Miami
Miami's first Rosewood Resort, Acqualina, 17780 Collins Ave. (tel. 305/933-6666; www.acqualina.com), finally opened in 2006, featuring a 51-story Renaissance-inspired tower with 97 ultra-luxury suites that include everything from wi-fi to iPods.
Meanwhile, the city's first ever boutiquey spa hotel has opened. The Standard Miami, 40 Island Ave. (tel. 305/673-1717; www.standardhotel.com), is where the jet set stays put, pampering themselves in the hotel's authentic Turkish hammam and dousing themselves in steam and mud baths.
The landmark Breakwater Hotel, 940 Ocean Dr. (tel. 305/532-8250; www.breakwatercondohotel.com) has been revamped as a condo hotel consisting of 95 ultra modern rooms and a Bice Ristorante.
Fontainebleau Resorts, 4441 Collins Ave. (tel. 800/548-8886 or 305/538-2000; www.fontainebleauresorts.com), has begun a two-year reconstruction/expansion of the original resort. The older resort facilities, including all convention and meeting space are now closed. During the construction period, the new 37-story, stand-alone Fontainebleau Suites hotel is fully operational.
The Indian Creek Hotel, 2727 Indian Creek Dr. (tel. 305/531-2727; www.indiancreekhotel.com) was acquired by The New York Inns Hotel Group and fully renovated. The rooms and suites have new furniture, bedding and hardwood floors. Wi-Fi wireless broadband Internet access is available in every room and public area, as well as the pool and garden areas. The hotel's new critically acclaimed restaurant recently opened, featuring Mediterranean cuisine by Chef Kira Volz.
Il Mulino, 17875 Collins Ave. (tel. 305-466-9191; www.ilmulinonewyork.com), the New York City Italian landmark eatery opened at Acqualina. The restaurant menu is influenced by the Abruzzi region of Italy and has a veranda that offers impeccable views of the Atlantic Ocean.
For a little flash with your foie gras, Marty Taplin, owner of the Sagamore Hotel, joined forces with Jeffrey Chodorow of China Grill Management and opened the Sagamore's first restaurant and lounge, Social Miami at Sagamore, 1671 Collins Ave. (tel. 786/594-3344; www.sagamorehotel.com). The menu at the restaurant-lounge-video-art gallery reflects the collaboration between chef consultant Michelle Bernstein and executive chef Sean Mohammed.
Table 8 South Beach, 1501 Collins Ave. (tel. 305/695-4114) is slated to debut in the summer of 2006 at its beachside location at the new Regent Hotel on Ocean Drive. The restaurant will feature the acclaimed California-style cuisine of celebrity chef Govind Armstrong. Equal parts South Beach chic and L.A. glam, situated beneath the Regent's glass bottom pool, the lounge will be the perfect place to see and be seen while sipping cocktails and sampling the small plate lounge menu.
Arturo Sandoval, world-renowned jazz musician, composer, trumpet player and pianist, opened his own jazz club in Miami Beach. The Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club, 6701 Collins Ave. (tel. 305/403-7565; www.arturosandovaljazzclub.com), showcases the talents of the Grammy Award-winning musician, as well as internationally recognized headliners such as Roberta Flack, Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Moody and Roy Haynes.
The long awaited Miami Performing Arts Center (MPAC), 1444 Biscayne Blvd. (tel. 305/372-7611; www.miamipac.org), a $446 million project in downtown Miami, announced that its grand opening celebrations will be in October with an all-star musical tribute produced by Grammy Award winner Emilio Estefan.
The Keys
Albury Court, 1030 Eaton St. (tel. 305/294-9870; www.historickeywest.com), is the newest member of the Historic Key West Inns family of small heritage properties. The upscale boutique hotel is located in the heart of Key West's renowned Old Town, just two blocks from the Historic Seaport.
Sonesta on Key Biscayne is closing for a three year redevelopment and transformation into a $300 million condo and hotel combination. They just laid off all 300 plus employees -- this comes a bit sooner than expected.
The Key Largo Coffee House & Cyber Café, mile marker (MM) 100.2 oceanside in Key Largo, (tel. 305/453-4844), is one of the rare, public Wi-Fi hot spots in the Upper Keys. Laptop computer users can connect their computers wirelessly to the Internet, and read and send e-mail, at no charge.
Islescapes Gourmet Dinner Cruises (tel. 305/923-3319) departing from Robbie's Marina, MM 77.5 on a custom-restored 33-foot Carver Mariner, offer delicious menus with choices including crabmeat-feta stuffed portobello mushrooms or potato-goat cheese tart for starters, followed by rosemary-mango or warm mushroom salad, then brandied mango-chipotle grilled grouper or yellowtail acqua pazza for the entrée. Dessert choices include crème brulee or decadent strawberries hidden under minted white chocolate whipped cream. Cost is $300 for a three-hour dinner cruise (BYOB) for up to four people.
Chef James "Shadow" Henahan has brought his world-class skills to the new restaurant at Tranquility Bay Resort, MM 48.5 bayside in Marathon. The Butterfly Café (tel. 305/289-0888) focuses on quality and local ingredients including fresh-from-the-dock seafood. Main courses like horseradish crusted Florida grouper, Caribbean seafood paella or Cuban spice grilled double-cut pork chops are favorites.
Nature lovers can slip through the silent backcountry waters off Key West and the Lower Keys in a kayak at night on Blue Planet Kayak Tours (tel. 305/294-8087; www.blue-planet-kayak.com) starlight tour. All excursions are led by an environmental scientist. The starlight tours last between 2.5 and three hours and launch at sunset. No previous kayaking experience is necessary. Cost for the guided kayak adventure is $40 per person.
The Pirate Soul Museum, 528 Front St. (tel. 305/292-1113; www.piratesoul.com), which contains nearly 500 authentic buccaneer artifacts, now has a pirate-themed restaurant and bar. Located at 528 Front St. next to Pirate Soul, the Rum Barrel evokes the atmosphere of a tavern from piracy's golden age (1690 to 1730). The restaurant opened in conjunction with Pirate Soul's debut of more than a dozen rare nautical artifacts including an 18th-century spyglass and a bronze astrolabe circa 1563.
Learn about Florida's tropical climate with free weather education tours led by meteorologists at the new National Weather Service forecast office, 1315 White St. (tel. 305/295-1316; www.weather.gov/keywest), in Key West. Each tour begins in the facility's lobby, where participants can view monitors that show current weather conditions in the Keys, forecasts, tidal data, radar and satellite images and weather education videos.
Key West's new Goosebumps & Ghosts Rock-N-Walk Tour (tel. 305/766-3356) that departs twice nightly from the Pegasus Hotel, 501 Southard St. at the corner of Duval, is amusingly creepy. The tour combines theatrics, history and fun into a 75-minute stroll to haunting sites in the island city's Old Town district. The tours are at 7pm and 9pm nightly. Cost is $17 per person for adults and $8 for children when booked direct or through the concierges at most island properties. Reservations are required since space is limited.
The Gold Coast
AirTran added new service to Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA), offering one daily nonstop flight between PBIA and Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y.
Still under construction is Florida's first St. Regis Resort (tel. 954/568-4623; www.stregis.com), a $135-million, 23-story luxe property in Fort Lauderdale with nearly 200 rooms, a gourmet restaurant, an air-conditioned walkway to the beach, a massive spa, and more. It's scheduled to open in late 2006
In the winter of 2006, Florida's first-ever W Hotel (tel. 954/525-8133; www.whotels.com) will open on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The $220-million boutique-hotel-slash-condominium features the usual trendy W Hotel bells and whistles, including the signature bar and restaurant.
Hotel Biba, 320 Belvedere Rd. (tel. 561/832-0094; www.hotelbiba.com), in West Palm Beach is offering a Family Surf package that includes a room with two double beds for two nights, surf lessons for a family of four, one day free board rental and continental breakfast daily for four.
The Boca Resort & Club, 501 E. Camino Real (tel. 561/395-3000; www.bocaresort.com), has invested more than $100 million in renovations the past three years. Among dozens of new features and changes, the highlights include a new spa, a yacht club with 32 slip marina, a new practice green, putting green, croquet lawn and fleet of 180 GPS UpLink Smart Cart golf carts, a new children's playground complete with water-park and tricycle track. There has also been a complete makeover of all guestrooms.
Sunfish Grill is moving to 2761 E. Oakland Park Blvd. The current Ft. Lauderdale location will close July 15 and the new location will open on August 15.
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