Delano Hotel
- Architect
- B. Robert Swartburg
- Year
- 1947
- Style
- Art Deco
- City
- Miami, FL
- Collection
- ocean drive deco
The Delano opened on Miami Beach on December 15, 1948, built the previous year by Rob and Rose Schwartz and designed by architect B. Robert Swartburg. At 14 stories plus a 35-foot tower, it was one of the tallest and earliest of the postwar Miami Modern (MiMo) hotels on the beach, its whimsical Art Deco styling later drawing a celebrity clientele. The building is named for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
the building
The Starck renovation. In 1994 the hotel's interiors were reimagined by designer Philippe Starck, layering his high-concept style over Swartburg's original Art Deco shell — the combination that made the Delano's lobby and pool famous.
The topless pool. The Delano's pool was one of the few in Miami Beach where female toplessness was permitted, part of the hotel's reputation for a permissive, celebrity-driven pool scene.
the style
The Delano is built in a whimsical strain of Art Deco, and at 14 stories plus its 35-foot rooftop tower it counts among the earliest and tallest of Miami Beach's postwar Miami Modern (MiMo) hotels, a transitional building bridging Deco and the moderne towers that followed.
More on Art Decosignificance
The Delano was named to the American Institute of Architects' 2007 list of 'America's Favorite Architecture' and, in 2012, to the AIA Florida Chapter's 'Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.' It is a contributing property on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel closed in March 2020 under Eldridge Industries' ownership after passing through Morgans Hotel Group and SBE Entertainment Group.
nearby
- The National Hotel
- Ritz Plaza Hotel
- Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel
- Sagamore Hotel South Beach
- Hotel Di Lido
- San Juan Hotel