It’s just over a year ago that we looked at the latest in hotel news for Miami. Back then, there had been some major recent openings: Alan Faena added a small historic conversion – the old Claridge Hotel – to his Faena District and renamed it Casa Faena (and more hotel rooms may come one day in the remaining Versailles Tower).
Nobu Miami Beach arrived in the historic Morris Lapidus-designed tower of the Eden Roc complex, while the brand-new SLS Brickell opened downtown with its Markus Linnenbrink multi-colour striped mural around the base of the 55-story tower.
Shortly after, Four Seasons opened at Collins Avenue and 91st Street, bringing new life to the 1930s Russell Pancoast-designed Surf Club, now almost embraced by two shimmery contemporary towers by Richard Meier. More is on its way, with further development both along the city’s beaches and downtown – here is what to look out for in Miami.
On Ocean Drive between 6th and 7th Street, The Celino South Beach missed its 2017 opening but should bring its ‘vibrant reinterpretation of a party that happened on New Year’s Eve 1940’ to us this year. It will have 132 rooms, 12 balcony suites and 14 one-bedroom suites, dressed in appropriate whites, pale blues, and light wood. Aside from beach service there will be both a (glass-bottomed) pool on the roof and one in the courtyard, multiple restaurants, and event space.
Aiming for the end of 2018 is The Greystone Miami, in between the The Setai and The Shore Club. It will have 92 rooms, a rooftop pool with bar, a restaurant and basement lounge. While there are no interior renderings yet, the aerial view shows a number of rooms with terraces and plunge pools / jacuzzis.
Speaking of The Shore Club, while the hotel in its current form is still operating, it should find its new life as Fasano Miami Beach in the next few years. Combining both hotel rooms and residences – 85 of the former, 67 of the latter – it will have a 9,500 sq ft lagoon-style pool that will be the largest on South Beach, along with all the usual facilities.
Just over a year ago there was nothing more than a few bare walls up at the Collins Park Hotel, a few blocks behind The Greystone and across the street from newcomer The Plymouth. Construction shots now show things are moving along for the conversion of a number of historic structures and the addition of several new ones. Ultimately, the hotel will have 294 rooms across five towers (none of which will be taller than six stories), two of which will have rooftop pools. A further glimpse of the interiors can be found here.
Having opened SLS Brickell, SLS will find its second act downtown in SLS LUX Brickell. The three additional letters mean a different positioning, with an all-suite hotel (coming in at a round 100) by Yabu Pushelberg combined with residences. Differently styled but no less colourful stripes wrap around the base of a tower that will top out at 58 stories, across the street from EAST Miami.
Still optimistically listed for 2017 is another SBE project: Hyde Midtown Miami. Near the Miami Design District, the hotel and residences complex builds on the Hyde nightclub brand, with hotel suits on the lower floors of the 32-story structure, a Hyde Music Lounge & Piano Bar, a pool and spa.
Tipping into next year, Kimpton Hotels – now owned by IHG and expanding to add Paris as its second European property as well as a number in Asia – will increase its footprint in Miami in early 2019 by opening one of its Hotel Palomar properties in the Sunset Harbour area of South Beach. A total of 96 rooms will be crowned by a rooftop pool, with further facilities including a restaurant and fitness centre.
Also a mixed residential / hotel project but a very different proposition is YOTEL Miami. Coming to downtown next year, it will have 250 of the cabins the brand is known for (convertible beds, rain showers, flatscreen TVs in limited space), with a Club Lounge for meetings and socialising.
Paul J DeVries
