Buttoned-Down Marriott Steps Out of the Box
New hotel on Miami’s chic South Beach breaks the mold with a bold, bright boutique hotel that sizzles.
By Mary Scoviak, Design Editor -- Hotels, 2/28/2001 11:00:00 PM
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| Duncan & Miller's Mark Keilson used dramatic lighting to add impact to spaces with low ceiling heights. Theatrical lighting unifies the public spaces. |
Branded hotel companies want more of what boutique hotels have: higher occupancy, higher RevPAR and higher returns. The six-month-old, 236-room Miami Beach Marriott at South Beach is a test case of whether they can get it.
This leisure/business property near the tip of Ocean Drive shows how far a brand can stretch its image without undermining its integrity. “Everything is in place—the cleanliness, consistency and services that Marriott promises—but the package is like nothing else,’’ says General Manager Jeff Hudson. “This hotel is tailored to South Beach. It is the most customized I’ve seen in the United States within the Marriott brand.”
Developer Key International, a Miami-based subsidiary of a Spanish development company with eight hotels in its diversified domestic portfolio, saw the crossover potential of marrying a strong brand and boutique chic. “We knew the competition would be tough. But we believed that, since hotel brands are not represented on South Beach, we had an opportunity to do something different,” says Key International’s Inigo Ardid. “We felt the Marriott brand and the right look could draw business from the existing South Beach market and bring in new business from across the bridge (the link to the more traditional Miami market).”
Brand Standards; Boutique Chic
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| Mark Hopper and Brandon Burnett, of Duncan & Miller, created subtle architectural and design shifts to subdivide the space that houses both the restaurant and bar. |
The challenge was blending the undisputed power of Marriott’s brand with the cool, maverick image that draws a hip crowd to South Beach. Neither Key International nor Marriott wanted to copy the Deco or minimalist themes synonymous with SoBe. The mandate to the design team was not to copy the Delano, The Tides or the quirky Deco star haunts, but to create a distinctive look to reach the 30- to 55-year-old target market of domestic and international travelers.
“What was missing in South Beach was a design concept that said upscale luxury but retained the boutique flavor,” says Turner Duncan, chairman of Dallas-based interior designer, Duncan & Miller Design. Working with Marriott design team members Holly Michelson and Paul Decourt and Miami architect Mouriz Salazar, Duncan & Miller Design created a new kind of design statement. This approach to bolder, more customized design will be one of the strongest trends redefining expectations not only for hotels under management contract, but for upscale franchises as well.
Breaking The Mold
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| Though gold draperies add an unexpected touch to the banquet room, the color palette and edginess of the public spaces is toned down for more versatility. |
For the Marriott at South Beach, as for many renovated and converted hotels, dramatic design began with a new view of space planning. Key International wanted to preserve the small, pre-existing Deco hotel but add a tower to house the bulk of the 227 rooms and nine suites. The result was a large hotel with room bays of various sizes to allow each room to have an ocean view, and public spaces delineated by myriad level changes.
Emphasizing the views, scaling down furnishings and introducing bold, bright colors that vibrate against the natural materials of walls and floors tends to open up these small spaces and leads guests through the hotel—from the lobby to the guestrooms. To intensify these transitions, the designers used architectural elements to pump up the public area’s visual excitement. Brushed steel railings on the lobby stairs (with an elevator tucked neatly behind to fulfill ADA requirements) and imported mahogany set the stage, recalling the bygone elegance of trans-Atlantic cruising. But the cruise ship look is just a backdrop. Duncan & Miller introduced the wry, unexpected touches usually reserved for boutique hotels: a geode implanted in the wall, the outward slanting wall that hovers above the front desk and connecting spaces transformed into galleries with a selection of eye-catching images.
Rethinking space and design expectations also required some new thinking on the operational side. Separate bars and restaurants are standard in most U.S. Marriott hotels. However, if this hotel’s views were to be maximized, that standard would have to be shelved in favor of a dynamic, integrated space. Capped by a dramatically lit, undulating ceiling that rolls like an ocean wave, this dressed-up area enabled the design team to open up the space to both the views and a graceful terrace that expands seating capacity. “Our experience has been that people don’t mind eating in restaurants that share a large space with a bar,” says Duncan. “We used a lot of banquettes and other design touches to keep a sense of intimacy. This sort of combination makes sense in a resort environment such as South Beach.”
One thing Marriott would not change, even for South Beach, is its belief in buffets. However, the buffet unit, when not in use, interrupted the room’s design impact. Duncan & Miller’s team designed a sheer gold curtain, which can be pulled across the unit. Not only does it mask the empty buffet unit, it adds visual interest as the curtain moves with the air currents in the room. “Some operators make the mistake of thinking that restaurant design has to be watered down so that it won’t be offensive at breakfast. That only means the space will look like a cafeteria for lunch and dinner,” says Kimberley Miller, the design firm’s CEO. “Fortunately, in this space, the restaurant has glass on two sides. The views soften the look at breakfast without compromising the sophistication needed later in the day.”
Bright Ideas
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| Infrastructural elements are important design elements. Walls become galleries, and flooring and ceiling materials serve as a dramatic backdrop for furnishings and high-impact accents. |
Theatrical lighting is one of the strongest themes unifying this design. The shifting lighting that bathes the lobby corridor to the dramatic lighting behind the desk, the stylish uplights of the public spaces and innovative night table lighting in the guestrooms all contribute to the hotel’s strong design identity. Changes in the color and value and lighting alter the mood of the public areas. Played against so much natural light, these hues dramatically define different experiences in the lobby, restaurant and connecting spaces. For continuity, Duncan & Miller carried this dramatic approach to the exterior lighting.
Color, too, has a role to play. Both Key International and Marriott wanted something other than the pristine whiteness and monochromes of so many South Beach competitors. Neither acid tropical nor soft Deco, the Marriott’s bright, pure palette balances the neutral, natural architectural materials.
The exception to this vibrant color scheme was the hotel’s meeting and function space, important drivers for the small meeting and social business that has no place to go in many size-constrained boutiques. “No matter how dramatic a hotel is, the design for the meeting and function space needs to be dialed down,” says Miller. “The designer has to provide a setting in which the meeting planner can drape the tables in any way he or she wants and put flowers on the table. Still, the space can be dramatic. We used superb draperies with gold appliqués to dress it up.”
Market Draw
Both function space and rooms have found their market, says Hudson. Management’s initial focus on selling rooms has the hotel on track to meet projections of 70% occupancy for its first full year with an average rate over US$200. Bookings for the 2,600 sq.ft. (234 sq.m.) of meeting and function space are running ahead of projections.
“Our design and services are aimed primarily at a leisure/transient mix,” says Hudson. “That reflects this market’s profile. But, we’re also drawing group business and corporate business attracted by the brand. Meeting planners respond very well to the difference in design. If I had a wish list, more meeting space would definitely be on it.”
Study in Design
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| Public restrooms may be the first impression function and restaurant patrons get. Make sure they're designed to the level of the hotel. |
As travelers continue to build healthy returns for boutique concepts, more and more brands will borrow from the different-is-better concept that drives the Miami Beach Marriott at South Beach. Some trends to watch include:
Don’t imitate, innovate. “Neither Key International nor Marriott thought South Beach needed another stark, white hotel nor another piece of ’50s Deco,” says Duncan & Miller’s Kimberley Miller. The design team instead emphasized clean, modern lines but avoided any minimalist aesthetic. The color palette is bolder and brighter than the typical South Beach boutique. Upscale accents from artwork to lighting to the native coral stone contribute to the hotel’s strong, individual identity.
Adapt, don’t compromise. Since the room bays vary in configuration and size, the designers were challenged to maintain Marriott’s standard room package and still create the easy, breezy leisure feel essential for South Beach. One of the most difficult design decisions regarded the oversized desk used in all Marriott rooms. “We thought a big desk would overpower the room, but we did the model room with it in place. Once Marriott’s team saw how it looked, they agreed to downsize the desk and not use the rolling top piece,” says Miller. No compromise was made on quality standards. “Everything people expect from Marriott is there; only the scale is different,” she adds.
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| Architecture and design must work together for a seamless effect. |
Stay flexible. Design should be malleable enough to bend to the needs of the market and operator. The wave-topped restaurant in the Marriott South Beach creates a one-of-a-kind experience and gives General Manager Jeff Hudson and the F&B department enough elbow room to tweak the concept as needed. “We know we want something that will draw locals,” says Hudson. “Since we can integrate the restaurant with a terrace overlooking the ocean, we feel that theme nights would have a lot of appeal. The restaurant design gives us this kind of flexibility.” Also on tap are a poolside restaurant and a street-front cafe.
Budgeting beyond the basics. One element that frequently sets boutique hotels apart is the pampering quality of items that touch the guest. The Marriott South Beach is no exception. The property upgraded mattresses from 4 in. (10.16 cm.) to 7 in. (17.78 cm.), a standard which will be applied through Marriott hotels. The hotel triple-sheets beds and provides down pillows—welcome to European guests. Bottled water is an in-room amenity, and refreshments are available throughout the hotel daily.
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