The chic sleep: Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, Miami
Soak up the good-time vibes of this restored Miami institution, where the city’s glamorous spirit and old-school hedonistic charm remains as vibrant as ever. By CATHERINE FAIRWEATHER
The glamour of those early years still remains, of course, wreathing the guests like cigar smoke on the terraces of the hotel’s Le Sirenuse restaurant or the champagne bar, where Miami’s best still dress up for cocktails or for dinner amid the palm fronds and banquettes.
The Surf Club was conceived as a private members’ haven in the ’20s when Miami was a fledgling hedonists’ playground, attracting a “bevy of well-born and affluent snowbirds” and “aristocratic adventurers” as Tom Austin described its illustrious visitors in his book, The Surf Club (Assouline). Built in the Mediterranean Revival style, it was the last word in ‘good taste’, but with enough of a dose of American playfulness thrown in to undercut any threat of stuffiness. The Windsors and Churchill, and the Astors and the Vanderbilts all came to let their hair down, metaphorically speaking, and Churchill even kept two cabanas going all season – one to do his painting and one for entertaining. Where power and money goes, Hollywood is sure to follow, and the ’50s saw the patronage of Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack: the era of the one-piece swimsuits and tight board shorts, Ray-Bans and tennis whites.
Last year, the famous club was relaunched by developer and Fort Partners founder Nadim Achi, bringing together the historic building with a sharp, new Richard Meier-designed modernist hotel at its shoulder (under the umbrella of the Four Seasons Hotels group), housing 77 high-tech, all-white suites and flanked by two separate towers of private residences with dedicated pool, concierge and art museum. The members club is scheduled to reopen at the end of the year.
Now, as then, the 42 elegant beach cabanas are the heart of The Surf Club, looking out across lawns onto the oceanfront with louvered shutters and terrazzo flooring, and now with bedrooms that connect to each other via a shaded, curvy boardwalk.
THE DETAILS
Indulge
Imbibe the glamour of The Surf Club’s heyday for Sunday brunch on Le Sirenuse Miami’s terrace with a live orchestra of Italian love songs and jazz.
Explore
Discover the city’s fantastical billionaires’ mansions, or head for the marine wildlife and island beaches of Biscayne Bay. Make time to stroll around the arty neighborhood of Wynwood before a visit to the sensational Pérez Art Museum.
Relax
Enjoy the complimentary morning yoga sessions on the lawn looking out to the ocean, followed by a session in the spa’s hammam.
Eat
The Mandolin Aegean Bistro is a welcome contrast to Miami’s high-octane fizz; a relaxed family tavern, set in an olive-tree courtyard.
Shop
Bal Harbour is possibly the city’s loveliest shopping mall with its leafy alfresco walkways. Cycle there along the boardwalk on the hotel’s complimentary bikes.
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