Miami Beach Travel Guide
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Why One Guest Won't Be Staying at The Delano For Art Basel
But it looks so pretty!
The Delano is on the list for Art Basel's preferred hotels and if you're interested in staying there during the art fair it will cost you $825 a night, before tax.
But given what happened there last year during Art Basel, one guest is not returning. A tipster wrote into us with her account of The Delano during Art Basel:
My stay at the Delano in '08 was anything but posh. Two mornings in a row I woke up to no hot water, to make matter worse I was at Art Basel for work.
The hotel said a pipe burst and after I complained they took 50% off one night. They assured me it would be fixed, but the next morning still no hot water. What did they give me that day, free breakfast, but no adjustment to the bill.
Needless to say, I will not stay there this year which brings me to my second tip for HotelChatter. There is a campsite available for use in Miami during Art Basel, does this mean the show has finally jumped the shark?
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Get Insider Art Basel Advice at the Riviera South Beach
Heading to Art Basel in Miami? Think about all those parties you’ll want to hit up (or crash). Then think about the mornings after when you have to drag yourself out of bed, pull together an art-world-approved outfit, and be able to mingle and say insightful things about all that art. You know what will make it easier? Staying as close as possible to the Miami Beach Convention Center, where most of the Art Basel exhibitions take place. This will minimize your morning angst— but if you want even more help figuring out how to navigate art browsing and shopping, the Riviera South Beach can do that too.
One of the hip South Beach Group properties, the Riviera is owned by local art collectors Alan and Diane Lieberman and was designed with art in mind. “I pulled inspiration from legendary designer Dorothy Draper and my personal love of art and design,” says Alan Lieberman. “I wanted to create a posh, hip hotel that’s affordable in the most happening neighborhood in South Beach.”
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Where To Stay for Art Basel Miami Beach
Thanksgiving may be just around the corner, but so is one of the most pivotal dates on the Miami social calendar: Art Basel. So if you’re an art geek or just like crashing artist parties, it’s time to start thinking about where you’ll stay in Miami for this year’s show, which takes place December 3–6.
With artworks by over 2,000 artists on display, Art Basel events will be held all over town, from South Beach to the Design District, where many of the artist studios are located. But the center of all the public exhibitions and events is the Miami Beach Convention Center, towards the north of South Beach’s Art Deco district.
All this means there are plenty of hip hotels within walking distance, from the Sanctuary, the Catalina and the Riviera, to the Raleigh, Setai, and W South Beach. Also nearby is a new outdoor venue for this year, at Collins Park, between 21st and 22nd Streets. Known as the Oceanfront, it will be the site of a café, beach concerts, and the Art Basel Conversations series.
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.
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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.
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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?)
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