# The new Miami

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2021-04-07

architecture, art, design, hospitality, interior-design, marriott, miami, one-delisle, one-delisle-condos, south-florida, urban-robot-associates, w-south-beach

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b1558c46dd2c06f5b1de0271db314c42.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/e671f16b00ad4094153a5d23314076af.png)

The last year has been challenging for the hospitality industry. But at the same time, it was a good year to renovate. The W South Beach [recently unveiled a $30 million renovation project](https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/w-south-beach-debuts-serene-makeover/) that includes all 357 rooms. Designed by local studio [Urban Robot Associates](https://www.urbanrobot.net/), the project directive was an interesting one. The team was asked to reimagine the hotel for the "new Miami." A Miami that is more grown up and cultured, but that, of course, still has a bit of an edge. With all of the attention that Miami and Florida are getting [right now](https://www.ft.com/content/22c9b76b-ea36-4c8c-8cae-1bbb104098d2), this project feels timely and indicative of something broader underway. Indeed, it's hard not to acknowledge that Miami is having a moment right now. This also happens to be one of the last hotels that I stayed at prior to last March's lockdown. So I have a clear "before" in my mind. It's fun to see how much it has changed over the last year while I was mostly sitting at home. (Shameless plug: I also love the pale wood herringbone floors, which, coincidentally, will also be on offer at [One Delisle](https://onedelisle.com/en/).)

_Images:_ [_Urban Robot Associates_](https://www.urbanrobot.net/work#/w-hotel-south-beach-1/)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/the-new-miami)*