A six-bedroom villa on the island of Palm Beach in season lists at $35,000 to $220,000 per week, and the season itself is the whole story: December through April commands the premium, and the same house drops 40 to 60 percent the moment hurricane season opens on 1 June. Florida adds 6 percent state sales tax, Palm Beach County adds a 0.5 percent surtax and a 6 percent tourist development tax, for 12.5 percent on the rental line. This guide prices the rental the way an estate manager would: by bedroom, by season, and by the all-in week, with three worked examples and the levers that actually cut the total.
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Two facts govern Palm Beach pricing before you read a single rate band. The first is the season line. Palm Beach is the sharpest seasonal swing of any United States villa market we cover, because the social calendar, the weather, and the snowbird migration all stack into the same five-month window. A villa that lists at $60,000 in February rents for $26,000 in July, same house, same pool. The second is the club question. Much of what makes the island the island, the beach access, the dining, the tennis, runs through private clubs that do not transfer with a rental, so a villa marketed on club adjacency may not deliver club access at all.
The rates below were verified against May 2026 cards from the managed Palm Beach estate operators and the brokers working the island from the Estate Section through Midtown and the North End. The tax layer is web-verified through the Palm Beach County Tax Collector and the Florida Department of Revenue 2026 local-option schedule. For the broader region, see our companion guide to Naples, Florida villa prices.
Headline weekly rate before the 12.5 percent tax, staff, club fees, and transfers. In season is December through April. Shoulder is November and May. Off season is June through October, the hurricane-season window when the rate falls hardest.
| Bedrooms | In season (Dec – Apr) | Shoulder (Nov / May) | Off season (Jun – Oct) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 BR | $22,000 to $52,000 | $15,000 to $34,000 | $10,000 to $22,000 |
| 5 BR | $28,000 to $72,000 | $19,000 to $46,000 | $13,000 to $30,000 |
| 6 BR (standard) | $35,000 to $95,000 | $24,000 to $62,000 | $16,000 to $40,000 |
| 6 BR (Estate Section oceanfront) | $95,000 to $220,000 | $62,000 to $145,000 | $42,000 to $96,000 |
| 8 BR | $70,000 to $165,000 | $46,000 to $108,000 | $30,000 to $72,000 |
| 10 BR+ estate | $130,000 to $320,000 | $85,000 to $210,000 | $58,000 to $140,000 |
The Estate Section oceanfront band is the trophy register of the island and the steepest dollar-per-bedroom in the state. The North End delivers the best in-season value inside the town limits, at the cost of a longer drive to Worth Avenue and the southern clubs.
Three layers stack on a short-term rental of six months or less. Florida charges 6 percent state sales tax. Palm Beach County adds a 0.5 percent discretionary surtax and a 6 percent Tourist Development Tax, the county bed tax, for a combined 12.5 percent, web-verified through the Palm Beach County Tax Collector and the Florida Department of Revenue 2026 local-option schedule. The tax applies to the rental plus mandatory fees such as cleaning, not the room rate alone. On a $60,000 headline the line is $7,500. A registered operator collects and remits it.
The Estate Section trophy villas typically include a house manager and daily housekeeping in the headline. At the standard band, a house manager runs $2,400 to $4,200 a week, a daily housekeeper $1,400 to $2,600, and a chauffeur $2,200 to $4,200. A full in-season staff complement on a standard six-bedroom lands at $4,500 to $11,000 a week on top of the rate. Confirm what is included before you compare two listings, because the staffing line moves the all-in figure more than the tax does.
An in-villa chef on the island runs $700 to $1,200 per dinner service plus food at cost for ten, with food landing at $80 to $180 per head at the produce and seafood the island expects. A week of four chef dinners and two lunches runs $7,000 to $13,500 all in. The in-season lead time runs six to ten weeks, longer over the holiday and the spring social weeks.
The private clubs that define the island, for beach, tennis, and dining, almost never transfer with a rental. A villa marketed on club adjacency does not deliver club access. Budget restaurant dining, a beach-club day pass where one exists at a hotel, and a chef-at-home programme instead, and treat any listing that implies transferable membership as a claim to verify in writing before you sign.
Palm Beach International (PBI) sits about 6 km from the island, a 12-to-20-minute private car at $90 to $160 each way. Many season renters arrive private into PBI or Lantana (LNA). A chauffeured SUV for the week runs $1,200 to $2,400, though the island is small enough that one car and a pair of bicycles cover most of a stay. The Royal Park and Southern Boulevard bridges are the only two crossings, so a single accident can add 20 minutes.
Three trip configurations priced for clients across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, verified against the source contracts. The pattern holds across all three: the line items add 25 to 40 percent on top of the headline, the lowest premium of the United States markets we cover, because the staffing is often already in the rate.
Headline: $24,000 / wk (in-season opening, pool, two blocks off the ocean).
Tax (12.5%) $3,000. Mid-week housekeeping $900. Two chef dinners ($780 each) $1,560 plus food $980. Pre-stock $560. Chauffeured SUV three days $1,350. PBI transfers round trip $260. Worth Avenue and Royal Poinciana dinners $1,400. Bicycles and beach setup $320. Gratuities $420.
All-in: $35,170 for the week.
Premium over headline: 47%.
Headline: $58,000 / wk (in season, pool, house manager included).
Tax (12.5%) $7,250. Daily housekeeping $2,200. Four chef dinners ($950 each) $3,800 plus food $3,600. Pre-stock $920. Chauffeured SUV for the week $1,900. PBI transfers round trip $320. Restaurant dinners $4,200. Tennis and beach day passes $1,400. Boat charter day $3,200. Gratuities $760.
All-in: $87,550 for the week.
Premium over headline: 51%.
Headline: $150,000 / wk (trophy, oceanfront, house manager and daily housekeeping included).
Tax (12.5%) $18,750. Additional staff and butler $3,800. Five chef dinners ($1,150 each) $5,750 plus food $5,400. Pre-stock $1,400. Two chauffeured SUVs for the week $4,200. PBI transfers (three legs) $540. Restaurant programme $6,800. Full-day boat charter $5,600. Spa-at-home $2,400. Gratuities $1,200.
All-in: $189,840 for the week.
Premium over headline: 27%.
The trophy week in Example III carries the lowest premium because the staffing is already inside the headline. The trap is the standard-band villa where the house manager and housekeeping are extra, which is where Examples I and II pick up most of their premium.
Five levers move the all-in figure on a Palm Beach week.
Book early December or May, not the February-March peak. The weather still holds, the social crush has not arrived, and the rate runs 25 to 40 percent below the deep-season weeks.
Take the North End instead of the Estate Section. Same island, same ocean, a longer drive to Worth Avenue, and 40 to 55 percent off the trophy rate at matched bedroom count.
Confirm the staffing line before you fall for the headline. A standard-band villa without a house manager can cost as much all-in as a trophy villa that includes one.
Do not pay for club adjacency. The memberships do not transfer, so the adjacency is worth nothing on the rate. Budget the restaurant and hotel-beach alternative instead.
Consider a summer rental with named-storm insurance. The off-season rate is 40 to 60 percent lower, and travel insurance with named-storm coverage manages the hurricane-season risk for a fraction of the saving.
A six-bedroom island villa runs $35,000 to $95,000 a week at the standard band and $95,000 to $220,000 at the Estate Section oceanfront trophy band in season. Outside the December-to-April season the same villas drop 40 to 60 percent. After the 12.5 percent tax and the staffing line, the all-in week runs 25 to 40 percent above the headline.
Florida charges 6 percent state sales tax, Palm Beach County adds a 0.5 percent surtax and a 6 percent Tourist Development Tax, for a combined 12.5 percent, web-verified through the Palm Beach County Tax Collector and the Florida Department of Revenue. It applies to mandatory fees such as cleaning, not just the room rate. On a $60,000 headline that is $7,500.
The season runs December through April, sharpest over the Christmas holidays and across the February and March social calendar. The cheapest weeks are June through September, the hurricane-season window, when the same villas drop 40 to 60 percent. Early-to-mid December is the best value-to-weather week before the holiday rate steps in.
Yes. Palm Beach is a barrier island on the Florida Atlantic coast, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November with a September peak, web-verified through the National Hurricane Center. The luxury rental season sits deliberately outside it. A summer rental is cheaper for the same reason, and named-storm travel insurance is the sensible add.
Palm Beach International (PBI) sits about 6 km from the island, a 12-to-20-minute car at $90 to $160 each way. Many season renters fly private into PBI or Lantana (LNA). A chauffeured SUV for the week runs $1,200 to $2,400, though the island is small enough that one car and bicycles cover most of a stay.
Standard inclusions are the property, arrival cleaning, pool and garden maintenance, Wi-Fi, and weekly housekeeping. A chef, daily housekeeping, a house manager, a chauffeur, and club access sit on top. Estate Section trophy villas often include a house manager and daily housekeeping. Club memberships are almost never transferable; confirm beach and dining access in writing.
The 20-page PDF with line-item math for the Estate Section, Midtown, and the North End, the chefs and house managers we use by name, the boat captains we trust off the Lake Worth inlet, and the club-access realities listing by listing. Free. We trade it for an email.
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