South Beach may be dotted with historic Art Deco architecture, but Miami tends to like its venues shiny and new. The Shelborne South Beach Resort can lay claim to both history and freshness, as its newly renovated ballroom reopened this month, serving as a hint of what's to come for the rest of the property.
The hotel marks its 70th anniversary this year, and is undergoing a top-to-toe renovation that includes a new lobby, porte cochere, bars and restaurants, and updated decor for the 200 guest rooms and 20 suites. Most of the restyled lobby has already been unveiled (the retail-space addition and a sushi bar are yet to come), and the Shelborne Ballroom is also now ready for bookings.
Back in the 1940s when it first opened, the ballroom was popular with jazz orchestras and, later, for beauty pageants. Today, the ballroom still has a dance floor, as well as two new built-out bar areas. It can be booked as two separate rooms or one large combined space of 4,915 square feet. Separately, the 1,515-square-foot Shelborne I room has a 100-person banquet capacity, or room for a 200-head reception. Shelborne II is 3,400 square feet and can accommodate 200 for a banquet, or 500 for a reception.
Together, as one ballroom, the space can accommodate 300 banquet-style, or 700 for a reception. (Other options include theater-style seating for 530 or a classroom setup for about 270). The ballroom has a prefunction area and also opens out onto the new outdoor concourse. In-house audiovisual services are available for events, including a sound system designed by Steve Dash Audio.
Planners booking the ballroom can customize their catering menus with the Shelborne's executive chef, Mario Tolentino (a winner on the Food Network show Chopped), who uses the ballroom's own dedicated kosher kitchen and many ingredients grown in the hotel's garden.
As with the renovations for the rest of the property, the new look for the ballroom is fresh and modern, with a nod to the Shelborne's Art Deco past. The emphasis is on simple symmetry and luxurious materials, including crystal light fixtures.
Other event spaces at the new Shelborne include studio rooms, a library, an executive ballroom, and an expanded lanai with a catwalk and spiral staircase leading down to the pool deck. Between the pool and the Atlantic Ocean, a newly cleared lawn will also be available for private and corporate events. Overall, the hotel will offer 15,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 25,000 square feet of outdoor event space.
The Shelborne's new robotic parking garage promises to deliver fast valet service and space for 135 cars. It should be completed by the end of May, with the rest of the hotel renovations finished by November.
The ballroom is now available for private and corporate event bookings.
