![]() ![]() ![]() Hit TV show Miami Vice was a 1980s style setter.īy 6pm, it’s time to return to The Confidante to order buffalo wings room service and YouTube some Miami Vice episodes, just for old times’ sake. Time here appears to have stopped circa 1926, when this old-world beauty went up for the then princely sum of $US10 million, and trains marked “Miami Biltmore Specials” ferried the rich down to Florida from their privileged perches in New York, Washington DC, Boston and the like. Given just over half of Miami’s population is of Cuban heritage, this is the district to meander.įor a change of pace, I next head out through what must rate as among the world’s most luxurious suburbs, Coral Gables, for afternoon tea at The Biltmore Hotel. The striped theme continues to The Confidante’s poolside cabanas.Īfter a visit to South Beach’s not-for-profit Art Deco Welcome Centre, which does walking tours and sells art deco jewellery and trinkets with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of heritage buildings, I take an Uber over to nearby Little Havana for lunch at the famed Versailles Cuban restaurant. The Faena features an outdoor Damien Hirst installation and interiors by the likes of Australian film director Baz Luhrmann and his designer wife Catherine Martin, while 1 Hotel South Beach sports four large public pools and Edition hosts an ice-skating rink. These new and oh-so Miami Vice properties have all but eclipsed the old art deco gems that began going up on Ocean Drive from the early 1920s. ![]() Strolling down the boardwalk towards South Beach, I pass the more modern swathe of hyper-luxurious, design-led hotels that have opened over the past six years – Faena House, Edition, Como Metropolitan and 1 Hotel South Beach to name the main ones, not forgetting the stylish Setai (albeit open since 2004). For a luxury spin, book one of the hotel’s 14 suites – I stayed in an Ocean View corner suite with wraparound balcony – or opt for the 91-square-metre penthouse. The rooms are retro chic, filled with art deco pops such as drinks trolleys, quirky tiles and true-to-the-era cabinet-style furniture, sporting slender tapered legs and decorative inlays. Rooms and suites in The Confidante pay tribute to the city’s art deco heritage. The hotel’s distinctive beach kit was used as a prop by Lady Gaga in 2017, when she posted Instagram pictures of herself on one of the lounges. Today, the vibe at the 354-room Confidante is bright and breezy, especially when you hit the sand and are entitled to claim one of the hotel’s striped beach lounges and umbrellas. Billed as the tallest building in Miami when it went up, the Lord Tarleton was synonymous with decadence right on the beach, boasting those ultimate luxuries of the day – a kosher dining room and rooftop solarium. The heritage-listed original main tower of The Confidante first opened as the 14-storey Lord Tarleton Hotel in the 1940s. Hyatt Hotels Corporation bought the three-tower property in 2016, rebranding it under its Unbound Collection, which aims to retain the individuality of its character properties. Once Miami’s tallest building, The Confidante now comprises three towers. It’s also a handy 15-minute drive across Biscayne Bay to the Miami Design District. It’s a quality, mid-range 4.5 star option that will appeal particularly to architecture and design buffs, with its original grand foyer and cascading chandelier. The Confidante Miami Beach is situated a 30-minute stroll along the beachfront boardwalk north of South Beach’s famed Ocean Drive: the heart of art deco Miami, and where the late Gianni Versace had a mansion. For me, Miami was and will forever be candy coloured. All these decades later, when selecting a hotel on the back of a work trip to nearby Fort Lauderdale, out of the three options the Miami visitor’s bureau sent through, my eye was drawn immediately to the seductive pastel hues of The Confidante. ![]()
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