Destination : 1 Hotel South Beach

Increasingly synonymous with glamour and excess, Miami, a cosmopolitan playground filled with yachts, real estate, exotic cars and designer apparel can often evoke a perception of flashy exorbitance and lavishness.

New kid on the block, 1 Hotel on South Beach, is a breath of fresh air. Contradicting the Miami norm with understated, relaxed luxury and an environmentally friendly outset, the 1 Hotel on South Beach is championing a new aesthetic for the area, influencing both tourism and development.

Celebrating natural materials, the new 1 Hotel South Beach reopened during late April of this year, after a $500 million investment and expert interior design carried out by Meyer Davis Studio; “we viewed the project through that [natural] prism, taking into account what it means to be on that beautiful coastline”.

Weathered-wood accents, polished-concrete floors and the freshest of white-linen upholstery contribute to the relaxed, sophisticated vibe and the breezy, refined oasis that the 1 Hotel emulates so brilliantly, with Meyer Davis Studio skilfully setting the architecture and design apart from the typically art-deco style of the renowned Collins Ave luxury hotel strip.

Utilising principles of great design along with striking detail, Meyer Davis create interiors tailored to their client's individuality, considering each new project and a capacity to create a new narrative. Believing that great design is created with a multitude of levels, Meyer Davis manipulate space, form, texture and light to produce interiors with lasting impact. This certainly could not be more true of the 1 Hotel South Beach.

The neutral palate combined with layers of texture and contemporary comforts define the hotel, reiterating Meyer Davis’s mantra of manipulating form, texture and lighting. The effect is soft, welcoming, tactile and undeniably luxurious in that kind of warmth that only timber affords. Timber makes constant appearances throughout the hotel, not only in the furnishings, but the wall panels and ceiling detail too, leaving no space unconsidered. Softening the hard surfaces, linen upholstery and divine floor to ceiling drapery ensure this space cannot be mistaken for anything but a masterpiece in design. The excess is evident, yet it doesn’t come with the same connotations that Miami is reputable for.

The 1 Hotel promotes its focus on environmental sustainability and uses it as a draw card for the growing number of environmentally conscious clientele; the hotel managing director Philip Dailey said he expects the brand’s sensibilities to resonate with modern hotel guests. “Real things are back,” he said. “We’re a very real, very natural product.” Reclaimed timber from a variety of sources make for a plethora of spaces rich in anecdotal tendencies, while mini bedside blackboards replace the traditional pen & paper in the hotel rooms.

Dailey’s outlook is certainly in sync with Caitlan Taylor’s of Coco Republic, proving that a focus on natural and harmonious materials is enjoying global movement. Taylor discusses the growing trend of the artisanal interior and the relaxed ambience it affords in her post on Bare Necessities for Design Field Notes; “the look is clean, minimalist and natural yet very welcoming”. It’s undeniable that the 1 Hotel is garnering worldwide attention thanks to this restrained design process.

This same relaxed, paired back approach is mirrored in the culinary offerings at 1 Hotel by Tom Colicchio of Craft Restaurants, New York. Crafting meals with only natural ingredients and living by the farm-to-table philosophy, Colicchio has created for himself a signature for the fresh, simple and organic, making for a perfect partnership with the 1 Hotel.

“Knowing there was that commitment to a lifestyle that includes sustainability was something I was really attracted to” – Tom Colicchio.

Ranking ninth among the top 10 international luxury markets in a 2014 Christie’s International Real Estate report: Luxury Defined: An Insight Into the Luxury Residential Property Market, Miami also joins Cote d’Azur & London as the world’s most popular second-home markets. But why buy, when the 1 Hotel offers a welcoming atmosphere to rival event the most comforting of homes?