Miami Beach Travel Guide
Tags: POTUS Hotels / Barack Obama / Miami Hotel Mambo / Fontainebleau Hotels / → All Tags
POTUS Hotel Hopping Hits the Fontainebleau in Miami
Miami’s Fontainebleau Resort is no stranger to celebs, from Frank Sinatra to Dennis Rodman. But last night the revamped resort got a return visit from the most famous person on the planet: POTUS.
President Obama has been on a bit of a hotel tour lately, doing his Democratic Party fund-raising at a series of fancy dinners across the country. Last night, his arrival at one of these events was marked with protests as about 200 people carrying placards lined Collins Avenue across from the Fontainebleau.
Inside, around 450 people paid between $500 and $15,000 a head to hear POTUS talk, raising an estimated $1.5 million all up. (We’re guessing that’s just a little over what LIV or Hakkasan rakes in on an average Monday night.)
Tags: Super Bowl Hotels / Facebook Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Promotions / → All Tags
How To Get a Room In Miami For the Super Bowl (Game Tix, Too)
While most folks are focused on the MLB World Series, down in Miami hotels have the Super Bowl on their minds. Room rates for the weekend of the February 7 game were already laughable when we checked back in August, although today Quikbook still has some reasonably priced rooms in the $200-a-night range. (The W South Beach, however? That’s $999 a night.) But thanks to yet another Facebook promotion, the best deal in town so far is to win the Loews Miami Beach Super Bowl contest. The SoBe hotel is giving away a four-night stay valid February 4–7, 2010—and they’ll also throw in two tickets to the big game.
Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Gansevoort Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / → All Tags
STK at Gansevoort South Is Nowhere Near Finished
UPDATE: Someone tells us December 1 is the newest opening date for STK. We hope so!
A while back we once wondered who would ever win the restaurant race of the summer in Miami--Mr. Chow at the W South Beach or STK at Gansevoort South. Well, Mr. Chow was clearly the winner but we thought that STK would have its stuff together "this fall".
Turns out we thought wrong.
A tipster snapped these shots of the STK space at the hotel and from the looks of it, we don't think it's going to be opening before 2009 is out. We're not sure what's taking so long with this space as we've been waiting for STK since the hotel opened. But they might want to keep their doors locked until they have something better to show off.
Got the scoop on STK at Gansevoort South? Let us know.
Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Woes / Morgans Hotel Group / → All Tags
The Shore Club No Longer a Sure Thing
Even though The Shore Club in Miami Beach may cost a pretty penny to spend the night (rates in the high season once fetched $1,000 a night), it looks like the hotel's owners are not immune to the recession woes.
While the Shore Club is managed by Morgans Hotel Group, the hotel is owned by Philip Pilevsky and his son, Michael. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pilevskys have gone delinquent on their $111.5 million securitized mortgage. Earlier this month, the hotel owners even threatened to close the hotel down but later managed to get another loan to pay the payroll and other critical expenses for the hotel. Yet, that still wasn't enough.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Dennis Rodman / Miami Hotel Mambo / Bad Celebrity Guests / → All Tags
Dennis Rodman Continues To Be The Worst Hotel Guest in Miami
What is it about hotels that makes Dennis Rodman act like a serious perv? The bad ex-baller has now been accused of groping a woman at the LIV nightclub at Miami's Fontainebleau Hotel. In the past year alone, he has also been accused of inappropriately groping gals at the Gansevoort South, The London West Hollywood, The Hard Rock Las Vegas and another Los Angeles-area hotel.
This time at LIV, the alleged victim said that Rodman approached her, whispered in her ear and then touched her inappropriately. The woman notified security officers who then called the police. While a friend of Rodman says the club's surveillance video will exonerate the friend, the police are still investigating. Rodman could face charges of simple battery but we're hoping there's a way that the law could enforce a permanent hotel blacklist as well.
Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Makeovers / Todd Oldham / Designer Hotels / → All Tags
Todd Oldham Gives His Miami Hotel a Makeover
We’re still waiting to see the transformation of the old Tudor Hotel and Palmer House into the Dream South Beach, but a few blocks down on Collins, another Deco property has just had a mini-makeover. The Hotel of South Beach is now flaunting a 20-room addition and an update of its Wish restaurant. Proving that designers aren’t just in the game for grand-opening glory, designer Todd Oldham returned to South Beach to upgrade his original 1998 designs.
Tags: Fashion Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Pamela Anderson / Miami Hotel Mambo / → All Tags
See Pam Anderson Strut at The Setai Tonight
Hey, fashionistas: Did the recession prevent you from jetting over to Milan, London, and Paris for the shows this fall? Well, chin up, kids. There’s always Funkshion Fashion Week in Miami! The four-day event for “progressive, established, and emerging designers to showcase their collections” is now on in South Beach, with much of the action taking place at The Setai.
The hotel is often portrayed as a sedate sanctuary, but anyone staying there between now and Sunday will instead be greeted by Pamela Anderson’s rear. The buxom actress is walking the runway for her fashion line, A* Muse by Richie Rich, and if recent shows in New Zealand and L.A. are any indication, there could be flashing. (Rich, by the way, says the line is designed for the "fun, sexy, surfer girl from Malibu meets Andy Warhol." So, yeah—Pammy.) Also, we hope she leaves her child fashion slave behind.
Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Events / Victorias Secret Model Hotels / → All Tags
Victoria's Secret Trades Fontainebleau For Gansevoort South
The W South Beach may be the newest hotel in Miami, but that doesn’t mean it gets all of the buzz on the beach. Case in point: tomorrow, the Gansevoort South is hosting a casting event for Victoria’s Secret models.
Aspiring Angels should show up at the hotel between 8–10 a.m., with an entry form, ID, swimwear, and high heels. (No lingerie or visible logos—please, this is a classy contest!) Entrants must be 18–30 years of age, 5’8” or taller in bare feet, and come ready to rock the catwalk for the VS panel of “experts.”
Castings were held at Yankee Stadium in New York last weekend, and two more will follow—at the W Hotel Los Angeles Westwood on October 17, and the W Hotel Chicago Lakeshore on October 24. Ten finalists will be flown to New York for an “Angel Boot Camp”—they’ll live together in a loft and complete a series of challenges, all while being filmed. The public can watch videos of the contestants online and vote for the winner, who will get to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show TV Special on December 1st.
Tags: Hotels Doing Good / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Services / → All Tags
The Betsy Hotel Wants To Save The World; Starts With A Bus
Forget literary concierges, art curators, and suntan lotion butlers. The hot new hotel position is Philanthropist. You know, an on-premises Bono who can wax lyrical about Doing Good at flashy fundraising events, and entice fellow do-gooders, including celebrities, to rest their heads at a property all for a good cause.
To that end, The Betsy Hotel in Miami has just named Dr. Deborah Briggs as its Vice President for Philanthropy. Which is a big word for South Beach, but is actually in keeping with the hotel's intentions to be a sort of salon for artsy, wealthy types who like to engage in "energized discourse." Preferably with a mojito in hand. (Or is that just us?)
Tags: Hotel Music Videos / Miami Hotel Mambo / Celebrity Scoop / Kanye West / John Legend / → All Tags
Kanye, John Legend and Consequence Do 'Whatever You Want' at The Fontainebleau
A tipster sent us this video saying, "Pretty good song but really bad video shot at Fontainebleau." I'ma let you finish, but normally we'd say any video with John Legend in it, has to be good. But this music video for Consequence's song, "Whatever You Want," featuring Kanye and John Legend makes Pit Bull's video for "Hotel Room Service" (filmed at the EPIC Hotel) look like an Emmy-winner.
The boys don't even make good use of the Fontainebleau property. There are some pool scenes and some LIV nightclub shots but really it's just girls in trying-to-be-sexy one-piece bathing suits and extra long ponytails gyrating around. No suites, no room service, no mini-bar sex kits.
The John Legend bit on the beach, however, doesn't disappoint. And at least the video is way better than Lionel Richie's.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Food / Family Friendly Hotels / → All Tags
The Loews Miami Beach Serves TV Dinners to Guests. The Little Ones.
Remember TV dinners? Oh, the excitement they signaled. A big TV show about to start (like Knight Rider!), getting to sit on the couch with a cute little tray in front of you, and, um, the food. Right. Well, two out of three ain't bad. And if the Loews Miami Beach Hotel gets its way, TV dinners will now be known as delicious.
The property, one of the few on the South Beach strip that dares to promote itself as "family friendly" is introducing new kids' menus at its poolside Nautilus Bar and Grill, and at the hotel's signature restaurant, Preston's Brasserie, where "Floribbean" cuisine is the order of the day. And, yup, the new kiddie food is served TV-dinner style.
Tags: Miami Hotel Mambo / Morgans Hotel Group / Marcel Wanders / Mondrian Hotels / → All Tags
Make Your Own Mondrian with Moooi Designs
During a recent stay at the Mondrian South Beach, we were quite taken with the “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” concept of Dutch designer Marcel Wanders.
After looking back at some of our photos, we wondered if we might be able to recreate the look at home—or at least, parts of it. We’re not too keen on having one of these bug-eyed lady murals staring at us when we wake up every morning.
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