A few keystone steps lead to the expansive terrace at the Tides, the most grown-up hotel on Ocean Drive. If you sit there for a spell, you begin to connect with the future of the South Beach hotel industry.
Adolescence has been fun. But the place is becoming so adult. Where once stood a succession of neon-lighted hotels screaming their coolness to the world–sometimes delivering quality behind those Miami Vice facades, sometimes proving the place was still junior varsity–now stand options.
And depth. Everything from the $59 place to crash on spring break to the $200 place for a weekend getaway in town to the $800 place to impress on the corporate expense account.
Now, when someone asks about the best place to stay, the answer is, “Depends.”
Depends on how much they want to spend. Depends on whether they want to be on the ocean or a couple of blocks away from the ruckus. Depends on whether they want just a basic room, or that whole concierge and doorman thing, or a quaint bed-and-breakfast setting where they can sit with other guests around a big breakfast table and share granola.
Until now, South Beach has been the domain of small, although picture-perfect, Art Deco gems with 20, 40, maybe 100 rooms; hardly accommodating to the deep-pockets convention crowd.
This will soon change. Slated to open in October is the Loews Miami Beach, a ready-for-prime-time convention hotel at 1565 Collins Ave. It will feature 830 rooms and ample meeting and banquet space. Breaking ground in February is the adjacent Crowne Plaza, which will add 400 convention rooms.
Another part of the new South Beach hotel buzz is the Blue Moon, just opened by Merv Griffin Hotels. Formerly known as the Hotel Lafayette, at Collins Avenue and 9th Street, the Blue Moon is upscaling, though it’s staying open during massive renovation. Griffin also just picked up Les Suites, south of the Lafayette, which is set to be primed by next season.
Not counting the new convention hotels — the first South Beach hotels built from scratch in 30 years — there are about 4,000 hotel rooms between 21st Street and Government Cut. It’s impossible to note every hotel, but there are plenty of options at each price level.
It’s not unusual to pay $200 or so for an above-average room during season. But according to Chuck Ross, vice president of Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, Tenn., the rates are fair.
“It’s fair to charge what the market will bear,” Ross said. “Miami Beach has established itself as somewhat of a unique location. So by definition it’s hard to compare it.”
Smith Travel Research, which tracks occupancy and room rate data, says that during the first 10 months of 1997, the average rate for a hotel room in Miami Beach (that’s the entire Beach; it doesn’t have specific figures for South Beach) was $94.25, compared to $164.79 for New York, $105 for New Orleans, $111.52 for Honolulu and $104.67 for San Diego.
The `A’ list
If what you’re seeking is a place that doesn’t compromise on luxury or glamor and if $300 or more a night doesn’t disrupt the budget, send the monied to the painfully chic Delano at Collins Avenue and 17th Street, the grandly preserved National just next door or the latest entry on the A-list, the gleaming Tides, which opened last spring at Ocean Drive and 12th Street.
The Tides reinforces the notion that South Beach is growing up. But that doesn’t mean this hotel isn’t fun.
Its front terrace is subtly elevated to allow an easy view of all the collegiate goings-on just across the way, but you get to watch all the careening, barely dressed skaters, coconut-oiled gym fanatics and planes dragging Beer Blast ads across the sky from a prudent distance, a dewy glass of gin and tonic in your hand. So what if the cocktail set you back 8 bucks? You’re the sophisticated sort, with a sophisticated set of credit cards in your wallet. After all, if you’re spending the night, just one night, you’re blowing about $335. That’s for a regular room. And that’s not counting taxes and those dreaded minibar tallies.
What you get for your money: a spacious room (huge, by South Beach standards), a real view of the ocean (not one of those as-if views where you have to hang your body out the window to catch a sliver of blue), a thoughtful set of amenities that include a chalkboard near the door (so you can leave the object of your sleepless night a romantic note before darting down to the pool for early morning laps) and a telescope propped up by the window (so you can ogle beach bodies while retaining anonymity).
There is no trace of neon here, not a fleck of pink or blue. The Tides is done head-to-toe in ecru and sand, the new colors of cool in an upscaling South Beach.
It’s the flagship in the string of South Beach boutique hotels run by hotelier Chris Blackwell. His Island Outpost company made its first foray into South Beach in 1991 by opening the funkified Marlin, at 12th and Collins, recently redone in an Afro-urban theme that features bright batik linens, dark wood floors and stainless steel kitchenettes.
The Marlin, a fave with recording industry types because the hotel houses studios (it even offers one suite with full-service recording booth attached), will soon have Web TV in every room with free unlimited Internet access. There are only 12 rooms in the hotel, all suites with kitchenettes. Average price is about $300.
Less expensive
Island Outpost hotels can be reasonable, if you’re willing to compromise on spaciousness and fabulousness. If your out-of-town friends are not members of U2 and don’t need to record, you might want to steer them toward the Leslie or the Cavalier on Ocean, or the Kent on Collins. You can get a nice, comfy, attractive room for about $150 at any of these–even at the height of winter season.
Still too high? There are cheaper places to stay, some even easy to recommend. High on our list are the Park Washington, Kenmore and Belaire, part of a compound occupying the 1000 block of Washington Avenue. Connecting them are lush gardens, and a communal pool and sunbathing area. The Kenmore and the Park Washington are lovely Art Deco examples, with the requisite terrazzo floors, paddle fans and other legitimate touches. But don’t look for cutting-edge newness here. The bathrooms are mostly original (read: quaint but tiny), and the furnishings are either refurbished hotel stock from the 1940s and 1950s or 1970s Formica and chrome.
But get this: At either the Kenmore or the Park Washington, you get a clean, decent-size room with a queen bed for $79. Two beds go for $89. A two-room suite with minibar and king bed is $129. You can get a small room, cruise-ship-small, with a twin bed and bath, for $59.
The Belaire is a no-frills, nondescript apartment building turned into hotel suites with kitchenettes. Nothing Delano about these suites. In fact, the decor is circa “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”: Think of it as a decent place to percolate your Maxwell House and fry your eggs in the morning, and where four people can sleep for $89.
If Washington Avenue is just too far from the beach but you don’t want to pay movie-star prices, you can stay at the Beacon Hotel, a just-redone Art Deco place at Ocean and 7th Street. (Depending on your world view, you might consider the Johnny Rockets next door a plus or a minus.) The rooms are all freshly painted and redecorated, with reddish woods and Key West-y patterns.
We sampled a “deluxe” room, no ocean view, for $195 in season. It had a too-small bathroom without towel rack (the towels were rolled and placed on top of the toilet tank). But it also had a front-row seat to the party that is Ocean Drive — great if you’re in the mood to play and you don’t mind flamenco-pop blaring up from the street at night; not so great if you’re in town to do business and need to rise at the crack of dawn.
Quieter choices
For a toned-down version of the party, travel five blocks south to the Century, at 140 Ocean. This hotel also has just been redone, in earthy tones with sisal rugs, roomy marble bathrooms, CD players, VCRs and other niceties. A deluxe room goes for $190. The hotel features the new Joia, a hip Italian lounge/eatery owned by Ingrid Casares and Chris Paciello, the duo that brings you the Washington Avenue club Liquid.
If you really want to get away from the buzz, you can’t do better than the Astor Hotel, at Washington and 10th Street. The place reopened two years ago as testimony to what $5 million in renovations can do for a boarded-up flophouse. From the pale-peach and keystone exterior to the desert-tone interiors, the Astor is quiet sophistication. A deluxe room with queen bed, marble bathroom and plenty of amenities, including double-thick window panes to keep out noise and a dimmer on every single light, goes for $210.
The Mediterranean-style Blue Moon, at 944 Collins, offers upscale amenities, including the little things: fresh flowers and mineral water presented upon arrival. A deluxe room runs about $165 now, but act soon: Rates are expected to climb when renovations are complete.
There are two other quiet little spots to cherish on South Beach. One is the Hotel Impala at Collins and 12th Street, a flawless place with private courtyard entry boasting meticulous service and design-studio decor, down to the Italian tile in the bathrooms. A standard room runs $199. Our top find for the money is the Hotel Leon at Collins and 8th, where a deluxe room, featuring lots of space, hardwood floors, hip decor, VCR, CD player and comfy bathrooms with tubs you can actually soak in, goes for $125.
The place also has a funky communal dining room where guests gather for breakfast and the occasional dinner. Dogs are allowed.
WHAT YOU PAY AND WHAT YOU GET
Here’s a sampling of South Beach hotel offerings. Rates quoted do not include taxes and are for the winter season; summer rates are usually 30-40 percent lower. All phone numbers are in area code 305.
– Albion, 1650 James Ave. (913-1000); $205-$750. Urban chic decor right off Lincoln Road’s strip of cafes and shops. One of the coolest pools in town, on the hotel’s second level. Stand on the ground level and watch what’s going on underwater through portholes. There’s even a second-level sun deck on sand.
– Astor, 956 Washington Ave. (531-8081); $145-$600. Quiet and sophisticated, far enough from the epicenter of the party to let you chill. Lots of shopping and nightclubbing a stroll away.
– Beacon, 720 Ocean Dr. (674-8200); $160-$375. Ground zero for fun in the sun. Sit at the terrace restaurant and watch the parade of tourists, the occasional parrot riding somebody’s shoulder, the slow-moving string of rented convertibles. Rooms are freshly redone with a tropical Deco feel.
– Belaire, 1020 Washington Ave. (532-1930); $89-$129. Tidy suites that offer plenty of elbow room and convenient kitchenettes, but not a whole lot of style — though the ’70s decor could make it a good place to shoot the next Fiona Apple music video.
– Blue Moon, 944 Collins Ave. (673-2262); $165-265. Merv Griffin just bought the place and is renovating right through the season. A nice place already, with plenty of Mediterranean touches.
– Casa Grande, 834 Ocean Dr. (672-7003); $245-$1,200. A great hideaway smack in the middle of it all. Has Eastern Old World touches and spacious rooms and suites.
– Cavalier, 1320 Ocean Dr. (604-5000); $125-$350. Funky, New Beach decor in a burst of colors. Good value for the offerings and the location.
– Century, 140 Ocean Dr. (674-8855); $190-$300. On the quiet end of Ocean Drive and still a quick stroll to the surf. Rooms have just been redone in that clean-line, desert-tone style so popular on the beach these days.
– Delano, 1685 Collins Ave. (672-2000); $310-$2,200. Over-the-top cool. White on white rooms with lots of whimsical way-chic touches. An Alice in Wonderland green with lawn chess, a mirror propped against a tree, a table with chairs in the shallow end of the infinity pool. Oh, and you never know what celeb you’ll run into in the lobby.
– Hotel Leon, 841 Collins Ave. (673-3767); $125-$375. The best place to get away from South Beach on South Beach. Euro, laid back. Spacious rooms offering plenty of high-end amenities without the high-end prices.
– Impala, 1228 Collins Ave. (673-2021); $199-$379. If the Delano is the best place to be seen, this is the best place to not be seen. A charming and exquisitely appointed little place that lets you luxuriate in quiet.
– Kenmore, 1050 Washington Ave. (674-1930); $59-$129. You can pay more at other places, but you might find the Kenmore all you need. Roomy, clean, and loaded with Art Deco charm. Not for the five-star types.
– Kent, 1131 Collins Ave. (604-5000); $125-$350. Like the Cavalier and the Leslie, this Island Outpost hotel is hip and fun. By South Beach standards, you get plenty for the price.
– Leslie, 1244 Ocean Dr. (534-2136); $125-$350. See Kent above.
– Marlin, 1200 Collins Ave. (604-5000); $195-$500. One of the coolest. Hang with recording industry types in the opium-den style lounge just off the centerpiece bar in the lobby. Colorful suites featuring batik linens and robes, stainless steel kitchenettes, and coming soon: Internet access in every room.
– National, 1677 Collins Ave. (532-2311); $225-$570. Go back to the future in one of the Beach’s best-restored Art Deco gems. Top-shelf amenities, the longest lap pool in town, and plenty of beach in the back.
– Park Central, 640 Ocean Dr. (538-1611); $145-$295. One of the most Art Deco in the Art Deco district. In the heart of the action.
– Park Washington, 1020 Washington Ave. (532-1930); $59-$129. The kissing cousin of the Kenmore. A good deal, not a lot of pizazz.
– Raleigh, 1775 Collins Ave. (534-6300); $229-$1,200. A popular hangout for the martini and cigar crowd with one of the most beautiful pools on the Beach.
– Ritz Plaza, 1701 Collins Ave. (534-3500); $165-$345. Nice, spacious rooms right on the beach. A good deal.
– Tides, 1220 Ocean Dr. (604-5000); $275-$2,000. When this hotel was renovated, it went from 115 rooms to 45 rooms. This means you can expect spaciousness, and what’s more, all rooms face the ocean. An A-list hotel with A-list amenities.
