Affinia Hotels to Party Down in South Beach in 2012
Thanks to an excellent Twitterer, @DeeTCL, we've just learned that Affinia Hotels will be taking over the beleaguered Royal Palm Hotel in South Beach on Collins Ave this season.
Currently, the Royal Palm is listed as an "affiliate" hotel of Affinia hotels along with other big properties like The James Hotels and The Surrey since they are all a part of Denihan Hospitality. Yet it appears that Royal Palm will actually turn into a proper Affinia Hotel. And boy does this beachfront, 409-room hotel need it.
Way back when in 2007, The Royal Palm was set to be transformed from a convention center hotel to a chic condo-tel with the first-ever Maxim Lounge (as in Maxim magazine) designed by Rande Gerber. But even in the days of freely flowing money, the Royal Palm had major issues, chief among them being the "King of Heartbreak Hotels", Robert Falor, the man who also could not get Nicky Hilton's Nicky O Hotel to open.
After that, we pretty much lost track of the Royal Palm and honestly, we didn't even think it was in operation anymore. Looking at the hotel's website, we see that it is open now with rooms starting at $269 a night this weekend. But @DeeTCL tells us that the hotel will undergo renovations to be completed by 2012.
That's a long time for renovations on an existing (and fairly new) hotel so we're guessing these are going to be pretty extensive. Or else, they will be rolled out while the hotel is still operational.
Either way, we're rather excited. Affinia is a good, sensible boutique hotel brand with locations in New York, Chicago and D.C. that offer fun services and amenities. We can't wait to see what they do in South Beach.
Got any scoop about Affinia in South Beach? Let us know!
[Photo: WhitneynMatt]
Comments (0)
Post a CommentReturn to » Affinia Hotels to Party Down in South Beach in 2012
Join the conversation!