That was early days and the blogging has improved a little bit since then. There are a few more posts, and they do contain legitimate news about the Angler's Resort--for example, their excitement at winning the Hotel Opening of the Year Award at the recent Hotel World Awards in Vegas. We were also intrigued by their post about minibars; apparently theirs includes an intimacy kit "which comes outfitted with your very own personal 'friend'".
Art Basel will kick into full-gear this week. Here is just some of the latest news about the art fair. As always, if you have a hotel room, or are throwing an art party at a hotel or wanna gossip about what happened at what party, then keep us informed.
· Hotels looove Art Basel and we mean the love that comes in the form of money. [Miami Herald] · The Raleigh Hotel is hosting several Art Basel parties, so many it should practically be Art Basel headquarters. One more party: The hotel is hosting the Paper Magazine party tonight poolside from 9pm to 12am.
· The Mandarin Oriental Miami sent out invitations for a dinner party that were "two sturdy slabs of shiny plastic" that unfold into fan. Somebody is totally getting smacked with one of those! [ArtInfo] · The Sagamore Hotel officially has unveiled its nude Spencer Tunick photo. [NBC6] · The Setai is hosting a private release party on Dec. 7th for the Octagon Book which should appeal to the Ultimate Fighter in all of us.
Considering a trip down to Miami Beach this winter? Consider the Angler's Boutique Resort Hotel. We were able to check this new hotel out a few weeks ago and we liked what we saw. This here is a video tour of room 201 in the hotel's main building.
The hotel finished the first phase of its renovation last spring. Previously, it was an abandoned building favored amongst druggies. But new owners took this original building at 660 Washington Avenue, spruced it up and added two new structures to complement the existing two 1930s buildings. Although the four buildings may sound confusing, this no mega-complex.
The main building is only three stories high with 28 rooms. The pool house villa has only three suites and the manor villas has just four large suites. The fourth building is called the Tower and it will have nine duplex suites (with hot tubs) when it opens at the end of January, as well as house the hotel's fitness facility.
When we stayed there, we had a tour of the studio suites in the main building but we actually stayed in one of the pool house villa suites.
The Angler's Boutique Resort has a room open during Art Basel next week from December 5-9. Of course, this is Art Basel so the room rate is high at $850 a night and there is a four-night minimum required. But the pool suite can sleep at least four people, so if you don't mind sharing the cost then you won't mind sharing the king bed and the couch.
These suites are pretty fantastic with two floors that include two full bathrooms, balconies on both levels and a bonus rooftop deck. Additionally, you have super close access to the pool--step outside your suite and jump in.
However, may we suggest not bringing heavy luggage as getting up to master bedroom requires stepping up a spiral staircase, which can be hard to maneuver with your suitcase. Also ladies, do not wear your 5-inch stilettos on these stairs and certainly do not wear them on the stairs when you have been drinking cosmos.
That said these rooms, as do all the rooms at the Angler's, feature free wireless internet, flat screen TVs, iPod docking stations and a small bar. The hotel is located on Washington Avenue and 7th Street, near plenty of action in SoBe.
Once the Regent Hotel South Beach, now the Vincci Hotel.
In continuing our coverage of Art Basel the upcoming art fair in Miami Beach, we are listing some of the events happening at hotels next week. If you are hosting an art event at a hotel or even better, if you have rooms available at your hotel, let us know.
· The Raleigh Hotel: On December 7th, the Penthouse here will host the fourth installment of the Scion Installation Art Tour titled, "It's a Beautiful World." The opening reception takes place from 7 to 10pm. · The Standard Hotel: NetJets, a fractional aircraft ownership program, will host a private "Collectors Cocktail" honoring artist Jaume Plensa here on Dec. 6th. · The Sagamore Hotel: Aside from being home to the nude Spencer Tunick exhibit, the Rotorelief sculpture from artist Robert Chambers will be on display here. ·The Catalina Hotel: The hotel will turn into one big gallery for an art fair within the art fair, the Bridge Art Fair. 80 rooms will feature international emerging and new contemporary art. · The Vincci Hotel: This hotel was supposed to host an exhibit with Surface magazine but has since been cancelled.
That's right folks. It's that time of the year again when Miami Beach hotel rates sky rocket, rooms are sold-out and if you manage to get some lodging, a minimum of three nights are required at most hotels. It's Art Basel!
From December 6th to the 9th, Miami Beach will be overtaken by art, artists, art lovers, art dealers, art stealers and anything else arts-related. While the main event of this international art fair takes place at the Miami Beach Convention Center, there are tons of displays and exhibits throughout the city and especially at the hotels.
The Aqua Hotel on Collins Avenue (above) is hosting a satellite show for the third year in a row. Called Aqua Art Miami, the artwork hang on hotel walls, beds and are in even in the bathrooms. An added perk for hotel groupies? The artists hang out in the hotel's courtyard and, as the NYT reports, the hot tub.
And this is probably the closest you will get to staying at the hotel. We gave them a ring today and naturally, they are completely sold out next week.
Yesterday we were given a brief tour of the Mondrian South Beach which is, much to our dismay, still under construction. The hotel will technically open some of its units in January 2008, as had been previously reported, but the entire property won't be fully operational until May 2008.
Either way, when it opens the Mondrian will be spectacular. And we're not just saying this because we got a tour and we feel like we have to be nice.
For starters, Morgans Hotel Group basically gave designer Marcel Wanders creative freedom for the hotel. And his designs are pretty spectacular if somewhat unusual.
The Dutch-born designer was named "Designer of the Year" by Elle and been recognized by Time magazine as a top interior designer. Here's how he described his vision for the Mondrian:
Wanders, 44, conceived the hotel as "Sleeping Beauty's castle," with gardens that serve as indoor and outdoor living spaces, featuring cabanas, tented play spaces for children and a hanging chandelier above the elegant pool. The hotel rooms, which resemble theater boxes, overlook the gardens so that "everyone has the best seat in the house," he says.
We saw samples of the interior decor and furnishings inside the sales office of the Mondrian South Beach which is temporarily housed in the building. Wanders' contemporary designs have been called bold, innovative and romantic but we thought it was also incredibly happy and giddy (excuse our layperson's descriptions.)
It's decor that we wouldn't want to live in 365 days a year but we firmly believe a hotel stay (especially in a luxury hotel) should be an experience different from your daily life. And Wanders' whimiscal but bright decor should do the trick.
Remember when artist Spencer Tunick put out a call for naked people at the Sagamore Hotel? Well, the fruits of his naked photography labor will be revealed at Art Basel Miami Beach during the the end-of-the-festival blowout Annual Sagamore Brunch on December 8.
This is far from the first site-specific art show at the Sagamore, which prides itself on being a gallery as well as a hotel. Last year, Yoko Ono brought her interactive piece Onochord to the hotel's gardens. Photographer Massimo Vitali practically invented Art Basel Miami Beach's self-obsession with his fine-art snaps of the first Sagamore Brunch in 2002. Of course, this year's show will put a new spin on navel-gazing.
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by amandak
