10 New Miami/South Florida Venues for Spring 2019 Meetings and Events

Baseball fans got their first glimpse of the Club presented by DEX Imaging at Marlins Park on opening day. The renovated lounge previewed to media and invitees in early March, calling itself an “elevated causal concept” featuring more than 20 percent more club function space, a bar featuring craft cocktails, and a new corridor leading to premium seating. The revamped experience includes live DJ sets, cooking demonstrations and tastings, and rotating chef appearances.

The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach reopened in February after a $100 million renovation that added 12,000 square feet of gallery space. The new Pamela and Robert B. Goergen Garden features more than a dozen sculptures while the Jodi Ann Saltzman Gallery is the museum’s first gallery dedicated to exhibiting photography. The expansion also includes a 210-seat auditorium, a great hall “living room” and community space, and new meeting and event spaces.

The golf resort has carried flags of multiple hotel brands—most recently as Turnberry Isle Miami, Autograph Collection—but reopened in December as the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. The resort now boasts 685 rooms with the addition of the 16-story Orchid Tower with 325 guest rooms. Other changes include an updated front driveway and lobby, and renovated golf courses. Soff’s, the new lobby bar backed by the Cocktail Cartel beverage group, debuted in early March, flaunting green velvet seating, smoky mirrors, and moody low lighting. A second phase of renovations later this spring will introduce the Tidal Cove waterpark, along with 25 cabanas and two distinct restaurants.

Hyatt Regency Coral Gables on Miracle Mile unveiled a multimillion-dollar renovation in March, while keeping the property’s Mediterranean spirit intact. All 254 guestrooms—including 80 with private patios and 60 spacious suites—and the popular outdoor Court of Lions have been reimagined. Inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Spain, the Court of Lions’ renovations include designer string lighting, a refurbished fountain, and shaded porticos with ceiling fans. The court is the hotel’s largest outdoor event space, encompassing 3,000 square feet.

With an over-the-top interior perfect for private dinners and parties, Mandrake boasts a sushi bar, a formal dining room, and a lush outdoor garden patio across 5,000 square feet. The South Beach restaurant is backed by the team behind the Miami River hotspot Kiki on the River. The design is social media gold (literally): A life-size gold statue of a gorilla hangs at the main bar, neon Chinese signage adorns the magenta, purple, and turquoise walls, and vintage Chinese wooden gates and Japanese cherry blossom branches drape guests in the hallways. The cocktails pay homage to hip-hop culture while the menu plates traditional sashimi and rolls alongside Izakaya-style small plates.

The Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove’s food, beverage, and event evolution continued with the recent debut of Isabelle’s. The new restaurant, operated by LDV Hospitality, presents bright bites alongside a classically-spun grilled meats menu. Isabelle’s features a sleek but comfortable 60-seat private dining room and a lush outdoor garden terrace: The restaurant seats 175 guests indoors and 71 guests outdoors.

Maestro Cantinero Julio Cabrera and James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein opened Café La Trova in January. From its location (it sits on Calle Ocho) to its menus, the eatery is an ode to Cuban hospitality and culture: There are new-Cuban plates (paella croquettes and mezcal tempura fried calamari among them), live music, and an outdoor cigar and dominoes patio.  Pre-batched event cocktails can include signatures like the Hemingway Special (Papa Doble), made with Plantation 3 Star Rum, maraschino, and grapefruit and lime juices, or the Buenavista, made with Sapphire Bombay gin, cucumber, mint, elderflower liqueur, lime juice, and sugar.

The new Power Design Building by Touzet Studio in the Miami Design District features two spaces for events. The PDD Rooftop covers 8,000 square feet and features a retractable canopy and outdoor kitchens, as well as a private entrance, elevator and bathroom. The ground floor event space covers 10,000 square feet and can be divided for smaller events.

The wellness-minded Even brand from IHG expanded into Miami in January. The Even Hotel Miami Airport opened with a signature Cork & Kale restaurant, two meeting rooms totaling 4,000 square feet of meeting space, a pool, and a gym. The fitness-focused guest rooms are stocked with workout equipment like resistance bands and weights, as well as a medicine ball and yoga mat—all of which are synced to in-room workout videos. Meeting space includes the 2,050-square-foot Bamboo Ballroom, which holds 200 guests for receptions or seated in a theater-style setup; the slightly smaller Sage Ballroom, which holds 170 for receptions or seats 164 theater style; and two outdoors spaces, an event lawn that holds 400 for receptions or seats 230 for banquets and the pool patio, which holds 200 guests for receptions or theater style.

Formerly known as the Miami Art Space, Cube Studios, Wynwood has new ownership. The art venue spans more than 5,000 square feet of contemporary interior gallery space across three distinct rooms. There are two walled garden courtyards outside: The east courtyard offers 4,600 square feet while the west courtyard offers 2,900 square feet.