Owners of the chic Bistrot Bagatelle have expanded their empire with Villa Bagatelle, a boutique hotel in South Beach that opened in June. Designed by Callin Fortis of Big Time Design Studios in a French Mediterranean style, the property has 31 guest rooms, a rooftop pool, and other amenities. For events, groups can book the Presidential Suite, which spans nearly 2,800 square feet including a balcony. It holds 50 people for receptions or banquets or seats 24 guests conference-style. The Bagatelle Garden, a landscaped courtyard, holds 150 for receptions or seats for 75 banquet-style. The 7,000-square-foot rooftop terrace holds 225 guests for receptions.
Hyde Beach Kitchen and Cocktails, a massive new oceanside entertainment venue in Hallandale Beach, is scheduled to open at the end of August. The 10,000-square-foot space from SBE spans three floors. The first floor has casual dining and a spa; the second floor features a patio restaurant serving contemporary American cuisine from chef Danny Elmaleh; and the third floor has a pool and lounge, cabanas, and meeting space. The venue also has multiple full bars, a sound system, and a DJ input. The space holds 300 guests for receptions.
Part of the National Register of Historic Places, Miami Beach Women’s Club opened as an event space in the Collins Park neighborhood in May. The Mediterranean Revival style venue, operated by the South Beach Hotel Group, offers 3,500 square feet indoors and 1,500 square feet outdoors and seats 80 guests banquet-style with a dance floor or 100 theater-style. Amenities include a large stage in the main room as well as in-house audiovisual equipment, rentals, a full catering kitchen, and valet.
From famed Colombian chef Juan Manuel Barrientos comes Elcielo, his first restaurant in the United States following locations in Medellin and Bogota. The telegenic Barrientos—he hosts The Taste Colombia—interprets Colombian cuisine through modern techniques intended to stimulate the senses. Dishes include “Crabrûlée,” a savory take on the dessert, and a panna cotta shaped into a hard-boiled egg with a liquid passion fruit “yolk.” The sleek-looking eatery seats 60 inside and has a private dining room for 30 guests. Outside, the upper terrace seats 130, while a covered outdoor space seats 90. The lower terrace is available for receptions or as a display area large enough to showcase cars. The restaurant, located along the Miami River in Brickell, offers deep-water dockage and valet for as many as 60 cars. It opened in January.
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami opened at 16th Street and Collins Avenue in June. The 105-room hotel, a new lifestyle brand from Hyatt, has a third-floor pool deck with cabanas, a Spanish-Mediterranean restaurant called Deck Sixteen, and a 600-square-foot meeting room. The 10-story glass tower, designed by architect Kobi Karp, blends the area’s Art Deco history into a modern look.
Primrose South Beach, the new restaurant at the Stiles Hotel, serves a mix of French, Asian, and American cuisine. The space offers a main dining room, alfresco seating on Collins Avenue, and outdoor dining overlooking the hotel’s pool. The dining room mixes rustic touches such as a wall covered in wide-plank wood with chic copper-colored banquettes. It seats about 60 guests.
As part of an ongoing, multimillion-dollar renovation, Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys has renovated its meeting space. Following a gut renovation of three smaller meeting rooms, the resort created the Dolphin Ballroom. It features new carpet, wall coverings, audiovisual from PSAV, natural light, and water views. The space seats 400 at rounds or 600 theater-style. Other changes at the 60-acre property include converting its Ocean restaurant into a dedicated space for events, and a new 250-seat restaurant, Angler & Ale, that is slated to open in January.
Following turns as a nightclub and photography studio, the Paris Theater in South Beach reopened as an event space June 1. The luxe venue features opulent chandeliers, gilded mirrors, and extensive draping. It seats 200 on the lower level and has an upper level that seats 80 or can be used as a lounge area. Overall the theater holds 1,100 for receptions. The venue retained its stage and offers basic sound, light, and LED capabilities for events.
A former warehouse in Wynwood was converted into Social Hall, a bar and event space from Concrete Beach Brewery that debuted in late May. The venue is attached to the two-story craft brewery and serves its beers in the hall. Guests can view the brewery tanks through large glass windows. The space features a circular indoor-outdoor bar as well as communal tables and holds nearly 150 people for receptions.
A nondescript access shaft leads to Libertine, a new bar downtown with a comprehensive mixology program. The space, designed by Thrilwall Design, is intended to evoke a sense of glamorous decay and features a DJ booth fashioned from a repurposed baby grand piano. The floor is covered in thousands of pennies that are arranged by finish to create a pattern. The bar, which opened in June, is available for buyout and holds 150 people.
