Aug. 24--PALM BEACH, Fla.--The new owner of the Brazilian Court Hotel is seeing stars -- five, to be exact. 

Local developer Adam Schlesinger this month completed an $18 million deal for the hotel and is working on the newest phase in the long life of the landmark Palm Beach property. 

Schlesinger hopes to turn the Brazilian Court into a condominium hotel where residents would buy the units at prices ranging from $400,000 to $2 million. 

Schlesinger wants to slice the number of rooms to 80 from 103. 

Plans also call for a new spa and a dining room run by world-renowned French chef Daniel Boulud. 

In the Zagat Survey 2002 Top U.S. Hotels, Resorts and Spas, a guidebook based on the feedback of 20,000 consumers, the Brazilian Court received good-to-excellent ratings for its rooms, service, dining and public facilities. 

But some visitors said the resort's accommodations are "tired" and the style "campy." 

"What's missing are the in-room and hotel amenities representative of five-star service," Schlesinger said Friday. "We view the hotel as an instrument that just needs to be recalibrated." 

Generations of Palm Beachers have put up their out-of-town guests at the Brazilian Court since it opened on New Year's Day 1926. 

It also has served as a retreat for the rich and famous, with Judy Garland, Cary Grant and Richard Nixon among the celebrities who stayed there. 

The Australian Avenue hotel underwent an $8 million renovation in 1984, the same year Robert Kennedy's son David died there of a drug overdose. 

Despite that stigma, the hotel with the bright yellow stucco and barrel-tile roof always has been a symbol of Palm Beach panache. 

"The Brazilian Court oozes with charm," said Jesse Newman, a Palm Beach publicist and former president of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce. "You walk in there and it's not like you're in a hotel. It's like you're in a house." 

Developer Schlesinger is an executive with Ceebraid-Signal Corp., a West Palm Beach-based owner and manager of multifamily properties run by his father, Richard. The company developed Il Lugano, a swanky condominium in Palm Beach. 

Adam Schlesinger, 30, bought the Brazilian Court from Michael and Andrew Gosman, sons of former health care magnate Abe Gosman of Palm Beach. Abe Gosman paid $11 million for the property in 1995 and turned it into a retirement hotel for the active elderly. 

Abe Gosman filed for bankruptcy protection last year, although the Brazilian Court sale doesn't have anything to do with his financial problems, officials say. Although Schlesinger bought controlling interest in the hotel, Michael and Andrew Gosman will be minority partners. 

"They're very interested in seeing the end result," Schlesinger said. 

Schlesinger will seek permission from the town in October to begin renovations. 

Zoning officials said Friday it's too early to tell how Schlesinger's plans will be received. 

"He's going to need some relief to do what he wants to do," said Paul Castro, the town's zoning administrator. 

If Schlesinger can win the town's approval, he hopes to begin marketing the condominium units by the fall. 

"It's never good to be too confident," he said. "But we are very hopeful the community will support this project." 

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(c) 2002, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.