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.
The signature restaurant at the Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach is Morimoto South Beach from chef Masaharu Morimoto. The 180-seat restaurant was designed by the Glamorous Group of Tokyo and features a central sushi bar, warm decor, and 180 seats spread both indoors and outdoors. The menu includes playful dishes like a yellowtail pastrami appetizer, along with sushi, steaks, and a omakase chef's tasting menu. The restaurant opened in September.
After becoming part of the Trump Hotel Collection in 2012, Trump National Doral Miami embarked on a $250 million gut renovation, reopening in October. The property built its reputation as a golf resort—it has five courses, all renovated, as well as an expanded driving range with lighting—but it also has significant meeting space. The property has 100,000 square feet of indoor function space as well as 75,000 square feet of outdoor space. The Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom is the largest space at 24,079 square feet and holds 3,400 theater-style events, 2,400 for receptions for 2,400, or 1,700 for banquets. It also includes new event space such as the Crystal Ballroom and Terrace, which were built atop the resort clubhouse. The circular 7,200-square-foot ballroom features floor-to-ceiling windows and attaches to the 8,000-square-foot terrace. Used together, the space holds nearly 1,000 people. Restaurant options at the resort include the newly opened BLT Prime steak house.
Following a $90 million renovation, the Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach reopened in September. The 200-room resort retains its Art Deco roots while modernizing its interiors with designs from Meg Sharpe Interiors and Richard Mishaan Design. The property has 15,000 square feet of event space that includes several meeting rooms, an executive boardroom, breakout rooms, a grand ballroom, and outdoor entertaining areas. Other amenities include a pool with cabanas, a spa, and food and beverage options including the Drawing Room lounge, which shifts from a business center and reading room by day to a bar at night. Chef Masaharu Morimoto opened his flagship restaurant here and also oversees event catering and in-room dining.
PGA National Resort & Spa finished renovations to its Jack Nicklaus-designed Champion Course. The course, host of the P.G.A. Tour's Honda Classic, reopened in September after a major re-grassing using Celebration Bermuda turf, as well as a new layout of the 14th hole. It now has a new location for the green and new bunkers, and the tee was moved back 10 yards. There also is an additional 20,000 square feet of spectator mounding at the hole.
Windridge Yacht Charters invested $1.2 million in a refresh of the Windridge K, a 131-foot yacht that serves as an event venue. Befitting a luxury ship, the design details include marble flooring, sleek white couches, and new satellite TVs and other audiovisual equipment. The ship seats 100 guests or holds about 150 for receptions. It debuted the makeover in October.
In North Palm Beach County, the 179-room Wyndham Grand Jupiter at Harbourside Place opened in October. The Wyndham Grand brand is an upper-tier segment of the company, and the Jupiter property delivers with elegant decor and views of the Intracoastal Waterway. The hotel has 15,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, including a 5,000-square-foot ballroom that seats 400 for banquets or holds 490 for receptions. A rooftop pool area on the third floor also can be used for events. The hotel is the anchor to the Harbourside Place retail and dining development, which includes an amphitheater that planners can use in conjunction with the hotel. There also are 31 boat slips for guests who prefer to arrive by boat.
Artblend Gallery opened in Fort Lauderdale in February from longtime gallery owners in the neighborhood. The fine art gallery has 4,250 square feet of event space spread across two rooms as well as contemporary design details such as polished marble floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel track lighting, as well as garage doors that are large enough to fit a car into the space. The gallery has a built-in sound system and Wi-Fi, and the art changes quarterly. It holds 200 people for receptions or seats 150.
Gale South Beach hotel will get an annex of suites when the Gale Suites at Kaskades opens December 1. The detached building will have 25 upscale, residential-style suites spread over four floors. The site also will have 1,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes a wraparound terrace and sliding doors for indoor and outdoor events, as well as a 3,400-square-foot rooftop terrace with a pool and outdoor kitchen. There also will be a full catering kitchen.
The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs unveiled a renovated ballroom in September. The 14,000-square-foot Calusa Ballroom underwent a $2.4 million renovation and now features LED lighting, neutral wall coverings, glass light fixtures, and meeting-friendly amenities such as digital signage and device-charging stations. It holds more than 1,800 theater-style or 1,000 for banquets. It can also be divided into smaller spaces. Overall, the hotel has 70,000 square feet of meeting space.
Ball & Chain has a long history in Little Havana's famed Calle Ocho. It originally opened in the 1930s and has changed owners and concepts over the decades, finally reopening in September as a jazz club. It retains original details, like the ceiling, but has added others, such as a bar constructed from doors of buildings in the neighborhood. The Latin speakeasy serves craft cocktails and tapas and has a bandshell in its back garden that can accommodate live music until 3 a.m. Buyouts are available, and the entire venue seats 250 or holds 400 for receptions.
