The Breakers Resort

Sumptuous is the word that best describes the legendary Circle Dining room at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The extraordinary room has marble and stone columns alternating with 15 two-story windows overlooking the lawn and sea. High overhead, a domed ceiling features hand-painted, Renaissance-style murals.

While these features add immeasurably to the magnificence of the room, their hard surfaces reflect sound. When audio systems were used in the room to reinforce speakers and entertainers, they generated sound waves that bounced off the hard surfaces, creating audible echoes and reverberations. Management was aware of the problem but was wary of tampering with the room's architecture and décor. But when a major customer that had held its annual meeting at The Breakers for many years moved to another hotel, they had to act.

A new sound system from Bose Corporation solved the problem. Bose engineered a solution that worked with the reflective surfaces, rather than against them, a solution which maintained the visual harmony of the room. The speakers deliver the professional-quality sound of a performance center with the warmth and intimacy of a living room, and the graceful arched speaker enclosures have been painted to match the columns’ coral-colored coquina stone. “If the guests do notice them at all,” says Michele Wilde, Director of Convention Services, “they appear to be part of the décor.”

With the new Bose® system, speech intelligibility and musical clarity are vastly improved, and no drapes are required. Paul Yin, Director of Contract Administration, concludes, “If anyone could solve the problem, Bose could.”