.
Marriott Singer Island’s pastry chef Kursten Restivo explains in an email, “A gingerbread house is a classic, and as a pastry chef it’s the perfect way to combine the holidays, traditions and baking in a fun way. Our guests love the gingerbread houses that we put on display each year. I’ve even had guests track me down in the lobby to ask questions about it. It’s a great feeling.”
The Marriott Singer Island is located at 3800 North Ocean Drive, Singer Island in Riviera Beach. For more information, call 561-340-1700 or go to Marriott.com.
rhagwood@southflorida .com