33139 Travel Guide - Page 2
Hotel Restaurants / Miami Mambo / Dream Hotels / South Beach Hotels / Miami Hotels / Florida Hotels / → All Tags
New Serafina Restaurant Is A "Dream" For South Beach
When restaurateurs and founders of Serafina Restaurant Group Vittorio Assaf and Fabio Granato were lost at sea, the friends made a promise to one another that if they eventually saw land they would open the best pizza and pasta restaurant they could think of.
Years later, they’ve launched close to a dozen locations of Serafina everywhere from New York City to São Paolo – and now in Miami in the Art Deco and super swanky Dream South Beach.
The new location, which focuses on northern-Italian cuisine, features family recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Plus, it boasts a traditional wood stone oven to make the more than 24 varieties of pizza on the menu.
Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Openings / Historic Hotels / Guess the Hotel / → All Tags
The Gale and Regent South Beach Is Almost Ready
It's Guess the Hotel revealed!
How's this for cheering up those Monday blues? What you're looking at here is the rooftop pool at the almost-finished Gale and Regent South Beach, which we spotlighted on Friday's Guess the Hotel.
If the hotel's name sounds familiar, it's because we did a quick run-down on this place back in August. You see, Miami has a kind of history with hotels that are named "Regent," so when we found out about this 87-room boutique hotel, we got a little excited. But interestingly, this hotel has two names.
But forget all that confusing naming business. Here's all you need to know: the Gale and Regent will boast a 5,000 sq ft rooftop pool deck, a subterranean nightclub, several dining options, and, best of all, free access to beach chairs at the adjacent Shelborne, which is owned by the same company.
The best part? It opens in less than three weeks!
HotelChatter Reviews / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Pools / Affordable Hotels / Hotel Design / Photo Gallery / → All Tags
We Behaved Like Good Little Soldiers At the Cadet
On a recent quickie trip through Miami, we checked into the Cadet Hotel in Miami Beach. Though our eyes got big as we walked by iconic buildings like the Delano, The Raleigh and SLS South Beach, we stuck to our original plan of doing Miami on a budget, and tried not to be tempted by anything fancy.
But as soon as we walked into our room, we knew we had made the right choice. The hotel was quiet, clean, and elegant. What's more, its location was unbeatable. Plenty of Miami first-timers will be drawn to all the landmark hotels listed above—not to mention the beach—but that's all super easy to get to from the Cadet, since the Collins Ave hub sits just one block away.
First impression: Walking into the hotel, we were greeted by a small lobby with obvious Art Deco accents like a giant circular mirror, baby grand piano, and an inlaid floor with a compass rose mosaic. A small liquor bar with espresso machine sat at one end of the room, and the Front Desk was at the other.
The staff was friendly, and even let us check into our room early—a huge help since we were running ahead of schedule and needed a place to drop our bags.
Read on to see the rest of the review!
Hotel Parties / SLS Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Openings / Hotel Restaurants / Lenny Kravitz / Philippe Starck / Sam Nazarian / → All Tags
The SLS South Beach Opening Party Was Like a Dream, Except Weirder
One afternoon last week, we were loitering in the lobby of the semi-new SLS Miami, when a young man wearing pantaloons and a bandana, dancing by himself and making strange, slow-motion gestures, caught our attention. No, the local insane asylum hadn't reported any escapees—this guy was just part of the Gallim Dance Company, an experimental dance troupe who'd been hired for the hotel's grand opening bash the following evening.
Like any conscientious performer, he was simply rehearsing his moves (he eventually got escorted out to the pool, though, since a few guests complained).
Sure enough, when we showed up the following evening, an ensemble of fairies, geishas and Marie Antoinette lookalikes cavorted near the entrance to the hotel, greeting the 1,000+ guests who turned up to the party. A red carpet was even rolled out along the hotel's side entrance for big-name attendees like Rumor Willis (who performed with her band), Reggie Bush, Emilio Estefan, several cast members from the Real Housewives, and, of course, Lenny Kravitz, who designed the hotel's penthouse suite.
For more deets from the event, click below!
Hotel Crime / Hotel Woes / Hotel Murders / Miami Hotel Mambo / → All Tags
Pimp Stabbing Hooker Just Another Day At Miami Hotel
Ah, Miami. The city of pristine white beaches, fake boobs, and more Art Deco than you can shake a geometric tail feather at. Hotels, too. Plenty of hotels. Some of them classic, some of them new and flashy, and some of them places where people get stabbed.
We checked into our mid-range South Beach hotel on Tuesday night, pleased with ourselves for scoring a centrally-located hotel within our budget (under $200). Except that when we walked into the lobby, the first thing we saw was crime scene tape, and a whole bunch of police officers.
"Um, what happened?" we asked as calmly as possible.
"Oh, there was an incident this morning. A pimp stabbed one of his hookers," the concierge told me.
"Did anybody die?"
"Oh, no," he answered, as though we'd asked if someone had fallen and scraped their knee.
Not interested in saying much more, he swiped our credit card, handed us our room key, and invited us to happy hour in the bar at 7pm. We weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of staying some place a stabbing had occurred just hours earlier, but then again, we'd already been on the road for nine hours, and we needed a shower and a nap. So we reluctantly picked up our bags, got into the elevator and pressed "3."
Read on to find out the name of the hotel we stayed at!
Hotel Renovations / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Miami Mambo / Florida Hotels / Historic Hotels / South Beach Hotels / → All Tags
A Peek At Ritz-Carlton South Beach's Newly Reno'd Rooms
Built in 1953 and considered one of the only two "Art Hotels" in the area, the Ritz Carlton South Beach is in the midst of completely renovating its original Morris Lapidus-designed landmark in the city’s historic Art Deco district. Here are a few pics of what's in store:
Hotel Delays / Hotel Woes / James Hotels / Miami Mambo / → All Tags
The James Miami Is Behind Schedule And Quite Touchy About It
Welcome to another hotel dispatch from our special contributor, The Smooth Operator. We can't divulge his identity but we can tell you he spends about 70 percent of his time on the road, staying in all the hot hotels and checking out their restaurants and bars to see if the social scene and rooms are up to snuff. If you're deciding whether or not to take a chance on that hip boutique hotel in the city, read The Smooth Operator for his opinion first. (Or send us an email and we'll have him answer it for you!)
Last week he happened to be in Miami and we were curious about The James Royal Palm, which was supposed to open on October 1. We've been giving this hotel tons of pre-opening love, so we're disappointed with the recent turn of events. We asked the "powers that be" at The James if we could take a look around since we were under the impression (given our last report) that it would be open on time. Let's just say the response was less than pleasant and we don't dig that, especially when we've been good girls and boys. But, HC has NICE friends out and about, we asked Smooth and another pal to find out what was going on and what was behind all the hostility? Turns out, it's coming from a few directions. Read on for the report of The James Miami's progress thus far.
Hotel Packages / W Hotels / Luxury Suites / Miami Mambo / Charter Airplanes / → All Tags
W South Beach Is So Fly With Magellan Jets-VIP Suite Deal
We don't know what's the deal, but lately we're seeing a fair share of luxury hotel packages that make us question some things. Just exactly who can afford these OTT extravaganzas? Why aren't they related to us? Is it too late to become a Real Housewife or one of the Basketball variety?
Apparently someone can foot the bill for these blingy buys because they continue to roll out. But if nothing else, we're dreamers here at HC and like to look at pretty things and share them with other desk jockey's, so here's a super glam offering--a partnership between W South Beach Hotel & Residences and Magellan Jets.
Yesterday, the pair launched a "Jetsetter" package that allows those staying in the hotel's seven new VIP suites charter flight on one of Magellan's private jets! The decked-out one-to-three bedrooms suites, which have names like "Sensational", "E-Wow", and "Marvelous" begin at 1,054-square feet and come with a tons of extras from full kitchens and laundry rooms (though we scoff at this--who is gonna do laundry?) to as well as the brand's Bliss bath products. But, the plane! The plane! What about the plane?
Hotel Amenities / Hotel News / Miami Mambo / Morgans Hotel Group / → All Tags
South Beach's Delano Hotel Begins Weinstein Film Series
There’s something about hotels that have their own screening rooms and movie theaters that say “schwanky”, so it’s no surprise that beginning today, South Beach’s luxury Delano is partnering with The Weinstein Company and presenting the "Weinstein Screening Series" in the hotel’s brand new 20-person Media Room which opened last month. It will be the location where some of the company’s most popular movies will be shown on an 85-inch screen.
On the agenda for the next few months:
The King’s Speech: October 8th
My Week with Marilyn: October 22nd
Nowhere Boy: November 5th
Our Idiot Brother: November 19th
Undefeated: December 3rd
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: December 17th
Admission will be offered to Delano guests and by invitation only. Invitees will sit in the intimate, 800 square-foot lounge on earth-toned leather couches, and enjoy free movie candy and popcorn (that is sooo sophicated!) Movie-themed cocktails, like the "Dirty Girl", made with Jack Daniels, blood orange and ginger beer, "The Artist", a concoction of Grey Goose Cherry Noir, Amaretto, and Godiva white chocolate liqueur, and "Inglourious Basterds", a mixture of Bacardi Oakheart, St. Germaine, lime and mint, will be available for purchase.
Rates at The Delano begin at $299 per night.
[Photo:Morgans Hotel Group]
Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel News / SBE Hotels / Hotel Rebrandings / Hotel Management / → All Tags
Who is Running The Raleigh Hotel in Miami Now?
There's a reason we call our coverage of the Miami hotel scene Miami Hotel Mambo--things are always changing down there at a rapid pace. Like what's happened recently with The Raleigh Hotel.
After hottie hotelier Andre Balazs gave up the property a few years ago, we found things to be rather agreeable back in 2010, even if there was a bit of fugly carpeting throughout. Yet the hotel is changing once again.
Currently, the hotel's website says The Brilla Group manages and owns the hotel but according to this report from Miami.com, the hotel has some very interesting new owners--the developer of the W South Beach and SBE Development Group which just opened The SLS South Beach. The hotel is believed to have been sold for just over $55 million.
Celebrity Scoop / Dwayne Wade / Miami Hotel Mambo / Jock Jam Hotels / NBA Hotels / → All Tags
Dwayne Wade and His Fantasy Ballers Will Take Over the Loews Miami Beach Next Week
Starting next week, there are going to be a whole lotta ballers passing through the Loews Miami Beach and by ballers, we mean both the rich kind and the basketball-playing kind.
That's because Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade is hosting his fantasy basketball camp at the spot. The event is open to ballers 35 and older for four days of "intense competition and training" that will include a "draft" and a championship game. It also costs $12,500 to attend. Interested in going? There are 20 spots left. Except we don't think that price includes getting your car airlifted poolside. However, the $12,500 pricetag does include a hotel room as well as daily meals and a farewell brunch.
Wanna stay at the Loews next weekend but not keen to actually enroll in the camp? Rates are going for about $367 a night. But if you want to work out, you'll have to cough up a $10 fee to use the fitness center.
Hotel Restaurants / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Openings / James Hotels / Hotel Chefs / → All Tags
The James Royal Palm Will Serve Florida On a Plate
We love the look of the lobby and, for the most part, the rooms, too. Now, let's take a sneak peek at the new restaurants that will open at The James Royal Palm.
These images from the James Hotels website don't specify which space is which, but we know that there'll be at least two restos to check out--the first being the signature one for the hotel, Florida Cookery.
Like the name suggests, it will serve up "hyper-regional Florida fare" and be helmed by local chef Kris Wessel. If his low-key cool Red Light Little River over on Biscayne Boulevard is any indication, this place is going to make quite a splash. (Red Light is one of the few amazing restaurants in Miami that doesn't give you sticker shock.)
