Here's a look at the best new Miami/South Florida restaurants, hotels, party rooms, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open this winter. These new and renovated Miami/South Florida venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, meetings, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
AmericanAirlines Arena, home to the N.B.A.'s Miami Heat, recently renovated its Flagship Lounges, which are available for private events. The 2,400-square-foot lounges have their own bar, sound system, and direct access to a private garage. They accommodate 80 seated guest or 150 for receptions.
New York City's Lure Fishbar opened a Miami outpost at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. Opened in December, the seafood restaurant is designed in a stylish nautical theme meant to evoke the Queen Mary (its private dining room displays a replica of the famed ocean liner). The restaurant offers ocean views as well as a terrace and patio with their own bars. For private events, Lure seats 20 people in the main dining room or 28 in the wine vault. Buyouts are available for seated events of as many as 200 guests or receptions for 300 guests.
Stephen Starr Events opened Verde, a restaurant in the new Perez Art Museum Miami, where it is the official caterer. The 104-seat restaurant, which opened in December, was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and is seeking LEED certification for its environmentally sustainable features. The decor includes concrete walls that are draped with gauze-like material, pendant lighting, wood tables, and beige banquettes. The seafood-heavy menu includes ceviche, charred octopus, sashimi, sweet corn and jumbo lump crab soup, gulf shrimp, and Florida-theme desserts such as cane sugar donuts with Cuban coffee dip.
The restaurant and live music venue Arena Restaurant and Lounge opened in South Beach in November. The space has two large wall projection screens as well as customizable LED lighting. For private events, the dining room and performance space accommodates 90 people seated or 200 for receptions. The venue can also help book dancers, performance artists, specialty acts, and greeters.
The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Key Biscayne finished a $2 million renovation of its spa and fitness center in December. The makeover included new furnishings, custom mosaic murals, a waterfall feature, and contemporary art displays. The space is 20,000 square feet with 21 treatment rooms.
The Raleigh Hotel updated its 6,000-square-foot penthouse and hosts events of as many as 150 guests. With views of the city and the Atlantic Ocean, the space includes a spacious living room, three bedrooms with their own private terrace and outdoor shower, and nearly 2,000 square feet of oceanfront terracing. The interiors include new furniture, curtains, and decor that complement the hotel’s Art Deco architecture. Restaurant Michael Schwartz, located on the property, can provide catering.
Fashion designer Roberto Cavalli opened Cavalli Miami Restaurant & Lounge in December. The Miami Beach Italian restaurant has a dining room on its first floor and a lounge available for private events on the second floor. The space also has outdoor seating on a large terrace. The interiors reflect the designer's flamboyant taste with zebra and jaguar print chairs and floral prints throughout the space.
Famed British graffiti artist Bansky provided abstract artwork on the tiling throughout the Riviera South Beach, a 160-room luxury hotel from South Beach Group Hotels that opened in the fall. Among the hotel's offerings for event space are a rooftop sundeck and pool, a ground-floor pool with cabanas, and the 1950s-style restaurant Moreno's Cuba.
Located in the old Burdines building, Avenue D Jazz Club is designed as a 1920s Chicago-inspired speakeasy. The space includes booth and table seating, a lounge, a bar, and a 32-foot stage for performances. The club has extensive technical capabilities and includes amenities for lighting, sound, and projections. The 8,000-square-foot space seats about 400 people or holds 650 for receptions.
Cabaret South Beach, a cabaret bar where the performers double as the bartenders and servers, opened in December. Designed in saturated colors with crystal chandeliers and a white baby grand piano, the space is intended to evoke storied clubs like the Moulin Rouge in Paris. The intimate space is available for buyout and seats 80.
