Delano, Miami, United States
Delano 5 Stars
"Ever-popular Miami Beach icon, Ian Schrager's haute design hotel has cavernous public spaces and stark, minimalist rooms."
- Room upgrade (subject to availability)
- 12pm early check-in (subject to availability)
- 4pm late check-out (subject to availability).
Hotel Overview
Review of Delano, by Hal Peat
Delano is a luxury hotel in Miami's South Beach district. Even after renovation, the luxury hotel maintains its distinctive character and style - originally conceived by hotelier Ian Schrager - that made it into an instant local landmark with an international reputation.
This character begins to assert itself even before you enter from Collins Avenue to Delano's interior space, thanks to the "Indoor/Outdoor" concept of the lobby. It has the feel of an interwoven "village" that makes for a seamless separation between indoors and outdoors. In fact, you may have the sensation of having slipped into a dreamlike, surreal environment of soaring white pillars and billowing curtains that reappear throughout the public areas of Delano's ground floor.
The overall ambiance of the luxury hotel is both subtle and distinct at the same time, somewhat like being on a grand yet intimate stage on which you the voyager will effortlessly perform the script of your own unique sojourn.
The facilities
The Blue Door restaurant is the luxury hotel's own high-style eaterie, with a mirrored bar and silver-and-black decor. It serves up an eclectic menu of modern French cuisine with Brazilian influences. Blue Sea restaurant will sort out all your sushi needs, and the Rose Bar keeps the cocktails flowing under Venetian chandeliers. Head to the spacious Florida Room piano bar for a real taste of Miami's humming social scene.
The Agua rooftop spa offers Delano guests massages, face and body treatments, as well as wonderful ocean views.
The rooms
The Delano Hotel has 208 luxury guestrooms. Lighting along corridors to guest quarters is extremely muted (some might say downright dim) but this is intended to accentuate the startling whiteness as you enter your Philippe Starck designed habitat. From guest rooms to loft suites and duplex bungalows, the ongoing effect combines playfulness and elegance.
Custom painted white and pearl grey, each room also features mirror-glazed, brilliant white plank floors with an extra layer of natural cork underfoot for increased privacy.
Your quarters may also have such Starck details as angels hovering over your bed to ensure sweet slumber and blackout screens to block out the harshness of the tropical sun. The recently renovated bathrooms in the suite and bungalow quarters are dominated from floor to ceiling by thick Italian arabescato marble, monolithic bathtubs and Starck-designed porcelain sinks.
Facilities
Contact Hotel Directly
www.delano-hotel-miami-beach.comWho stays here?
Nicolas Cage, P Diddy, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock and Will Smith.
Come for...
- Alice in Wonderland-style decor
- People-watching
- The Gym by David Barton, a full-facility fitness center staffed with elite trainers
Not Suitable for...
- Devotees of quiet poolside bungalows or lounging; poolside at Delano is a lively and people-watching environment
Children
Children are welcomed, and the hotel can provide a baby-sitting service on request.
Eating in
Think Blue - that's to say, either the Blue Door restaurant, a dramatic and elegant setting for world-class cuisine under the direction of restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, or the Blue Sea, a new Asian sea bar featuring the next wave in Asian fusion cuisine. We like the relaxed atmosphere and design of the Brasserie, a chic 15-foot long lounge-style bar. Sort of a Harry's Bar for South Beach, with plenty of people-watching opportunities.
The Press Say
“From the moment the lobby doors swing open, it is clear that The Delano has the imprint of the formidable hotel-design duo Ian Schrager and Philippe Starck. From the oversized outdoor chess board and crystal chandeliers to the Eames pieces and Dali artwork, the hotel is an exercise in post-modern playfulness.” The Independent 07Reviews
Review of Delano, by Matt Morley
After originally opening in 1995, the Delano on Miami's South Beach has since been completely re-vamped to keep pace with Miami's ever-evolving hip, young (and not so young) clientele.
Entering through the lobby on a Friday night, it is hard to tell exactly what this hotel is about. Is it a vibey bar venue, a restaurant, luxury hotel or design showroom? The answer is all of the above: pigeonholing is clearly not part of the local vernacular. Power your way through the main hallway therefore and you will pass a funky check-in desk, a Harry's Bar-like lounge-stroke-brasserie concept, various faux-baroque furniture pieces and, finally, Blue Door restaurant.
Whether eating indoors or outdoors, the experience is one of sumptuous over-indulgence, particularly for those used to European-sized portions. Chef Claude Troisgros mixes modern French and Brazilian cuisine with, frankly, a little of whatever takes his mood that day. And to great success. White leather seating on armchairs and baby-banquettes around a central, dramatic glass sculpture means there is plenty of table watching to be done, revealing this to be a notably more mature crowd than in the more informal dining areas elsewhere at the Delano.
The Blue Sea restaurant meanwhile, is an Asian Sea Bar featuring the next wave in inspired Asian-fusion cuisine. Again under the direction of Chef Claude Troisgros, it offers a complete Caviar and Oyster Bar, along with an extensive selection of sassy sushi and seafood creations.
Be sure to have a wander around the resort's orchard and landscaped gardens before leaving as well, the areas consists of hundreds of different flowers, vines and plants, as well as eighty 50-foot palm trees. Various Philippe Starck-designed surrealist sculptures are the surprise features, a reminder of the creative talent behind the entire Delano project.
The Delano's 194 guestrooms, suites and lofts are all-white paeans to Greek Island-style cottage chic. This is brought home by the rooms' ocean views, white wood floors, crisp white bed linen and occasional pops of pale grey and peach colouring. Bathrooms have vast marble soaking tubs.