Wednesday, April 4, 2012

South Beach Miami Clubs - The Shore Club Miami Beach Skybar

South Beach girls
As far as South Beach Miami Clubs go, Skybar, located in The Shore Club Miami Beach, one of the most posh and elegant Miami Beach Resorts, is an intriguing, bumping, exclusive South Beach Bar/Club that is the preeminent place to get your groove on in the company of the beautiful people.

Set in the Shore Club Miami Beach pool area between the hotel and beach, Skybar offers a South Beach menu full of beauty, elegance, glamour, and unabashed chic. Accented with ornate lanterns, colorful textiles, abounding beading, Florida foliage and imported furniture, Skybar is designed to capture the senses – and once it latches on, it doesn’t let go. Getting to the Skybar is easy, the difficult part is leaving.

It is not uncommon to bump into celebrities at Miami Beach resorts, and this club is no exception. Once you pass the velvet rope, the atmosphere is one only South Florida could provide. The models with the beach body workout tans you see in the magazines all seem to be here; the movie star from the movie you just saw with your friends is sitting next to you on the couch; the singer whose hit you have bumping in your Ipod is arriving with her entourage.

Beautiful fountains, cobalt blue walls and pergolas surround you as club goer’s lounge in cabanas and sit on beds while the club DJ drops the latest tunes. Skybar at the Shore Club Miami Beach was the first hotel on South Beach to earn its Green Lodging One Palm Certification from the State of Florida. The club is comprised of the following areas:

Redroom
Sunday - Wednesday 7 PM-2 AM, Thu-Sat 7 PM-3 AM
Organized around a deep red glowing of light and a red lacquered teak floor, the Redroom is a juxtaposition of modern and eclectic furniture from a lacquered steel pool table to French Antique Napoleon III slipper chairs covered in silk.

Redroom Garden
Sunday-Wednesday 4 PM-2 AM, Thu-Sat 4 PM-3 AM
Conceived as an outdoor living room, the 2,500 square foot central area is tropically landscaped with colorful perennials, bougainvillea and passion flowers in painted oversized pots and adorned with an eclectic mix of furniture from the Orient.

Rumbar
Thursday-Saturday 7 PM-2:30 AM, Sun-Wed CLOSED
South Beach Miami Clubs come and go, but the Shore Club Miami Beach Skybar is becoming a staple of a city that keeps reinventing itself.





Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Miami Biltmore Hotel - A Coral Gables Home to Celebrities Past and Present

Biltmore Hotel
Built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick, the Miami Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida, was the tallest building in Miami of its time. Centered in the heart of Coral Gables, an affluent and stylish city which is also home to over 100 hundred international companies and corporations, the Biltmore Hotel, not to be confused with the Biltmore Los Angeles Hotel or the Biltmore Phoenix Hotel, is a grandiose luxury hotel which caters to golf enthusiasts and those looking for the rest and relaxation only a world class spa can deliver.  Ever thought about working in Miami?  Search for Miami jobs @ job.com!

“The Great Hotel,” as the Miami Biltmore Hotel was referred to by its builders, was built to accommodate the many guests that were discovering Coral Gables, Florida during the early 1900s. Mr. Bowman and Mr. Merrick visualized the hotel as the center of Florida sports and fashion.

At a cost of 10 million dollars, the Miami luxury hotel brought guests from cities throughout the Northeast United States on trains appropriately named, “Miami Biltmore Specials.” On its inaugural night, the hotel instantly became the best Miami hotel for its sheer beauty and ornate elegance. Hotel guests partied until the wee hours of the night dancing to jazz music while drinking champagne in celebration of the momentous night.
The Miami Biltmore Hotel instantly garnered international attention by counting Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, and even Al Capone as its frequent guests. Celebrities such as these and many others called the hotel their Coral Gables home. Franklin D. Roosevelt used the hotel as a Miami White House of sorts when vacationing in South Florida.

There are urban legends that state the hotel is haunted. Not included in any prominent Al Capone biography is the fact that Al Capone considered the hotel as his Coral Gables home of sorts. His luxury hotel suite, now known as the Capone Suite, is said to be haunted by the ghost of Fats Walsh who was knocked off in the same room. Hotel tours are available.

The hotel fell on tough economic times at the beginning of World War II, eventually being converted to a hospital by the War Department. The “Great Hotel,” remained a medical facility in one form or another until its full 55 million-dollar restoration in 1987. Over 600 guests celebrated the hotel’s return to glory at a black-tie affair at its grand reopening.

Today, after benefiting from millions of dollars more in renovations, the Miami Biltmore Hotel is considered a top destination of world travelers and one of the best hotels in Coral Gables. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996, the hotel is a beacon of what Miami once was, what it is, and of the future it promises.