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“When I bought the Fontainebleau out of bankruptcy
26 years ago, I turned the management over to Hilton. I’m a developer.
And today, the thing that really turns me on as a developer is the
construction of Fontainebleau II which will be called the
Fontainebleau Tower. That, and the opening up of this venerable
lobby.”
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Master builder Steve Muss |
We are talking to Steve Muss in the
grandiose lobby of Miami Beach’s most famous hotel. He’s a big
man, outspoken, with a barely concealed sense of humor lurking
behind an imposing presence. “If I had to write a book, it would
be the rise and fall, the rise and fall, and the rise of Miami
Beach to its present zenith. The Fontainebleau would be part of
it,” he says. “Only that story is the rise, the fall, and the rise
again.” |
| But of course, the story of the
hotel -- so famous it doesn’t even have a sign with its name out
front -- is embedded in the larger story of Miami Beach from
post-war heyday to subsequent decline, and starting with the
restoration of deteriorated Art Deco structures in South Beach in
the late 1980s, transformation from seedy to spectacular. The
revitalization has moved north, up Collins Avenue where the white
stucco and blue glass Fontainebleau curves and winds its way along
the Miami shore embracing Steve Muss’ 36-story Tower which
architect Morris Lapidus, who saw the plans just before he died at
the age of 98, called the exclamation point to his original
vision. |
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The 1950’s are the new Deco, they
say. Glitz and glitter are back. So is the Lapidus credo (and the
title of his autobiography): “Too much is not enough.” Today with
postmodernism hip once more, the trio of fabulous Belgian
chandeliers in the Fontainebleau lobby, each of them 1,800 crystal
strands forming concentric circles or ovals depending on your
perspective, are sensational again. |
| “Without having a lot of respect
for Lapidus’ vision 26 years ago, we put an escalator in the
lobby,” says Muss. “But now, having gained that respect, the
escalator is gone. The furniture is being replaced. All the
carpeting is coming off the marble floors. And the bow tie motif
is coming back.” He’s referring to the black marble triangles in
the corners of the square white tiles that meet to form the image
of bow ties, a signature of both Lapidus and Ben Novack who built
the Fontainebleau half a century ago on the 20 acres that had been
the Firestone Estate. |
Round or oval – it depends on your perspective |
It’s a heady introduction to the storied property
with the swirling stairway in the lobby that led to nowhere. Today it
will bring you to a mezzanine where the Hilton offices are housed. But
half a century ago, it served a different purpose. When guests came
down from their rooms for dinner and an evening at La Ronde, the
Fontainebleau’s nightclub, the women would get off the elevator on the
mezzanine while the men would continue on to the lobby. Then they
would proceed past the soaring oval columns to the foot of the stairs
where they’d watch the ladies in couture gowns and glittering jewels
descend.
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“The thing about Lapidus is that
everything was about making an entrance,” says Lisa Cole, the
Fontainebleau’s Director of Public Relations. “It was all about
sweeping curves and circular lines. In the 1950’s when everything
was boxy, his curves and zig-zags were revolutionary.”
The revolutionary-looking 920-room hotel
attracted the glitterati of the mid-century generation according
to Mac McSwane, who has been a Fontainebleau bellman since the
hotel opened in 1954. “You’re not going to get the history from
anybody else,” he says. “I saw Betty Grable and Harry James, Frank
Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Judy Garland, the Beatles,
Elvis. They all entertained at La Ronde. I took care of all of
them. Sammy Davis was the nicest.
“I took care of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Golda
Meir,” continues the spirited half-Irish, half-Cherokee McSwane
who at the age of 82 swears he will never retire. “I was their
personal concierge.” |
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McSwane embodies the
living history of this legendary property. He shows us the
ballroom. It’s the largest in Florida. “This ballroom can hold
9,000 people,” he says. “It was built to be a casino. That never
came to be, but national political conventions were held here,
both Democratic and Republican.”
Up on the penthouse floor, he points out Marilyn
Monroe’s suite: #1782 and JFK’s: #1784. “You name them: Elvis, the
Gabor sisters. They were all here. So were the gangsters. The
James Bond movie “Goldfinger” with Sean Connery was filmed here.
So was “Surfside 6” and “The Bellboy” with Jerry Lewis. I played
the part of the bellboy.”
The self-described million-dollar bellman and
three-time winner of the bellman of the year award, laments the
lost glory of the old days. “We used to have a dress code. I’d
keep jackets and ties in my locker. The marble floor used to be
polished every night. Back then, everyone used a bellman. Now they
roll their own luggage. But,” he adds, “it’s coming back.”
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Mac McSwane at the foot of the stairway that led
to nowhere |
In 1978 when Miami Beach’s best days seemed to be
history, real estate mogul Steve Muss took over a bankrupt
Fontainebleau. By bringing Hilton into the picture, restoring a
property that had of late suffered from neglect, and focusing on a
convention and family crowd, he succeeded in stemming the decline and
breathing new life into the hotel. One of the first things Muss did
was to remove the drapes from lobby windows. “I want to see the ocean,
the beach, the pool,” he said. “He did the pool over before had had
the rooms renovated,” Lisa Cole notes. “Then he added Cookie World – a
children’s fantasy water playground with a waterslide, raft ride, and
Cookie – a gigantic water spraying octopus. It’s for the kids, but
everyone loves it.”
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Lisa Cole, the Fontainebleau’s Director of
Public Relations |
For today’s visitor, there are many things to love
about the Fontainebleau. Among them are bliss-inspiring views of the
pristine beach fronting the Atlantic or the yacht-lined bay with
towers of the city of Miami visible in the distance; the half acre
swimming pool shaped like a three-leafed-clover with waterfalls
spilling over rock grottos; a welcoming and engaging staff that runs
the check-in and out process, so often an ordeal in a hotel of this
size, with streamlined efficiency; and Bleau View, the award-winning
restaurant with a crescent-shaped wall of windows overlooking the rock
grotto pool and ocean beyond.
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Guerda Amorose, guest servant agent who
helps run a streamlined check-in and out |
Bleau View is a comfortable open
space; its cuisine has Mediterranean influences. Among offerings
are Tuscan style chicken, grilled salmon, shrimp scampi, a range
of pastas and individual pizzas. There are many creative touches
like the colorful salad of red and white endives, walnuts and
raspberry yogurt. There are seasonal specialties like Florida’s
famous stone crabs. There are complex preparations like the
delicate and crusty pan-roasted baby quail with porcini mushrooms
topped with spinach and apricot and peach glaze, and classic ones
like the sirloin steak in wine sauce that was tender enough to cut
with a fork. And of course, there is the flagship of Florida
desserts: luscious key lime pie. |
| The time of our visit was but a
month before the opening of the Fontainebleau Tower which houses
462 condominiums (a second condominium tower, the 18-story
Fontainebleau III: Ocean Club is well under way). Owners have the
all the hotel facilities at their disposal and the option of
participating in the hotel’s rental service when they are not in
residence. Ten years in the planning and costing $400 million,
Fontainebleau Tower will be linked to the hotel via a three-story
glass breezeway with shops on the top and bottom level. The middle
level will bring guests into a lobby restored to reflect its
original post-war glamour and grandeur. With a major addition:
“Immediately,” says Steve Muss, “there will be a view of the sea.
The driveway will rise 26-feet up from Collins Avenue. You’ll pull
up to the hotel, get out of the car, and you’ll see beautiful
waterfalls and the ocean. That’s the point of the Fontainebleau.
It’s all about where we’re at.” |
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Fontainebleau Hilton Resort
4441 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33140
Phone: 305-538-2000;
1-800-548-8886
Web:
http://www.fountainebleau.hilton.com
Photos by: HarveyFrommer
and Photo of Steve Muss by: Lisa Cole.
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