Hip Hotels for 2005

Looking for some where to stay while you play

Setai, Miami
For most people with a hefty side order of boobs and beefcake, Miami cuts the mustard like nowhere else. The latest addition to the fabulous destinations to pose, party and be pampered is the Setai, an Asian-inspired resort with an oceanfront setting, tropical gardens and a pool overlooking the Atlantic. So far so Miami. Until you consider that Lenny Kravitz has apparently chosen the joint as the destination for his recording studio, and will presumably be partying up high in the 10,000 square-foot penthouse with rooftop pool and sweeping panoramas while the mortals ‘slum’ it in the sunken restaurant amid ponds and pergolas down below. There will, of course, be a spa with personal trainers at your disposal and three pools to splash about in before causing a stir among Miami’s surgically dependent public.
Setai, 2001 Collins Avenue Miami, Florida 33139 (00 1 888 625 7500/www.setai.com). From $900 (£462) for a city studio suite or book through www.itcclassics.co.uk, which offers three nights in a city studio from £702 per person on a room-only basis.

Beach House, Biarritz

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The man at the vanguard of injecting cutting-edge style into formerly fusty destinations is Jonathan Downey, of award-winning bar Milk & Honey fame, who last month opened his chichi retro Clubhouse in Chamonix. It’s already a hot choice with the in-crowd, primarily because there is substance behind the style. This summer he extends his growing empire to Biarritz where he plans to open the Beach House. Anyone who appreciates a slickly run operation, fine food and first-class cocktails will do well to get themselves a membership. This summer, be sure, Biarritz will be rocking to a very different beat. Move over fading aristos and make way for the party set that make London’s best bars and clubs swing from the rafters.
Contact details yet to be announced.
Call Milk & Honey for more details on 020 7292 9940.

Mandarin Oriental and Sezz, Paris
Jacques Garcia, a man who really knows his stuff when it comes to hotel design, has been appointed to restore the interiors of Paris’s famous palace hotel Royal Monceau. Mandarin Oriental have taken over the reigns and with Garcia’s work due to be finished by March, you can bet that this will be a style high for 2005. Located near the Champs-Elysées and the Faubourg Saint Honore, this will be a ‘hautel’ to harp about. Meanwhile across town in the 16th arrondissement, Hotel Sezz is set to open around the same time, and might be a more easy option on the wallet (with singles from €250, twins and doubles from €300). Christophe Pillet is the designer, who until now has worked with Philippe Starck in Paris and focused on restaurants and shops, so expect a high maintenance affair.
Mandarin Oriental, 37 Avenue Hoche, 75008 Paris (00 33 01 42 99 88 00/ www.mandarin-oriental.com). From €359 (£247) for a double room.
Sezz, 6 Avenue Frémiet, 75016 Paris (www.hotelsezz.com). From €300 (£205) for a double room.

Faena Hotel + Universe, Buenos Aires
Argentinian former fashion designer Alan Faena has teamed up with Philippe Starck to create the diva defining ‘Faena Hotel + Universe’ (sounds like the sort of place J-Lo might open) in Buenos Aires. Marble, gilt and deep-red velvet feature throughout, adding to the drama of it all and creating a very decadent space. With over 12 million inhabitants, greater Buenos Aires is the second-largest city in South America and a playground for the rich and the well connected. The lifeblood of Buenos Aires, the tango, is still alive and kicking and numerous gay venues have sprung up where you can dance cheek to stubbly cheek with the local hombres, proving that it’s not just a destination for wayward royals and globe-trotting playboys wielding polo sticks.
Faena Hotel + Universe, 445 Matha Salotti, Buenos Aires (00 54 11 40 10 000/ www.faenahotelanduniverse.com). Design Hotels offer one night at Faena Hotel + Universe from £155 per room per night including breakfast, excluding tax. Reservations through Design Hotels (00800 37468357/ www.designhotels.com).

Mix, Las Vegas
The world’s biggest theme park is going upscale in 2005 with the launch of Mix at THE hotel at Mandalay. Perched atop the 63rd floor of the hotel with glittering views of the Strip, Mix is the project of world-renowned Alain Ducasse (Spoon at Sanderson London) and will be LV’s most high-end restaurant and bar project, with a 24-foot chandelier of 15,000 hand-blown glass baubles (bigger is definitely better in this town). Patrick Jouin has designed the sleek and opulent space and created a modern cave clad in dark-brown leather from floor to ceiling in the lounge, while chef Bruno Davaillon will be providing a catch-all menu described as ‘contemporary and classic French and American’. If you thought LV was all about faux and show, glitz and sham, Mix is set to change all that.
Mix,THE hotel at Mandalay Bay, 63rd Fl Las Vegas, NV (00 1 702 632 9500).

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