Lush gardens and a fresh take on Golden-Age glamour bring buzz to the new Thompson Miami Beach hotel.
Raymond Jungles designed the tropical landscape at Thompson Miami Beach, one of his first public projects in South Florida.
Take a stroll through the grounds of the new Thompson Miami Beach hotel and you’re likely to feel as if you’ve entered a rare subtropical paradise. But the Eden-esque quality of the landscape didn’t happen by chance. The grounds—with their sparkling water features, abundant native flowering plants, and wild date palms that seem to bow in gracious welcome—were placed in a naturalistic composition by Miami’s favorite landscape architect, Raymond Jungles. The lush environment is also one of very few designed by the masterful artist that can be seen by the public. “I’ve designed a lot of gardens that no one can see because a lot of my clients are private,” says Jungles, “but this one is a public garden that anyone can enjoy.”
Opened just last month, the 380-room Thompson Miami Beach recently underwent a multimillion-dollar rebuild by the London- and New York-based firm of Martin Brudnizki, the same interior designer who crafted the private Soho Beach House right next door, with its edgy yet cozy beach shack-cum-English library vibe.
The exterior of the 380-room Thompson Miami Beach. left: The hotel’s entrance leads to an open reception space that flaunts tropical glamour.
Creating an ambience suited for fun was part of the plan from the jump for the new hotel, the latest in Commune Hotels & Resorts’ expanding Thompson Hotels portfolio of luxury lifestyle properties. “We wanted to reestablish a sense of the Beach glamour of the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s,” says Brudnizki, who worked on the project with his New York studio head, Craig Harvey. “At the same time, we wanted the atmosphere to be relaxed enough for people to feel at ease taking their shoes off and walking through the reception barefoot. So the interiors are elegant, but also informal, playful, colorful, and fun.”
In setting the vibrant yet glamorous tone, the designers found inspiration in the hotel’s original Midcentury Modern elements. “We took cues from the Dorothy Draper-esque plaster details and designed vintage-inspired rooms and public areas with midcentury accents and furniture that we acquired at auctions and markets in England and the States and mixed with new custom pieces,” says Brudnizki. “We also used a fresh palette of off-whites, pale yellows, and greens with bold floral patterns to keep it playful. The result is like a beautiful mature lady whose age can’t be guessed.”
The guest rooms and suites at the Thompson feature midcentury international resort-style décor with 1950s-inspired beds and sitting areas.
The designers also worked with local architecture firm Kobi Karp to reconfigure the three existing buildings that constitute the hotel into one cohesive complex. By opening up connections between the structures, they created a gracious flow among the public areas, which include a double-height reception lobby; a library; indoor/outdoor restaurants; Crown Room, a bar serving rare spirits and fine wines; a late-night lounge; a spa and fitness center; and Seagrape, chef Michelle Bernstein’s 267-seat timber-ceilinged brasserie.
Outside, two pools, lush tropical gardens, and lounges with ocean views complement a grove garden near a historic 1930s house on the property. The house (which was once moved from across Collins Avenue) has been converted into a hideaway with a crudo bar, where avant-garde cocktails and food are served. The designers’ eclectic mix of materials and furnishings seamlessly weaves the interiors and exteriors and different eras together with a kitschy-cool energy that recalls the Beach’s dazzling Rat Pack era. “We always like to tell a story with our interiors,” says Brudnizki. “There’s a lot of available history in Miami, and we used that to create our imaginary story. It was a fantasy trip for us.” 4041 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 786-605-4041
