Miami hits the accelerator

The party hosts are in overdrive – and now new hotels and immersive art have been added to the mix , says Emma O’Kelly

The pandemic has triggered a “tech-exodus” of digital entrepreneurs from San Francisco to more spacious cities in the US, and Miami, for one, has benefited. With its year-round sunshine, low taxes, relaxed restrictions and ocean you can actually swim in, the city has spent the past year welcoming Bay Area émigrés with open arms; the Republican mayor Francis Suarez has even greeted these future tech titans on Twitter, pairing them with other arrivals – ex-New York venture capitalists who’ve swapped micro apartments in Manhattan for spacious Miami beach pads.

As hip neighbourhoods such as Brickell, Edgewater and Wynwood embrace a demographic keen to start up rather than slow down, Miami’s seasoned party hosts are in overdrive. This month, the musician Pharrell Williams and local hospitality legend David Grutman open the Goodtime Hotel on Washington Avenue (thegoodtimehotel.com). The late Gianni Versace was among the celebrities who partied on the famous street in the 1990s, and, as the name suggests, the hotel pays homage to its hedonistic past. The American designer Ken Fulk brings candy colours and a dash of art deco to all 266 rooms, Strawberry Moon serves up cocktails and poolside classics, and has installed a suite of recording studios in the basement.

It’s not the first time Williams and Grutman have collaborated; their 2018 restaurant Swan is still a top Design District dinner spot and Grutman is transforming the 1930s Firestone garage on Miami Beach into a similarly foodie hotspot. Opening this year, it includes the classic American diner Winker’s, Sushi Fly Chicken (a fried chicken and sushi combo) and Toothfairy, a dessert parlour.

“Miami has gone from party destination to international hub, attracting not just visitors from around the world but also businesses now making Miami their home,” says Grutman. “Everyone is realising we’re a dynamic city with leadership that fully supports growth.” CitizenM Hotel, the affordable, international brand for the modern-day traveller, will open in September in Brickell.

Green initiatives are also on the agenda; the $15million transformation of a 5km stretch of North Beach into a lush public park will add to the ample opportunities to enjoy life outdoors.

Miami was also the obvious choice for Superblue, a 50,000 sq ft art space opening this month in a former warehouse (superblue.com). Catering to artists who create big, immersive installations, its inaugural exhibition features a metallic “maze” by the British artist Es Devlin and a fantasy digital world by the Japanese collective teamLab. Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, its co-founder, says: “We chose Miami as it is an international tourism, arts and culture destination with a vibrant and growing landscape of museums, galleries, art fairs and collectors.”

i Forest of Us by the British artist Es Devlin at Superblue, a new art space in Miami