The Miami Beach Edition
Photo Courtesy of Marriott International, Inc
Celebrity hotelier Ian Schrager set out to reimagine the urban resort with his latest venture, The Miami Beach Edition, to make it a hot spot for everyone from businessmen to club goers. Opened during early December’s Art Basel in the space of the historic 1955-built Seville Hotel, the new escape is a modern-day global playground for the fabulous and famous, much in the spirit of Schrager’s first Miami treasure, Delano South Beach. We caught up with the renowned hotelier (and a mastermind behind New York’s iconic Studio 54 nightclub) in between glamorous Art Basel parties and grand-opening festivities to get his thoughts on the Delano, his new digs and, of course, a little dancing.
On Delano South Beach’s impact on the city
“Up till then, there hadn’t been a new hotel built in Miami Beach in almost 40 years. The fundamentals were always there: the ocean, the beach, the weather, the frequent flights. All one had to do, it seemed to me, was create something special and comfortable. It was an example of ‘Build it and people will come.’”
Ian Schrager, Photo Courtesy of MLC
On what makes The Miami Beach Edition stand out
“The old bicoastal cultural model is really now more tri-coastal, a kind of golden triangle of New York, L.A. and Miami. There are thousands of boutique hotels out there — some are good, some are not so good, but they’re all replicating what [late business partner] Steve [Rubell] and I did. This is something else, a step forward. It’s a new kind of place — it’s the next-generation urban resort, and the next-generation business and lifestyle hotel. There’s nothing else like it on the beach or anywhere else.”
On The Miami Beach Edition’s overall concept
“We’re rethinking the relationship between a resort and a businessperson, and we’re saying, ‘You’ll be able to come here for your business. Why shouldn’t you be able to have fun, and enjoy life while doing business, and networking, and being with a lot of like-minded people, in a new kind of space that is almost a kind of business club?’ You might see people in golf attire, a bathing suit, a Pilates uniform, formal evening clothes or jeans — all comfortable, all being themselves, all connected by a certain sensibility.”
On Matador Room, the hotel’s Jean-Georges Vongerichten-led Latin restaurant
“It’s the kind of place one might expect to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers waltzing through.”
On the bowling, ice skating and dancing fun found in the Basement
“It’s sort of a red-light district, but legal, for the wild at heart. This picks up where Studio left off, a visual riot, sensory overload, a truly serious dance club.”
