1675-16 Ritz-Carlton 23 of 45, 1 Terms
mhcur AFTER MUCH DELAY, HOTEL TO OPEN SOON 09/22/2003
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 2003, The Miami Herald
DATE: Monday, September 22, 2003 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Business Monday PAGE: 21G LENGTH: 49 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: A worker (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: BY ROBERT PLOTKIN, rplotkin@herald.com
MEMO: TOURISM
AFTER MUCH DELAY, HOTEL TO OPEN SOON
The Ritz-Carlton South Beach Hotel is scheduled to open on Dec. 11, 2 1/2
years late and $100 million over budget.
"This project has been the most challenging project I have ever been
involved in, " said Ralph Eguilior, the lead architect on the project.
Eguilior blames the original contractors, McCann Inc., for the delays and cost
overruns.
McCann was fired from the job in 2001, after failing to meet contractual
deadlines, said Michelle Payer, spokesperson for the Ritz-Carlton. This left
the hotel half-finished for almost a year before new builders revived the
project.
The 375-room, oceanfront hotel is a three building conglomeration on the
corner of Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue. The centerpiece is the beachfront
Dilido hotel, designed by architect Morris Lapidus, who also designed the
Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc hotels in the 1950s.
Lapidus worked in an eclectic style that Eguilior described as a "fantasy
type environment, " with chevrons, portholes, and amoeba shapes. Eguilior
refers to an unusually shaped entrance canopy on Collins Avenue as "Lapidus'
tongue. "
Some analysts wonder if Ritz-Carlton, with its high level of service but
rather staid corporate image, will be able to compete against some of the
hipper hotels in South Beach.
But Payer said, "This isn't your father's Ritz-Carlton, " citing the Art
Moderne interior and VIP club-hopping services that the hotel will provide to
guests.
It remains a question, however, whether the hotel will be completed by its
Dec. 11 opening date. Payer insists that the hotel will be finished on time.
"It is going to be really tight, " said Eguilior of Nichols Brosch
Sandoval & Associates. "The entire building will not be open in time. We are
going to open the building in stages, initially with 150 guest rooms, but the
convention facilities, the lobby, and the pool deck will be open. "
"The important thing is that it opens in December and doesn't miss the
season, " said Scott Brush, a hotel industry analyst. "If you miss the season
from December to April, then you are really under water for the rest of the
year. "
CAPTION: ROBERT PLOTKIN/FOR THE HERALD AT LONG LAST: Renovation work
continued at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach hotel last week. Opening day is
December 11.
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