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HOTELIER ANDRE BALAZS, WHOSE FIRST DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN MIAMI WAS IN 199/, IS BACK ON SOUTH BEACH.
HIS REVIVAL OF THE OLD RALEIGH HOTEL HAS EMPHASIZED ITS ORIGINAL JET-SET LATIN GLAMOUR. BUT A
MORE RADICAL RENOVATION OF THE "OLD LADY" LIDO SPA OPENING IN SEPTEMBER AS THE MIAMI STANDARD---TURNS
THE LOCAL AESTHETIC ON ITS HEAD. MATT TYRNAUER FRAMES BALAZS'S DOUBLE TAKE
M II A m -.._
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT POLIDORI
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-. :, RALEIGH MAGNII I( ILIi
Opposite, an Art Deco folly houses a
s_ R i __ bar by the Raleigh pool, where-
- Esther Williams once shot film scenes.'
This page, the front of the hotel
t- _ a� • which Balazs has landscaped with
thick grove of palms to hide th
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n 1991, a decade after Miami the Lido Spa are the last two places to America where you might be dressed in a
Beach's Art Deco district was giv- go." Spread before him on a red lacquer- white tie one minute and the next minute
en historic architectural status and topped table (inspired by one he admired in casual clothes.
saved from obliteration,the Raleigh at a beach club in Saint-Tropez)are archival "This hotel has had three lives," Balazs
Hotel, on Collins Avenue at 18th images of the Raleigh, a 1947 edition of continues. "Life magazine singled it out as
Street,was lovingly restored, and Life magazine featuring Miami,and a book one of the most beautiful pools in Flori-
what had been a fine example of on Lawrence Murray Dixon's buildings. da in the 1940s. That disappeared in 20
the work of Lawrence Murray (Dixon worked for the New York firm that years,like all of Miami did.Then this guy,
Dixon,the architect who embod- designed the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan, Ken Zarrilli, a real-estate developer from
ied the early Art Moderne—Miami and he was a key inventor of the modern- New York, who has a great eye, made
style,was brought back to life. It Deco fusion in Miami Beach. He died at the Raleigh the place to be in the early 90s.
was among the first of the larger neglected, 48, after having built 16 hotels along the It was the vanguard—six or seven years be-
decaying buildings from the pre—World beach,including the Tides.) fore the Delano.And now I want to make
War II glory days to be spiffed up. An el- Taking inspiration from the vintage pic- it the sexiest, most sophisticated hotel on
egant mini-skyscraper on the beach, the tures, Balazs and his small design staff the beach, similar to the Chateau Mar-
Raleigh helped set the tone for the resort are attempting to restore the old spirit of mont and the Mercer."
city's big comeback, one of the happiest the hotel,which was one of Dixon's most Since buying the Chateau Marmont, in
stories of architectural conservation in elegant. "Not a literal restoration," Balazs 1991, and successfully bringing it back to
modem times.By the late 90s,however,the says, "but an homage to a long-lost, but life, Balazs has acquired considerable ex-
hotel, which is known for its curvaceous, better,past.The people who built Miami, pertise in the delicate,intuitive art of creat-
Busby Berkeley—esque swimming pool,had their vision was a look toward the glam- ing a proper hotel mood,through lighting,
begun to lose its new luster. Flashier ren- our of the French and Italian Riviera. music, staffing, and a thousand minor as-
ovations, representing evolutionary leaps
in the South Beach Renaissance—most "IT'S NOT A LITERAL
notably the Delano, the surrealistic plea-
sure dome designed by Philippe Starck, RESTORATION BUT AN HOMAGE
just a few doors down from the Raleigh—
sucked away all the oxygen and many of
the clients. TO A LONG-LOST, BUT
But this season,under the directionghofa BETTER, PAST,' BA LAZ S SAYS.
new owner,Andre Balazs,the Raleigh ap
pears to be entering another boom period.
Balazs, 47,has an impressive track record What people have done since—the pastels pects which come together to make a pow-
of renovating hotels and at the same time and so on that were used in the 80s—has erful whole. Some of the tricks are simple;
reviving architecturally significant strut- been endlessly copied and become a cliche. for example,a bunch of$10.99 tiki torches
tures. The Chateau Marmont in Holly- So we went back, looked at the original and a few strings of French festoon lights
wood,the Mercer in New York's SoHo,and photographs from the 40s, and saw a make the palm-and-sea-grape grove of the
the Standard in downtown L.A. are three braver and more original vision, a bolder, Raleigh look enchanted at night. A land-
prime examples of his efforts. Now the very sexy look." One bird's-eye-view photo scaper suggested that the trees be plant-
Raleigh, built in 1940, can be added to of the pool shows black-and-white checked ed symmetrically, but at the last minute
the list,as well as another hotel 15 blocks umbrellas with fringe, which Balazs has Balazs scrapped the plan and had them
away,the Lido Spa(1953),which he is also re-created. Hand-colored photos from the set out in a random pattern. A teak deck
renovating. Balazs plans to relaunch the period show strong oranges,hot pinks,and was in the way, but free-form holes were
Lido—a down-at-the-heels specimen of the ketchup reds, and those colors have been cut into it so that the trees could poke
postwar MiMo (Miami Modern) style— applied to some of the exterior walls near through. Balazs's employees are rarely
in September as the third in his chain of the long row of white cabanas,just behind from the "My pleasure to serve you ...
minimum-cool,reasonably priced Standard the pool. Certainly, right away" school. Early on,
hotels. (The second is also in L.A.,on the while staffing the Chateau Marmont, he
Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.)The Mi- he Miami Vice palette has been realized that an actor/model can lend a
ami Standard will have a large Eastern banished, except for a Creamsi- certain charm to room service or a pack-
European—style bathhouse as its center- cle orange used on the logo and age delivery. (As a side effect, you may
piece, with an emphasis on therapeutic in the interior of the dresser end up with Baz Luhrmann's or Christo-
mud—different from the other two Stan- drawers in the rooms, which, pher Walken's faxes, but then, they may
dards,which have an emphasis on pound- Balazs says, are his fantasy of what "a end up with yours, and that is part of the
ing music,poolside cruising,and late-night glamorous hotel in Cuba might have been fun.) The "cultural attaché" at the Ra-
vodka—and—Red Bull consumption. (Ba- like." The original brown-and-ocher ter- leigh, Manije Mir, was once an assistant
lazs's hotel empire also includes the Sun- razzo floors, with an inlaid pattern that to Farah Diba, the Empress of Iran. "At
set Beach on Shelter Island,New York.) repeats the outline of the pool,have been the Raleigh, there are a lot of wholesale
Sipping Domaine Ott in a grove of sea- preserved. Black lacquered Deco furni- changes—everything from Eric Ripert,the
grape and palm trees in the newly land- ture is coupled with wicker and rattan. chef at Le Bernardin in New York,being
scaped backyard of the Raleigh, Balazs There is grass cloth on the walls. "We brought on to supervise in the kitchen
talks about what he sees as "an excavation were thinking of the time when Porfirio to the replacement of almost every piece
of the old Miami." He tells me, "This is Rubirosa was a star of the international of furniture—but I think the goal is for
really the last wave,because this hotel and jet set,and you could find places in Latin someone to come CONTINUED ON PAGE 275
Raleigh Hotel cutcheon, has been adopted for the hotel when they went in for dinner. There were
logo and emblazoned on the matchbooks boxes of matzos on the tables. It was real-
and stationery, and it will soon confront ly a time warp. South Beach exploded all
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 s 3 in and say, guests when they lift up their toilet-seat lids. around this place,and here,because it's on
'Oh, my God,it's so perfect! Nothing has Biscayne Bay,a few blocks inland from Ocean
changed!" says Balazs. With the Lido Spa,which is located on Drive and Collins Avenue,time seemed to
Belle Isle, along the Venetian Cause- stand still."
andra Kahn,from Highland Park,Illinois, way, Balazs faced a far greater renovation Balazs recalls,"For several months,as we
approaches Balazs while we are talking, task. Built as a motor hotel,it was renovat- were constructing the model rooms for the
and tells him that she has been staying at ed in 1963, and features a facade designed redesign,the old ladies kept poking their
the hotel on and off since 1942. "I know by Morris Lapidus, master builder of the heads in and looking at what we were up to.
who you are, and I want to thank you for Fabulous 50s—style modernism that reached They all liked the new look, so we said,
bringing this hotel back to the way the old its height with Lapidus's Fontainebleau and 'Come back when we are finished. You're
Miami Beach was.You didn't miss a trick," Eden Roc hotels. (Lapidus lived out his last welcome here.."'When and if they do return,
she says. Kahn's sister Norine Siegel adds, years in an apartment building of his own they will not recognize the place—except for
"We used to stay here when it was the ko- design, across the street from the Lido.) three rooms that are being kept intact with
sher Raleigh! I bet you didn't know it was a The Lido's wide,low-slung facade has as its green wall-to-wall as wry reminders of the
kosher hotel,or that Al Capone's men used piece de resistance a gaudy MiMo sign in original Danish-modern look.
to stay here. Martha Raye,the Big Mouth, five-foot-high gold letters.
had her club right across the street."There A little more than a year ago, the Lido VT he idea behind the Miami Standard is
was,for a time,a synagogue on the premis- was still operating as an`old-lady spa,"ac- 1 to take it back to its glory days as a spa
es,according to an old brochure.The cabi- cording to David Lemmond,the hotel's new but to make it the antithesis of what is in
net containing the Torah was in what is now general manager. "When we came onto the South Beach," says Balazs,who was helped
the oak-paneled cocktail lounge at the back property,the little old women were padding on the project by designer Shawn Hausman,
of the lobby,which originally had a painting around in their sundresses and robes, play- who was responsible for the first two Stan-
of Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth I over ing cards and getting treatments. Rooms dard designs. "It has a kind of Scandina-
the fireplace. Balazs is not planning to re- went for $79 a night." Balazs adds, "The vian theme—the last thing you would expect
introduce the Torah, but he has commis- owner of the hotel, Chuck Edelstein"—who to see in a tropical climate.The most salient
sioned a portrait to replace the painting,and bought the Lido with his father and brother feature is that every material is natural—light
the Sir Walter theme will be played up. A in 1963—"still stood at the stairs to the din- wood surfaces,embroidery details,woven
stag symbol, part of the Raleigh-family es- ing room and greeted each lady by name mats for carpeting. The rooms are sur-
Raleigh Hotel old identical twins Jason and Jared Harler, marble mud-bathing slab will be"the S&M
tattooed,Seattle-bred nature boys interested hose," with which you can spray down a
in alternative healing and the spiritual side of friend with a high-pressure jet.
rounded by herbal gardens.It is the absolute public baths.There will be an ambitious well- Balazs has taken many research trips,
opposite of the Hollywood and downtown- ness program at the hotel,including class- including one to Les Pres d'Eugenie,a spa
L.A. Standards,and it should be.Those ho- es in Kundalini and other forms of yoga. near Biarritz,where he got the high-pressure-
tels,which are in very urban settings,have Guests will be able to take part in an array hose idea. In New York he likes to visit the
a lot of plastics and harder-edged 10th Street Baths, a slightly un-
industrial materials.This hotel is sanitary holdover from the days
on an island." , - when Russian-Jewish bathhouses
Balazs stands on the tar-paper could be found on many blocks
roof of the hotel,overlooking the of downtown Manhattan's East
bay and a gigantic ditch,where in Side.
a few weeks there will be a spec- - Balazs undertook his first de-
-
tacular swimming pool. Yachts I I velopment project in Miami sev-
and speedboats go by.Overhead, en years ago—the renovation of
a 747 flies out to the Atlantic. — y, a small hotel at 8th Street and
The grounds of the hotel are cur- 11111••••1111 • Washington. He ultimately sold
rently in disarray,but his vision ■ i s that building and turned his
for the place is crystal clear: "I n rdii attention to hotels in L.A. and
was inspired by ancient bathhous- _ _ _ _ - New York. Now, he feels, the
es,and I wanted to take off from . time has come. "For me,Miami
the communal notion of Roman 11111111. w, } has become a place that evolved
baths and Scandinavian .spas.But '"' I 1`- -- from a destination to a real cit
P � Y
we are going to remove the labor — People say, `Is Miami in?'That's
aspect,so you can go and do the like asking, `Is New York in?"
FOLLOW THE LIDO
treatments yourself. This is be- says Balazs, looking out on the
The facade of the Lido Spa Hotel,on Belle Isle,in Miami Beach,
cause the spa experience in L.A. was designed by Morris Lapidus,architect of the Fontainebleau and bay from the dock of the new
and New York has become ex- Eden Roc hotels in the same area. Standard. "We are standing in
pensive—you can't go to a spa the heart of a major city,and we
without it costing you $100 an are on water. You can boat out
hour.The idea is to get you back to the time of aquatic therapies,including the"Falling among skyscrapers.You will be able to take
when going to the baths was a communal Water Column—a two-inch column of wa- a kayak from here into the bay.You can go
experience, where friends gather and you ter falls 15 feet,landing where you need it swimming. You can go to the beach. And
can help each other bathe" most,"according to Jason Harler.The ther- Miami is also becoming a major art cen-
Balazs has entrusted the development of apeutic muds will be imported from Reims, ter. I mean,there is no denying the charms
the spa for the Miami Standard to 33-year- France,and from Utah.Near the Carrara- of Miami."E
THE RALEIGH 1775 COLLINS AVENUE MIAMI BEACH FL 33139 PHONE 800 848 1775 RALEIGHHOTEL.COM