A week for two

01The shape of the week

Most couples settle into the same rhythm by the second day. Coffee from the built-in machine, taken out to the balcony while the sun comes up over the water. A slow morning on the beach or at the residents' pool, where the attendants set up chairs and bring what you need. An afternoon in the spa, or on the road to somewhere in the Palm Beaches. Then a decision about dinner: cook in the Miele kitchen with the doors open, or drive twenty minutes to a table in Palm Beach.

The residence does not need filling. Two people use the king suite with its own bath and tub, the living room and the balcony, and the queen suite becomes the reading room or the desk. There is nothing to manage and nobody to meet at a desk; the smart lock opens, and the week starts.

02Mornings on the balcony

The balcony faces east, straight over the beach, so the sunrise is the show and you do not have to go anywhere for it. One guest wrote that the sun fills the entire unit in the morning; that is the light you wake up to in both bedrooms and the living room. The balcony has lounge seating, a high dining table and planters, and it runs the full width of the home, so one of you can read at one end while the other finishes the coffee at the other.

Breakfast is easy to make and better eaten outside. The coffee, breakfast and groceries guide covers where to stock the kitchen and where to go when you would rather someone else made it.

03The spa for two

Below the residence is a wellness centre of roughly one hundred thousand square feet with twenty-two treatment rooms. Residence guests book at preferred rates with the resort. For two people the simplest plan is a shared session in the hydrothermal circuit, which moves between hot and cold plunge pools, a salt inhalation chamber, an effusion shower and a sauna over about ninety minutes, followed by two massages booked back to back so you finish at the same time.

The circuit is the thing to book early. Slots in the winter season go quickly, so reserve the week you confirm the residence. The spa guide explains the whole menu and the massage guide helps you choose between Swedish, deep tissue and the rest. Spa access is subject to the resort's terms, and the residence is privately owned rather than run by the resort.

04Afternoons on the water

The beach below is the default, and a good one: wide sand, warm water most of the year, and chairs, towels and an umbrella included with the stay. When you want more than the beach, the island's water is a short drive away.

• Snorkel the reef under the Blue Heron Bridge at slack high tide, an easy shore entry that surprises people who expect to need a boat. See the snorkeling and diving guide for the tide timing.
• Take the water taxi to Peanut Island for a lagoon afternoon; the Peanut Island guide covers the boat and the bunker.
• Kayak the estuary at MacArthur Beach State Park at the north end of the island, described in the state park guide.
• Book a sunset cruise or a fishing charter from the marinas across the bridge; the boating and fishing guide names them.

05Evenings in Palm Beach

Palm Beach is about twenty minutes south, and it is where the dressed-up dinners are. Worth Avenue and its side streets hold the restaurants people fly in for, and West Palm Beach across the bridge has the newer rooms and the waterfront. Reviews from guests split on walking: a few island restaurants are on foot, the rest are a short drive or a ride, and guests have found Uber and Lyft easy for the evening so nobody has to be the driver.

The Palm Beach dining guide is the long list. The waterfront seafood guide is for the nights you want the boats going past the table. And for the night you stay in, the dining table seats eight under a chandelier, with the ocean at eye level, which is more than most restaurants can offer two people.

06A sample week

1. Arrive. Check in from 4:00 PM, unpack, the balcony at sunset, dinner in.
2. The beach and the circuit. A morning on the sand, the hydrothermal circuit and two massages in the afternoon.
3. The reef and the lagoon. Snorkel the Blue Heron Bridge at high tide, Peanut Island after, sunset at a marina bar.
4. Palm Beach. Worth Avenue, the Flagler Museum or the Norton, a long dinner.
5. The state park. Kayaks in the estuary at MacArthur Beach, an easy afternoon at the residents' pool.
6. A day at sea, or a day in. A charter, a sunset cruise, or nothing at all.
7. Leave slowly. Checkout is 10:00 AM; the balcony first.

The itineraries page has three-day and five-day versions, and the when to visit guide will tell you what the weather does in your month.