Time Warner Cable News' Valarie D’Elia shows you how a historic hotel is changing the face of South Beach.
The Betsy Hotel on the north end of Ocean Drive in the heart of Miami’s Art Deco district has always been an innovator since it opened more than 70 years ago as the Betsy Ross.
“Whatever we do, we want to infuse in it a lot of thoughtfulness,” said The Betsy’s managing director, Jeff Lehman. “We like to say that everything here is curated.”
It does more than just keep ‘PACE,’ an acronymic nod to its philanthropy, arts, culture, and education efforts. The Betsy is again changing things up with a ground-breaking expansion.
“We’ve purchased the hotel right behind us on Collins Avenue,” Lehman said. “We’re connecting the Betsy to that hotel, via bridge going over the alley between the two hotels.”
These renderings will give you an idea of how the Betsy will look when the renovations that will connect it to the former Carlton are completed.
“All the great cities of the world take their alleys and do something fun with them,” Lehman added.
Just when you thought that South Beach has peaked, it is also reinventing itself in less concrete ways.
“There is a bit of a cultural transition going on,” Lehman said. “The New World Symphony is here now, the Miami City Ballet, and a variety of museums.”
“There just seems to be a kind of maturity that is happening in Miami Beach,” Lehman added.
The Betsy will more than double the number of guest rooms to 130, along with adding a rooftop pool to augment its current one on the lobby level. A new restaurant is also part of the plans to complement the popular BLT Steak.
As I learned on a media visit, it is a good idea to ask for a room out of range of the construction if you plan to visit before it is completed this fall.