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1675-11 Raleigh Hotel 011110 (1.;Amto • Qi:°'tjcA'ctu Iork YT D i.E ' es FRIDAY,DECEMBER 5,2003 -N, lit „ - ' . .1*''--.N...1111 ..'''., ':14IS' 4,. "4..77---- -— .,,,,, ,..- , - I JI' , - - lk ..:. • . 110164.4•,,1(. .‘ • t' .-* ..d J r _ '` 11 . ice;: • a cl. 7. - t• ,,,, .,...."' ' Mr'-.. r it: .30,...... ,- _., , ,,,.*: , . 1. 4, :k.,.._ . , \ , ., .p . ,ey / JOURNEYS �n South Beach: ,� _--0,..!;:,: .. . From Hot1 0 ;- . 4 :'' to Cold, ' ,f Back to Hot Again •---N'O' v.' t. Photographs ny Pot-harm P.Pentamee for The new York Tomo A SOUTH BEACH STATE OF MIND On a sunny Friday morning,guests at the Shore Club,a popular Miami Beach hangout,float among the shadows cast by the palm trees growing near the hotel's main pool. returning to South Beach.And greeting them are signs By PAMELA ROBIN BRANDT that South Beach's glory days are indeed far from over, that the"new South Beach"may,in fact,be South Beach FOR the past few years,the word has gone out itself. among the fashionable set:South Beach is so The Ritz-Carlton is scheduled to open a 375-roomover.The litany of complaints piled up as this resort on Dec.18.André Bala (owner of the Mercer high-profile strip of Miami Beach seemingly fell - Hotel in New York and the Standard in Los Angeles)is •victim to its own success.The place was too crowded.The ' - • giving the pioneering Raleigh Hotel a facelift,including sprucing up the most gorgeous pool in town and replacing Iraf(ic impossible.The hotel service inept.Ocean Drive -• x. the idiosyncratic outdoor gym with a beach bar.And in now a fraternity-house nightmare of sports bars,fuzzy _ ��*, the last year, the coolly elegant Sagamore Hotel has navels and hot body contests—a"South Street Seaport joined the nearby Shore Club and the perennially booked for tourists,"in the words of Brett Sokol,a columnist for Delano as a popular hangout for the boldface-name New Times,a Miami weekly. ;• crowd.There are new clubs,hot restaurants,celebrity And thus the hip crowd moved on in search of the . _ sightings and a resurgent real estate market. new South Beach.But what were the alternatives?Rio? _ Not since the original Art Deco renaissance in the It's where the beautiful people are flocking,to be sure, _ '- • . mid-80's has South Beach seen such action."I felt for a but not for a weekend getaway.St.Bart's?No direct , . `l'. ' while that Miami Beach had lost some of its appeal,"said flights and prohibitively expensive once you get there. � - DD Allen,a partner in the Manhattan interior design firm Jamaica?You're chained to your resort because of local , r 4..wof Pierce Allen who has been flying down to South Beach crime and the tack of good restaurants.Puerto Rico? ' . , -. since 1988."I kept going,but I thought the magic was Fine for one visit to the Water Club,but that's it.The I missing.The beach is getting that magic back again." much-touted Fort Lauderdale?You've got to be kidding, "'' Kal Ruttenstem,the fashion director of Blooming- -, So, like swallows to Capistrano, the hipsters are WITH A VIEW The beach bar at the Raleigh Hotel. Continued on Page 7 THE NEW YORK TIMES,FRIDAY,DECEMBER 5,2003 JOURNEYS South Beach: From Hot to Cold, Back to Hot Again went away)were clearly evident this week,as Art Basel Continued From First Escapes Page came to town. year,30,000 people descended on Miami for this spinoff of the Swiss contemporary art dale's,was one of the South Beach pioneers,first going show,and Norman Braman,the host committee chair- there in the 1970's.He agreed that there was a time net man and a prominent art collector,predicts that nearly too long ago when the Solite scene seemed finished. twice that number will slow up this year.Most of the top "It went through a tared period,"he said."There hotels are fully booked(as many were last weekend for was a time when the bloom was off the rose.Now,I find the annual White Pasty,a must event on the gay social good restaurants,and art galleries,and a lot of people calendar),and there are about 15 parties a night being are going there."But Mr.Ruttenstein added that the old held around town this weekend. South Beach,the one with the"Studio 54 feeling,"was Mr.Braman said that visitors coming for the Basel probably gone forever."Now it's a restful,relaxing slow were"just blown away by the people who make up place with great weather,"he said. what South Beach is." "Miami Beach is resilient,"said Hal Rubenstein, And while some big-name clubs—Liquid,Salva- the fashion director of InStye magazine,who started tion,Warsaw—have come and gone,South Beach night going to South Beach m 1985 and bought an apartment life continues to reinvent irsel(.Far a while,it looked as there in 1991,around the time that the fashion designer though Space,a new club in downtown Miami,would Gianni Versace arrived on the scene."When Versace siphon off the SoBe crowd.But that club,while arguably moved them in 1991,everyone was trying to catch that popular,has opened and closed a couple of times al- Versace world,which was part 1Busioo,part sura" ready,and the South Beach scene is holding its own. But Mr.Rubenstein said that while South Beach Right now,much of the club action Is concentrated never quite lived up to its reputation—"It is not the eta two-block area in SOBe's newly hot northeast area: American Riviera with playboys,supermndela and poo- Mont(with its high model quotient on weekends and ire pie pouring Champagne on each other,"he said— popular gay night on Mondays);Skybar M the Shore people who go there now seem to appreciate It for Its Club;the brand-new Rok Bar,an 30's rock revival club true virtues."It's about sand,surf,getting greasy,rim owned in part by Tommy Lee,the Marley Cyte drum- wearing a Ito of clothes,"he said."It is younger,freer, mer;and for private parties,the newly restored pool easier,sexier in its own way." deck of the Raleigh Hotel. Signs that South Beach is back(or perhaps never If you're looking for the social epicenter of the new South Beach,heed over to Lincoln Road,the anti-Ocean Drive. Here there are elegant restaurants(Pacific Time,Sushi Samba Dromo),hugely popular cafes (Nexxt and the finally opened Cafeteria),a popular Sunday morning farmers'market,and dozens of hip clothing aha s. "It's incredible urban promenade,"said Mr. Rubenstein of InStyle."No Calvin Klein.No Prada.But great young throwaway fashion." The Places to Be Now: The resurgence of South Beach comes two years after what many locals see as its low point.The weeks A Night-by-Night Guide following Sept.11."After 9/11 I can remember going by N South Beach,one week's hot spot is the next week's social Siberia But right naw,the fol- The boldface-name crowd lowing venues shouldoffer a good sampling of ag the current Se aaene. has returned,and now a PRE-nine I comm.The rooftop poolside bar at the Hotel(801 Collins Avenue,305.531-2222)is Ritz-Carlton is opening. an ideal spot to escape the Ocean Drive/Collins crawl,view the sunset and sip glow-in-the-dark "electric"cocktails like frozen mojitoa,illumi- nated with cubes that match the drink's color. the Delano,and the pool area empty,"said Mr. moan The setting is unpretentious and the New Sokol,the New Times columnist.For several seasons York fashion crowd seemingly hasn't discovered the ever-present Hilton sisters were about az good as it yet,but the locals are raving about Talule,(210 SoBe star-gazing got."Now we're seeing celebrities 23rd Street,305-672-0778),where the chefs and coming back—J.Lo and Ben,P.Diddy,Cameron Diaz, owners—the young husband-and-wife team of Britney Spears,Justin Timberlake,Matt Damon,De Andrea Curto and Frank Randazzo—are pro- Niro,"he said. during Italian and Southwestern-influenced New More than celebrities are returning to South Beach, American Elaine that is among the most solidly aceOrding to statistics from Jeff Lehman,a board creative in town, member of die Greater Miami Convention and Visitors ai.mii maEN eaeNwua,s The perennial favorite. Bureau who is the general manager of the National the Delano(1685 Collins Avenue,305.672.2000),is Hotel.Miami Beach hotel occupancy for the week after still packing them in at the Rose Bar,in the lobby, Sept.ll,2001,was 22.5 percent,he said.This past but the Shore Club's Skybar(1901 Collins Avenue, September,the comparable week's figure was 55.6 305-6053100)is the biggest celebrity magnet in Percent. South Beach.Repeat V.I.P.'s in the bar's Red Further,seasons that have traditionally been too Room(an indoor area where,starling this sea- hot to be hot were strong this past summer."Weekends son,admission is only to those with a black in lune,July and August,we were totally sold out,"Mr. membership card) include J.Lo and Ben, Lehman said. Beyonce,Justin Timberlake,Lenny Kravitz,Matt At the all-suite Sagamore,text door to the National. Damon,Tobey Maguire,P.Biddy,Jay-Z,and the manager,Martin Larsson,agreed."The hotel had 75 most anyone who's anyone in the hip-hop world. percent occupancy i iJuly,80 percent in August,'he lArE441aNr Acre.The scene m SoBe changes said. from night to night.If it's Monday,it'd Crobar The big news this month is the opening of the Ritz- (1234 Washington Avenue,305472-18821.For the Carlton Hotel.Well,soon-to-be-hotel,that is The Ritz- hottest new Tuesday hangout,o.the the longtime SoBe Carlton,an expansion of the historic 1953 Daub Hotel model and door god Fabrizio recommends Hotel designed by Morris Lapidus,was supposed to open in the Astor's bar,Metro(956 WashingtonAvenue;305- summer of 2001 but was plagued by permit and con- 872-7217),as"a locals'night full of good-looking struction delays.Now it's scheduled to open Dec.IS, locals,like the old glamorous South Beach when it though the curvilinear lobby and classic Lapidus grand- was more exclusive."Models and their entou- entrance stairway still segue into construction mess rages are also the featured locals at the wildly rather than into the planned Lapidus Lounge. popular Double Wide"locals'night"at Automat- Ritz executives dismiss the notion that they may is Slims(1216 Washington Avenue,3055-0795), have come late to the South Beach party with a hotel which features rack and old-style hip-hop,and that will charge 5350 to$1,800 a night for its rooms(the beers are only$4(dont show before 11 p.m.). smallest measures 450 square feet,a nice jump from the Wednesdays go to Q.E.D.(828 Washington 275-to 300-square-foot standard rooms in SOBe's other Avenue, 305-532-9070) for Michael Capponi's luxury hotels). weekly party.Thursdays are Moroccan Nights at We certainly don't feel South Beach is over,"said Skybar,from hot young"anti-promoters"Lack gnat Coutry,regional vice president of Ritz-Carlton. Bush and Erica Froabmun 1"1 hate to even can "We made the decision to open in South Beach five years myself a promoter,"explained Mr.Bush."We ago and remain confident in our commitment' just grew up here,and started events because we When the Ritz does open,though,It will encounter a both got tired of going to the same old places.") tougher competitive environment than it might have Fridays,dress with class and maybe Fabri- found several years ago. zin and and his fellow doorman,Cubby,will as Service to SoBe in the 1990's was horrendous," you into Prive,Opium Garden's V.I.P.club(136 said Steven H.Haas,an executive with China Grill Collins Avenue,305.674.8630).Saturday,tackle Management"The arrogance was incredible.The Ritz the very tough velvet nope at Mym ultra Lounge is going to force all others to get their service act (1921 Collins Avenue,786276.6132).or if you favor together.Look at the Sagamore,the Raleigh.They 1980's rack'n'roll over Mynt's hip-hop,you'll already have," soon be able to go right next door to Rok Bar,a True.Though from its renovation and reopening in pink,white and black retro-cool club whose w 2002,the Sagamore has had a contemporary art collec- owner is the former Motley Crile drummer,Tom- tion that would rival any top gallery,it wasn't until my Lee.It a scheduled to open later this month. Thompson Hotels took over management early this year On Sundays,Anthem at Crobar a SOBe's biggest that it"had things,like,for instance,a housekeeping gay club night. PAMELA ROBIN BRANDT system,"Mr.Larsson said. And since the start of the year,when Ian Schrager, • ._ _ the owner of the Delano,tool[over management of the Shore Club,that nearly terminally trendy hotel has undergone a radical attitude adjustment along with an exotic physical"Schragerizalion"into a sort of super- souk. "You can't anymore just have the best bar,said Mathew Pargament,the general manager."And the look:that'll bring someone back once.For repeal busi- ness,you have to have unconditional gracious,attentive service." That South Beach continues to defy predictions of its demise is something that the locals have long accept- ed."South Beach is the Madonna of the resort industry —reinvents itself every year or sato keep up with the times and the trends and the demands of vacationers," said Dindy Yokel,a public-relations representative. Such was the mood at the recent opening on Collins Avenue of the new Von Dutch store,home of the$99 trucker's hat,a parry that attracted a young and vibrant crowd.One of those guests,Tim Ronan,a fashion distributor who recently rowed to South Beach from New York,seemed surprised that anyone might think SOBe's best days were behind it."Overt'he asked incredulauly."It's all just beginning." Mary Billard contributed importing for this article.