时尚女人。可爱孩子。美丽家居。男人爱车: Great Hotels Aren't Afraid to Embrace Playfulness

Illustration by: Bashel Lubarsky

Pink pool toys and Instagrammable moments? I love it when a hotel doesn't take itself too seriously.

A recent visit to The Colony Hotel–first opened in 1947, now a landmark mere steps from Palm Beach's famed Worth Avenue–revealed two major trends.

One: with weather patterns changing and travelers looking for value wherever they can find it, "seasonality" is becoming mutable, perhaps a thing of the past. Palm Beach in July was hot, but no hotter than my hometown of New York City. The airport, the Colony, and some of the island's top restaurants were all bustling with visitors who didn't feel constrained by a prescribed social calendar. They just wanted to go someplace cool in the style sense.

Point number two: great hotels aren't afraid to embrace playfulness. The Colony—voted a top Florida hotel by Travel + Leisure readers—unabashedly uses the hashtag #PinkParadise on social media; hands out scavenger hunt cards to guests (how many Johnnie Brown monkeys can you spot in the lobby wallpaper?); and has a vintage, hot pink, Land Rover Defender ready to whisk you to the beach with all your gear. I definitely took photos in front of said Defender–as did just about every other guest at the hotel.

Travel, at its best, pushes people outside their comfort zone and into a state of exploration. It challenges you. BUT. As I found while sitting poolside at the Colony, listening to a DJ spin and watching my son pound frozen grapes for a snack, travel can also be really, really fun, and nothing more complicated than that.