1 Hotel – Miami Beach
The 1 Hotel in Miami Beach’s mission is to create an ultra-luxurious location in the most sustainable, health conscious, and eco-friendly way possible.
As you approach the redesigned structure you may notice the 11,000-plant “living green wall” that is outside to greet you. There are several other green space integrations curated by local artists. Much of the furniture, doorways, and ceilings are made from reclaimed wood and even the clothes hangers are made from recycled paper. They even thought to add water filtration systems in each room to eliminate the need for plastic water bottles.
“Hotels can do better with their impact on the earth,” said Michael Laas, corporate director of impact for SH Group, the hotel brand management company for Starwood Capital Group.
Brief History
The original hotel on that property was the Gansevoort built in 1969. In 2012 Starwood Capital purchased the Hotel at 23rd and Collins; more recently called the Perry. They closed it in Spring of 2013 to complete about $500 million in upgrades and renovations. When they reopened in 2015 it was renamed the 1 Hotel.
“Everything was basically, for all intents and purposes, it was gutted and we started over,” said Richard LeFrak, president of LeFrak. “There’s really nothing that resembles what was there except it’s still on Collins Avenue.”
Attention to Detail
The guest rooms, terraces, HVAC systems, windows, pools, ballrooms, bathrooms, elevators, and more were part of the renovation completed on the 426-room, 155-residence ocean-front property that fills the block between 23 and 24 streets. At the 1 Hotel well-being is the priority, top of the line water and air filtration systems were installed throughout the property so you can feel and breathe a cleaner and overall healthier environment when staying.
The lobby ceilings are made from reclaimed wood from water towers in Alaska, the guest room hallways are decorated with wood from trees that were eaten by mountain pine beetles, and some of the furniture is made from fallen trees from South American rainforests.
The property now features several places to eat; Watr at the 1 Rooftop, Wave at Beach Club, Plnthouse, Neighbors, The Sandbox, Drift, and Habitat.. The property also features a ballroom, a meeting space, four pools including a roof deck pool with a bar, and a 14,000 square fit gym space. The gym was created in partnership with Spartan Race, the world’s leading obstacle race company. The gym has unique features such as monkey bars and a rope climbing rope wall. There are outdoor workout areas, shared and private training rooms, a yoga platform right in front of the ocean and even a beach space to exercise.
Guest rooms are an average size of more than 700 square feet and feature eco-friendly details such as a filtered water tap, low-flow water fixtures, and even a small chalkboard next to the bed to replace paper and pen.
All of the foods served in their restaurants and bars are as locally sourced as possible; the emphasis is on getting local and fresh foods from as close as possible.
Even the rooms are made with dozens of reclaimed materials including room keys made from 5 different types of recycled wood!
Additional Information
The 1 Hotel also helps organize volunteer days to help clean up the beaches and encourage conversations about our environment. They have implemented a plastic reduction program and electric charging stations to continue their commitment to being on the forefront of sustainable technology.
Since the re-opening of the 1 Hotel in Miami Beach in 2015, Starwood Capital Group has opened an additional six locations all over the world. The current other locations besides Miami Beach are Brooklyn Bridge (New York), Cabo San Lucas (Mexico), Central Park (New York), Haitang Bay(China), Toronto (Canada), and West Hollywood (California).
Recent News
In 2019 the 1 Hotel sold for $610 million to a real estate investment trust, Host Hotels. The transaction set a Miami-Dade record for most expensive hotel per-unit ever sold, just around $1.42 million per unit. As part of the deal an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group will remain operating the location under the same name.