Miami Beach is already the most densely populated of the city’s districts in terms of accommodation, with more than 150 properties. The past year or so has seen more than a dozen significant openings from brands such as Marriott’s Edition and Starwood’s Aloft, as well as numerous historic revamps on South Beach, famed for its art deco architecture.
Sporting charming Spanish-Colonial design, Casa Claridge’s on Collins Avenue reopened after a six-month facelift at the end of 2014, and is now a sister property to Alan Faena’s new Faena hotel across the road. The Argentinian developer is in fact creating a new neighbourhood here. The US$1 billion Faena District Miami Beach comprises the Faena House luxury apartment block, designed by Foster and Partners and unveiled last autumn, and a Rem Koolhaas cultural centre, the Faena Forum, which will open this spring. A Faena Bazaar mall and two residential towers dubbed Faena Versailles will be arriving in 2017.
Two years ago, the Versace mansion on Ocean Drive became an opulent ten-suite hotel. Last year, it launched a fine-dining Italian restaurant, Gianni’s at the Villa Casa Casuarina, which overlooks a beautiful garden courtyard that can host 250 guests. Enjoy our cover article that might inspire you to spend at least one night in Miami Beach.
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