From luxury beachfront hotels to airport motels, a slew of new hostelries opened in Miami-Dade County this year, beckoning visitors.
At least 11 hotels with 1,805 rooms launched in 2015. The majority are in Miami Beach, with some stretching out to Coral Gables and Doral. The roster includes new lifestyle brands, boutique hotels, and national hotel company properties.
“We had a great year of new hotels and great restorations,” Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association told The Real Deal. “It’s a good mix of different properties.”
Overall, the county currently boasts 375 hotels and motels with a total of 48,917 rooms, according to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Here is a list of some of the latest entrants during 2015, beginning with the newest, compiled with data from the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.
Faena Hotel Miami Beach, 3201 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
The walls of the lobby are decorated with colorful murals, the floors inlaid with an intricate mosaic pattern. Outdoors, a huge, gilded mammoth greets visitors at the entrance to the oceanfront pool and beach.
Faena Hotel Miami Beach, which opened in December, marks the next step in the completion of the Faena District, which runs on both sides of Collins Avenue, from 32nd Street to 35th Street in Mid-Miami Beach. Other components include the recently completed Faena House condominium tower; Faena Forum, an arts complex now under construction; two Faena Versailles condominium towers; Faena Bazaar, a retail building; and a parking garage, all also under construction.
For Faena Hotel, partners Alan Faena and Len Blavatnik completely gutted and renovated the former Saxony Hotel, originally built in 1947 by George Sax and designed by Roy F. France. Faena hired film director and producer Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Catherine Martin to help create an old-world ambiance with Art Deco decor, designed to recall the property’s former glamour of the 1950s.
Faena Hotel has 169 rooms and suites and 13 penthouse residences, decorated with hardwood floors, red velvet and turquoise furniture and blue tiled bathrooms. Prices begin at $750 a night, according to a hotel spokesperson.
Plans for the hotel include launching the restaurant Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann, which will be the chef’s first restaurant in the United States, offering Argentine cuisine; as well as Pao at the Dome, chef Paul Qui’s first restaurant outside of Texas, offering Asian cuisine.
Nautilus, A SIXTY Hotel, 1825 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
Nautilus, A SIXTY Hotel, is a 250-room oceanfront property originally built in 1950. Developed by Jason Pomeranc, it was renovated and restored by Quadrum Global and its partner InSite Group. It opened in December.
The porte cochere, 25-foot lobby ceilings, the Morris Lapidus “Staircase to Nowhere,” beveled windows, teal green tile and the Driftwood Room supper club, are among the historic elements preserved at the Lapidus-designed property. Its new owners said they took a nautical-themed Art Deco approach to the renovation, including “jet-set” style furniture, warm, neutral colors, mini bars in vintage-style trunks and conch shell lamps. The eighth-story penthouse features a rooftop garden terrace.
Amenities include an 1,890-square-foot heated salt water pool, 24-hour gym, spa, the Nautilus Cabana Club, outdoor deck and bar, cabanas and a lush, tropical backyard. All food and beverage, including the 200-seat signature restaurant, are led by celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli and operated by China Grill Management.
Hall South Beach, 1500 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach
Managed by Commune Hotels under the Joie de Vivre brand, the 163-room Hall South Beach opened in November.
Formerly the Haddon Hall hotel, the building was built in 1940 and was designed by famed architect L. Murray Dixon.
The Hall features a courtyard with an indoor/outdoor restaurant, beer garden, library, bar and swimming pool.
The building and neighboring Campton apartments were bought by Rockwood Capital in July 2013. Miami-based architectural firm ADD Inc. and interior design firm Robert McKinley Creative Services were brought in to renovate the properties.
Hyatt Place Miami Airport, West Doral; 3655 Northwest 82nd Avenue in Doral
The 135-room hotel opened in November. It was developed by a joint venture between Coconut Grove-based Aztec Group and Concord Hospitality Enterprises.
The property, near Miami International Airport, includes 800 square feet of flexible meeting space, a pool, a 24-hour gym, cocktail and coffee bar, and a 24-hour limited menu.
AC Hotel Miami Beach, 2912 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
The AC Hotel by Marriott — Miami Beach, developed by Robert Finvarb Companies, opened in September.
The newly constructed hotel, across from the Miami Beach Edition, has 150 rooms in seven stories, with an eighth-floor rooftop pool.
The hotel marked the brand’s first ground-up launch in the United States. Marriott acquired the AC brand from a development company in Spain, and there are 80 of the branded hotels in Europe, Robert Finvarb, CEO of Robert Finvarb Companies, told The Real Deal at the time of the launch.
“It’s a lifestyle, millennial brand, which is the market that everyone seems to be targeting these days,” he said.
Guest rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, and the third-story amenity deck has outdoor games, including Bocce ball, ping pong and chess.
Hampton Inn Miami South Beach (Claremont), 1700 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
The 69-room Hampton Inn Miami South Beach opened in September. The three-story hotel features a lobby bar, rooftop pool and business center.
The property marks the first Hampton Inn in Miami Beach. It was formerly the Claremont Hotel, built in 1947, according to Miami-Dade County property records. The 14,200-square-foot property last sold for $10 million in 2008.
Four Points Sheraton Coral Gables, 3861 Southwest 40th Street, Coral Gables
The 103-room hotel opened in July.
The property has a pool, 24-hour fitness center and 550-square-foot function venue, according to its website.
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, 1600 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, a new “lifestyle hotel” developed by Miami-based Robert Finvarb Companies and its partner David Martins, opened in June.
The 105-room hotel represents the first Hyatt Centric-branded hotel in Miami Beach, and the second Hyatt Centric property worldwide, after Chicago. Another 15 rebranded hotels are on tap for New York, Paris and other destinations, Robert Finvarb, CEO of Robert Finvarb Companies, had told TRD.
Kobi Karp designed the 10-story glass tower in Miami Beach, which sits above an historic building façade.
As an added plus, the hotel’s ground floor has 9,300 square feet of retail space facing Collins Avenue, Finvarb said.
Geared to attract millennials as well as other visitors, the hotel’s amenities include DECK sixteen, a Spanish-Mediterranean indoor-outdoor restaurant helmed by Executive Chef William Milian, who was formerly a chef at the COMO Hotel Group’s Traymore restaurant and at Asia de Cuba at the Mondrian Hotel. He also worked alongside celebrity chef Jose Andres as sous chef at Bazaar at the SLS Hotel.
At the Hyatt Centric, guests enter a central lobby lounge on the third floor, with a cocktail bar and a curated book collection. Outside is an open-air deck featuring a swimming pool. Additional amenities include recreational bikes, artwork curated by local gallerist Dina Mitrani and an automated parking garage system.
Aloft South Beach, 2360 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
Aloft South Beach, developed by Jason Halpern’s New York-based JMH Development, Madden Real Estate Ventures and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, opened in June.
The 235-room hotel features a Stephen Starr restaurant, Continental Miami.
Built on the site of the historic 1954 Ankara Motel, the hotel aimed to preserve its Art Deco architecture, incorporating classic brick walls in the “historic wing,” refurbished Ankara Motel signage and the original pool shape, Halpern previously told TRD.
The hotel’s lobby also features a series of black-and-white images of 1970s beach scenes and near the entrance, a large-scale aerial view photograph of models in vintage swimsuits.
1 Hotel South Beach at 2341 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
1 Hotel, a joint venture between developer Richard LeFrak and Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht, launched in April.
The 426-room hotel is the first property of the 1 Hotels brand. It has three restaurants by Tom Colicchio, the hotel’s signature beachcraft, lobby lounge bar Tom on Collins, and poolside restaurant the Sand Box; as well as STK by the One Group.
The 426 rooms, which include 84 studio suites and one oceanfront presidential suite, feature Nespresso coffee machines, yoga mats and glass terrariums. The hotel component also includes four outdoor swimming pools, 57 cabanas and daybeds, and access to Tesla cars for guests traveling within a three-mile radius.
1 Hotel South Beach was developed on the site of the former Gansevoort Hotel, which was last branded as the Perry South Beach.
Element Miami Doral, 3285 Northwest 107th Avenue, Miami
The 139-room extended stay hotel opened in March.
The hotel offers kitchenettes in each room, equipped with refrigerators, microwaves and stovetops, as well as cookware, flatware and utensils.
Element also has a complimentary breakfast bar and a 24-hour fitness center, according to its website.