Both areas of the Mar-A-Lago Club and the smaller 30-seat Beach Club at Mar-A-Lago passed their annual inspections by the State of Florida’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants, but like most, they fell a little short of perfection. Problems were mostly fixed on the spot.
Mar-a-Lago is the Winter White House and National Historic Landmark in Palm Beach owned by President Donald J. Trump in a role that was envisioned for the property by heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post, who built the Palm Beach estate from 1924 to 1927.
President Trump acquired the property from Post’s foundation in 1985. The Mar-A-Lago Club is open only to members who have access to the 126-rooms on the property. The president’s private quarters are separate in a closed off area of the house and grounds.
The state filed reports for two areas of the Mar-A-Lago Club from inspections conducted on Jan. 26, 2017, one week after Trump became 45th president of the United States. It found 10 violations for the main 700-seat area of the Mar-A-Lago Club, and three violations involving the smaller 95-seat area.
Both areas met inspection standards for 2017, as they have for the recent years where records are readily available.
At the smaller of the two club venues, two “basic” violations, one having to do with plates not be stacked in a proper inverted or protected manner and the other for an employee not wearing a hair restraint. One “intermediate” violation was recorded for no paper towels or drying device being available at one hand-washing sink, a violation that was “corrected on site.”
The larger 700-seat club area was found with 10 violations, including three deemed to be of a “high priority” status. All three were for improper temperature controls on reach-in or walk-in coolers. The coolers were all called “potentially hazardous” because it was found they might not be keeping such foods as shrimp and burgers cool enough. The report says the Mar-A-Lago officials took corrective action during the inspection.
Four basic violations at the 700-seat club area were cited including an employee drinking a beverage without a lid and straw, an ice-making machine being located outside, no sign on a hand-washing sink, and rust on a cooler shelf. The larger Mar-A-Lago Club was also written up for three “intermediate” violations. One hand-washing sink had hot water shut off. It was immediately corrected. A reach-in cooler and a walk-in cooler were found not in good repair, and a chef removed the items they were holding during the inspection to correct the situation.
Finally, the inspection said there was no current insurance report or certificate for the club’s boiler, but it was determined it was exempt from that requirement.
Food safety at the Winter White House is the responsibility of the Florida State Department of Business & Professional Regulation. Its Division of Hotels and Restaurants (H&R) is charged with licensing, inspecting and regulating all food service and lodging establishments. Last year it found 784,555 violations during 118,136 inspections.
“Each inspection report is a ‘snapshot’ of conditions present at the time of the inspection. On any given day, an establishment may have fewer or more violations than noted in their most recent inspection,” H&R’s website says.
As for Mar-A-Lago, it has come full circle. Post — the one-time Mrs. E.F. Hutton — until her death wanted it to become the official Winter White House. She even willed it to the federal government for use as a diplomatic or presidential retreat when she died in 1973. But the federal government returned it to her foundation 10 years later, due to maintenance and security concerns.
When New York real estate developer Donald J. Trump purchased the estate in 1985, few would have predicted that transaction would be the route to Post’s dream of making Mar-A-Lago the Winter White House. Trump has even gone further by occasionally calling it the “Southern White House.”
Inspection Reports:
Beach Club At Mar A Lago
1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach ( County)
30 seats
2595047 |
01- 26-17 Inspection Completed – No Further Action (Met Inspection Standards) |
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Mar-A-Lago Club
1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach ( County)
700 Seats
2598356 |
01-26-17 Inspection Completed – No Further Action (Met Inspection Standards) |
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Mar-A-Lago Club
1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach ( County)
95 Seats
2588433 |
01-26-17 Inspection Completed – No Further Action (Met Inspection Standards) |
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