HotelChatter

In a Nutshell
You'll want to send a lot of time lounging at the Shore Club - that's as easy as walking in. And you'll want to slowly sip a thousand-dollar martini at the Setai's captivating  zillion-dollar Japanese lagoon bar. That's part of the fun of the Townhouse - these are your beautiful neighbors - as well as lounging guilt-free on the red waterbeds on the Townhouse rooftop sundeck, which turns into a bar scene of its own weekend nights.

The Idea
Likewise this the hotel began as an idea, and shows what can happen when you successfully build the hotel around it - rather than, for example, just making the rooms as pretty as possible. And the idea that Townhouse radiates is Clean Fun.

That's why the only color here is an occasional stripe of red, as in the pointer signs indicating which way to the beach (straight), which way to the rooftop lounge (up), and which way to Ricky Martin (either direction).

Room Dirt
Other daubs: two red bikes for rent (The Standard, which I'll write about later this week, has free bike rentals; but it's the only other stay that offers such an obvious and simple service); its red porch swings; and delightful mini kitchen where you serve yourself, during the day, tea and coffee and animal crackers; and where you serve yourself the complimentary Continental breakfast including baguette, grapes, and the New York Times and eat it on the long, sunny white table aside the lobby.

Rooms are bleached white save for your red-and-whie striped inflatable beachball, and on to the circular red rug. There's a lot of white in South Beach, and Townhouse is clearly a staunch proponent, but the white here exudes lightness. It makes the small rooms feel larger. It's frivolity and innocence. Sanctuary is somber meditative woods. Townhouse is ebullient light. It's white and red and fun all over.

Townhouse Tips#1: Just this past weekend Townhouse removed the old models and installed plasma TVs in all the rooms.
#2: I suspect part of the reason Townhouse functions so well is its General Manager, Maria Elena Rubio. I called reception to make a change from a king bed to two beds - the attendant helped me in a tone of resourcefulness, ease, assured professionalism. Turns out I had been speaking to Maria Elena, who was the Hotel Manager at the Delano for the previous six years. With her there, Townhouse is going nowhere but up.

A Helpful Pronounciation Guide
The Townhouse has a straight punctuation bar above the capital H in the middle of its name. I was intrigued. Is it mere flash? - a European pronunciation bar misused above a consonant for mere cuteness or graphic flair? But then, upon a close and fixed stare (it's my job, after all, to inspect closely) you look into that negative space and see a T appear in the H. Clever!

What's Next
Tomorrow I will bring you the full report of the Four Seasons Miami which should be a nice respite from the intense South Beach scene. I'm looking forward to crossing the Intercoastal....