Fashionable Address in South Beach

by Joseph Brown

Floor Show at the Carillon Hotel 1959

From its earliest days, Miami Beach has been a destination defined first and foremost by its premiere hotels. Hip tourists have always sought out the chic hotel of the moment as a statement of their own personal style during their time under the Miami sun. In the 1920s it was The Flamingo, Nautilus and Floridian hotels that set the pace. In the 1950s the battle for upper-echelon tourists was fought between the Fontainebleau, Eden Roc and finally, 1959's Hotel of the Year, the Carillon. 

Now comes a trio of exclusive ocean-front hotels that are re-locating South Beach's fashionable center of gravity onto a four block stretch of Collins Avenue between Lincoln Road and 20th Street—South Beach's new haute-monde-by-the-sea. The three hotels operated by three commanding personalities are creating a synergy of chic that is reverberating throughout the travel world and will soon re-define en vogue travel well beyond the coming winter season.

The Shore Club
The Shore Club, controlled by Ian Schrager—whose Delano hotel set the trend for South Beach chic beginning in 1995—would seem to have the initial edge thanks to such notable on-site trappings as Nobu and Ago restaurants, and the sexy outdoor lounge, SkyBar Miami Beach.

SkyBar Miami Beach

Nobu is the Miami Beach outpost of one of New York's most celebrated restaurants, and The Shore Club's version, owned by Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Richie Notar has quickly risen to the top of the list of places to be seen in Miami Beach since its opening in 2001.

Ago, of course is the east-coast edition of LA's famous Melrose Avenue restaurant that serves outstanding Italian cuisine to a never-ending stream of celebrities. (It was also where Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino once "slapped some respect" into producer Don Murphy of Natural Born Killers fame over some obvious difference of opinion. Attitude such as that virtually guarantees Ago a place in Miami Beach's future.) The Shore Club's Ago is located in a gorgeous indoor/outdoor setting overlooking the pool area and ocean.

SkyBar Miami Beach is the south Florida version of LA's hip Sunset Boulevard see-and-be-seen hang-out at Schrager's Mondrian hotel that was created by Rande Gerber, hubby of Cindy Crawford. SkyBar is located behind the Shore Club in an expansive twin pool area that adjoins the beach, and is full of sexy nooks and secluded hideaways just made for lounging under the stars.

The Sagamore
The Sagamore hotel is now operated by Jason Pomeranc of New York's 60 Thompson and maintains an altogether different scene. Artsy and tranquil, The Sagamore is destined to be the haute couture of Miami Beach hotels. Its flowing lobby spaces are reminiscent of a European gallery filled with post-media from artists such as Massimo Vitali and Tina Dietz.

	The Sagamore

We presume (and fervently hope) that much of 60 Thompson's New York style will flow into Miami Beach's Sagamore. An uptown tag-line like 60's "Style has a New Address" is hard to live up to, especially in Manhattan, but having a staff dressed in Cerruti helps immensely, and the hotel's spring-through-fall, member's-only rooftop lounge, A60 (Above 60) certainly advances the effort—especially when bold-facers such as Kate Spade, Gwyneth Paltrow, and French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld are doing the lounging.

But, the one factor that will most determine the success or failure of Miami Beach's Sagamore is the elusive Jason Pomeranc-factor. Known for his high-style persona, Pomeranc commands an impressive legion of hipsters, many of whom have by-passed Miami Beach for years in favor of other, more esoteric destinations. If this group heeds the clarion-call coming from the chic new outpost blossoming on Collins Avenue, then the Sagamore's success is virtually guaranteed.

The Raleigh
Miami Beach's glam factor attains serious tone with the inclusion of André Balazs, new owner of the Raleigh hotel. Balazs, who also owns LA's notorious celebrity hide-a-way, the Chateau Marmont; New York's minimalist-masterpiece, The Mercer; and another flashy little place on the Sunset Strip called The Standard (whose financial backers include Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz), has now added one of South Beach's most prized art deco jewels to his stable of properties.

Raleigh Hotel Pool

In all of South Beach, the Raleigh is the one hotel—with the possible exception of Jennifer Rubell's Albion—that possesses the most natural beauty. Designed in 1940 by deco/streamline master architect L. Murray Dixon, the Raleigh was an immediate hit with pre-war Miami's visiting Hollywood set and has since become well-known throughout the fashion industry for its exotic art deco architecture and dreamy locales for photo shoots.

The Raleigh's pool area is an oeuvre d'art in and of itself with flowing baroque lines and a guard-house-cum-pool-bar reminiscent of the great ocean liners that still steam into the port of Miami.

André Balazs, who was one of the original pioneers to explore South Beach, was previously married to Katie Ford, CEO of Ford Models, and looking forward we envision gorgeous models lounging around the pool by day and parties hosted by Susanne Bartsch by night, all adding up to an alluring scene that will be hard to resist.

These three ocean-front hotels commanded by three giants on the hip-hotel scene are turning Miami Beach's Collins Avenue into a fashionable bastion of chic that we predict will soon re-write jet-set travel history.