The story of an city lodge is the story of a metropolis. The 2 transfer in stride, with the hospitality trade providing a house and a useful hand to guests whereas additionally offering eating and ingesting hotspots that allow newcomers to evolve into lasting denizens of the locale. On this case research, EAST Miami (operated by Swire Lodges) that first opened in 2016 has grown to be the cultural steward for the booming neighborhood in Miami that’s Brickell, presenting an image of the place lodge traits in luxurious facilities, branding and buyer mindsets are headed.
When inspecting situations like that of the development renaissance presently underway on this ‘New Miami’, it will be all too simple to look again on reflection on the macroeconomic forces and argue that any massive field, value-engineered lodge would work right here. As an alternative, EAST Miami rises above this fixed push for proprietor danger aversiveness by making a mixed-use architectural icon with dynamic facilities and powerful onsite groups to assist these facilities.
After staying there and experiencing all of it, one can simply perceive how this lodge – and the progressive model that’s EAST Lodges – will play host to locals, residents and in a single day company for many years to return. Considerably, the model is tapping into a robust post-pandemic development by immediately interesting to an rising psychographic labeled as ‘different thinkers’.
Setting the Scene for the New Miami
The attract of Miami has existed for over a century, each as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, after which, with the arrival of low cost air-con, for retirees wanting to commerce of their winter coats for sunscreen. Outdoors of the business actual property increase of the Eighties, a lot of the residential and hospitality progress has been centered across the seaside communities, from South Seaside as much as Bal Harbour then even additional to Fort Lauderdale and Palm Seaside.
The revivalist of gleaming condominium and workplace towers first arrived within the late aughts because the momentum of the nationwide housing increase within the 2000s shifted to demand for house models in sunny, scorching climates. A lot of those initiatives got here on-line proper because the GFC hit, so the following section of building alongside the intracoastal didn’t get correctly underway till the market recovered practically a decade later. Regardless of the tumult circa 2008 to 2012 for builders, Miami gives a number of inescapable benefits that make demand immune to secular downturns.
As aforementioned, the seashores mixed with nice climate (barring a couple of hurricanes and soupy summer time warmth) and being inside a three-hour flight to over half of america make town a perennial vacation spot of selection for vacationers and enterprise homeowners. For the ladder group, the favorable state taxes are positively a plus. Miami’s Spanish heritage and proximity to the Latin world have imbued town with a multicultural aptitude. And surprisingly, it’s additionally host to quite a few Europeans lured in as snowbirds and entrepreneurs.
With this as its canvas, Swire Properties, the dad or mum firm of operator Swire Lodges in addition to each the EAST Lodges and The Home Collective manufacturers, noticed the imaginative and prescient within the early 2010s to redefine the neighborhood of Brickell simply throughout the Miami River from the downtown space, which on the time was nonetheless somewhat sleepy. The consequence turned the Brickell Metropolis Centre, a layered and coated out of doors mall and workplace plaza that has gained quite a few awards for its architectural and concrete planning accomplishments in addition to for its LEED design.
Embedded on this 2.5-million-square-foot megaproject is the 352-key – with 89 residences – EAST Miami, which tops off at 40 tales. Since its opening, ultramodern skyscrapers have popped up throughout, and after a quick hiccup through the pandemic, the Wall Road South motion has introduced much more demand for residential models and short-term lodging to the world. In reality, they’ll’t appear to construct quick sufficient in Brickell; AAA workplace area is totally leased up regardless of troubles in business actual property throughout the remainder of the nation, and plenty of different stylish lodge initiatives are within the pipeline such because the 77-story, ultraluxury Baccarat Residences in presales and the supertall, 100-story Waldorf Astoria Lodge & Residences Miami. All this speaks to the increase, with EAST Miami’s residences usually taking part in host to incoming executives for months and even years whereas they discover everlasting residing preparations.
Defining Brickell By Extraordinary Facilities
Immediately, the vacationers are nonetheless concentrated throughout the causeway in Miami Seaside, however many locals and younger entrepreneurs dwell and work wholly inside this one neighborhood of twenty sq. blocks, purchasing on the Brickell Metropolis Centre and having fun with one of many EAST Miami’s vibrant meals shops – the signature restaurant, Quinto on the fifth flooring and Area Café within the foyer, in addition to the Balinese-themed rooftop bar, Sugar, and the Hong Kong-themed speakeasy subsequent to it, Tea Room.
Constructing a lodge that stands the check of time and grows a group that blends locals and guests requires a considerate imaginative and prescient and meticulous space planning. Except for direct entry from the foyer to the Brickell Metropolis Centre that generates regular flowthrough site visitors, the primary standout on the design entrance is the expansive fifth flooring. This grasp planning stroke of genius options Quinto which totals 4,500 sq. toes of indoor and 5,500 sq. toes of out of doors area that seamlessly wraps round into the tranquil, jungle-themed North Deck with rustic, alcove seating preparations, and the 8,600-square-foot pool space that’s additionally sheltered by excessive partitions and forested gardens.
Shifting as much as the seventh flooring is the place one finds the 24/7 gymnasium, Physique by EAST, and adjoining non-public train class studio, EASTudio. A private gripe of ours, many inns declare to have a health middle as an amenity, however that is normally a small, dimly lit basement room with nonfunctional tools. Opposite to this dated customary, EAST understands that trendy sensibilities are far higher; many company wish to keep energetic whereas touring, with gyms representing a prime function for choosing one property over one other. Not simply that, however high-end gyms are becoming the new third place, bringing folks collectively by lessons and gatherings.
Final of notice, the thirty eighth and thirty ninth are dedicated to 14,000 sq. toes of assembly areas that add sturdy experiential qualities by each the panoramas of floor-to-ceiling home windows overlooking downtown, the bay and Miami Seaside past, in addition to versatile, inventive setups to fulfill any group capability. Above, on the highest fortieth flooring, are Sugar and Tea Room, with capacities of 172 and 122 respectively. Each of them are hotspots which might be totally full of a mixture of locals and out of towners each evening of the week.
Food, Furniture and Focusing on the Guest’s NeedsThe story of a hotel is the story of a city, but it’s also the story of the people that make the hotel happen. At the heart of operations at EAST Miami is Richard Fernandez, Hotel Manager, who we were honored to sit down with for a lengthy chat over nonstop cortaditos – a Cuban coffee specialty made from a shot of espresso with steamed milk – touching on all things hospitality and, in particular, the EAST ethos.
What Fernandez emphasized is a striking takeaway that rings true for any hotel, anywhere in the world. Every person wants to feel as if they are in control, and yet when they travel and come to a hotel, there is an underlying vulnerability because they’ve lost a sense of personal control over the situation. This harks back to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Unlike, for instance, if something breaks in your own house, an inability to remedy a situation can cause deflation or anger.
Hence, when something goes wrong, a guest may appear mad at the hotel team, but they are actually frustrated at the situation because they are not in control of the outcome. Fernandez has instructed his teams to understand this psychological context and focus on the guest’s core needs in order to reassure them through calm communication. While onsite, you can see this and other facets that are the foundation of the strong service culture that the brand exudes.
Besides timeless lessons, Fernandez remarked that for a hotel to feel lively it must be alive. You need to constantly refresh spaces and reinvent the presentation in order to keep offering excellent service. Two areas that reflect this are the furniture and the food.
At our hotel, we celebrate the natural beauty of wood, found in many of our public spaces and rooms,
commented Fernandez. These timeless pieces, from tables and chairs to dressers and nightstands, gain character with age. Instead of discarding them, our expert craftsmen breathe new life into each one, revitalizing, reusing and repurposing wood throughout the hotel. This approach preserves their charm, reduces waste and contributes to a more sustainable future. It’s not about replacing the old—it’s about cherishing its story and letting it continue in new and inspiring ways.
Sustainability is becoming a core effort for many hotel brands, but this is often hard for the guest to see without navigating to the ESG page buried in the website footer. Instead, the EAST Miami team rotates the refurbished wood pieces through the public spaces in the same way that they periodically refresh the artist exhibitions in the lobby next to Domain – visible to all who enter.
This tells the story of sustainability to guests while keeping areas feeling new. Behind the scenes, though, this onsite woodworking program has emerged organically, where the expert craftsmen are members of the engineering team who are allowed to explore their personal passions. To draw on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this is a method to facilitate self-actualization and team retention.
Shifting to food, we see the emergence of heightened sustainability yet again with a dedicated effort to source locally, and not just for Florida oranges. For example, Quinto sources mushrooms from Gratitude Garden Farm in Palm Beach County for a popular vegan dish, hongos rostizados, and the hotel has partnered with a local ice cream company, Aubi & Ramsa, to supply boozy (and non-boozy) ice cream at several on-prem food outlets as well as for the residence minibars.
Then, of course, the breads, pastries and cookies down at Domain and elsewhere are all baked fresh daily – an operational feat, as Fernandez noted, for a hotel of this scale. Dedicated to locavorism through both in-kitchen creations and regional procurement is yet one more way that the hotel has differentiated its offering in a tangible way to all guests.
Finally, EAST Miami has just recently appointed Andrew Zarzosa as its new executive chef. As a Miami native Zarzosa’s career spans several continents and leading luxury brands, promising yet more innovation on the food front, as well as perhaps a whole new culinary style that’s brings together all the various cultures that have converged on this New Miami.
Progressive Hotel Brands for the Modern Mindset
We’ve labeled EAST Hotels as a ‘progressive’ brand because its hotels embody the contemporary guest mindset that’s taking shape in the post-pandemic world. Described by EAST as ‘alternative thinkers’, these are people who strive for work-life balance amidst the hustle of our hyperconnected world by seeking extraordinary experiences and communities that share their identities.
Transcending demographics, these individuals can be anywhere from late boomers and Gen X to millennials or Gen Z; they also often have jobs in growing, tech-centric industries and are able to work remote or have flexible office arrangements. These guests value sustainability and wellness, although they are often too busy to fit in a full spa day so are looking for shorter time commitments like fitness classes or joining a run club.
What we see throughout is how the EAST Miami facilities the new commerce of Brickell around it by playing host to so many of these alternative thinkers. And this dynamic interaction between multiple parties can only be achieved by thinking in terms of mixed use: spacious hotel rooms for transient visitors, branded residences for remote workers or temporary relocations, and the public spaces or shopping center next door for everyone.
While it’s easy to look back at century-old storybook hotels to observe how they’ve stewarded their environs into renowned neighborhoods, it’s rarer to witness this happen in real time. EAST Miami is at the epicenter of the next phase of construction that will redefine the city, and it’s worth checking out to see for yourself and to experience a future-forward hotel brand.