Topping the agenda at Mar-a-Lago will be US-China trade ties and US requests for China to help rein in its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea.
Trump bought the estate in 1985 for US$7 million ($10m) and turned it into an exclusive club, which now boasts a membership fee of US$200,000 and is a haven for the tony Palm Beach set who pull up to the gate in Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.
"It's a place where he feels comfortable and at home, and where he can break the ice with Xi Jinping without the formality, really, of a Washington meet-up," said another senior White House official.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, will join Trump and his wife, Melania, for dinner today and Trump and Xi will have a series of meetings there tomorrow. The entire visit will last less than 24 hours.
"I do think that Mar-a-lago will probably help enhance conversation between the two of them," said former US ambassador to China Max Baucus. "President Trump can show President Xi around, show him the digs. Trump is very proud of that, and President Xi will be interested in seeing all of that."
Trump's immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, used the Sunnylands retreat in Rancho Mirage, California, as a site for an informal summit with Xi in 2013.
While Trump treated Abe to golf, no such outing is planned for the leader of China.
Mar-a-Lago has already been the scene of some controversy for Trump.
When a North Korean missile test disrupted Abe's visit there, Trump and the Japanese leader were seen at a dinner table on the terrace discussing how to respond, as club members looked on from nearby tables.