1614-6 Various Miami Beach THU MAR 13 1986 ED: THREE-STAR
SECTION: INSIDE PAGE: 8A LENGTH: 09 . 17" SHORT
ILLUST: Waldorf Towers has reopened
SOURCE: LYDA LONGA Miami News Correspondent
DATELINE:
MEMO:
WALDORF HOTEL
RETURNS TO LOOK,
SOUNDS OF ' 38
Balmy ocean breezes blew gently in the night as a sleek, black, 1942
Rolls Royce slipped quietly to the front of the hotel.
Inside, was the Art Deco aura of mellow pastel -- pinks, greens, blues
and yellows. Tall, sleek blonde flappers waltzed on the pink-and-green
terrazzo floors of the lobby. Partygoers sipped tall fruity drinks as jazz
tunes played.
It was the grand re-opening bash at the Waldorf Towers Hotel in Miami
Beach, with the look, feel and sounds of 1938 .
That ' s how hotel owner Jerry Sanchez wanted it.
"I attended a Miami Beach Development Corporation meeting last April and
they showed me this property, " Sanchez, 44 , said. "I was convinced that this
area could be made to look as great and beautiful as it did in the 30s, so I
bought the hotel and started working on it. "
Sanchez, who also owns the Polonia Restoration Company -- specializing
in the restoration of historic sites and old buildings -- has just completed a
$1 million restoration of the 48-year-old Waldorf, at 860 Ocean Drive. The
hotel officially opens tomorrow.
Sanchez said that he bought the hotel in October for $430, 000, closed it
and immediately began restoring it.
Last night, more than 350 people came to see the results.
The hotel has 46 rooms with nightly rates ranging from $50 to $95 .
Suites go for up to $150 a night, said general manager, Ariel Iglesias.
Miami Beach Commissioner Bruce Singer, who was among the partygoers,
termed Sanchez ' s efforts with the hotel "fantastic. "
Commissioner Stanley Arkin said he hoped the new Waldorf and other
hotels like it will help attract young people to the Ocean Drive area.
"Refurbishing the Waldorf was a challenge for me, " Sanchez said.
"Anyone can make a new building look beautiful, but not everyone can restore
the past and make it look so beautiful. "
ADDED TERMS: opening mb hotel
END OF DOCUMENT.