InterContinental Miami
| InterContinental Miami | |
|---|---|
 The InterContinental as seen from Bayfront Park in 2010. | |
 | |
| Hotel chain | InterContinental |
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Location | 100 Chopin Plaza Miami, Florida United States |
| Coordinates | 25°46′21″N 80°11′07″W / 25.772419°N 80.185373°W |
| Completed | 1982 |
| Opening | 1982 |
| Owner | Strategic Hotels & Resorts |
| Management | IHG Hotels & Resorts |
| Height | |
| Roof | 366 ft (111.6 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 34 |
| Lifts/elevators | 10 |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 653 |
The InterContinental Miami is a luxury hotel in Downtown Miami, Florida. Opened in 1983, it is owned by Strategic Hotels & Resorts and operated by IHG Hotels & Resorts as part of its InterContinental portfolio.
History
[edit]Designed in 1982 by noted architect Pietro Belluschi. it was opened in 1983 as the Pavilion Hotel, as part of developer Theodore Gould's waterfront Miami Centre project.[1] However it was subject to foreclosure in 1985 which led to InterContinental being selected to manage it. They were granted a long-term management contract the following year when it was renamed the Intercontinental Miami.[2][3]
In 2009, the hotel began $30 million in renovations to better-complete with other downtown hotels, which were completed in 2012. The renovations included redecorated rooms with more technological features, presidential and executive suites designed by Venus Williams' agency V Starr, the new Richard Sandoval restaurant Toro Toro, and an exterior lighting system consisting of a new entrance with customizable multi-color lamps, and a 19-storey "digital canvas" of LED light bars on the sides of the building that can be used to play animations.[4][5][6] The "digital canvas" launched with an animation featuring a silhouette of a dancing woman.[6]
Since the 1980s, the hotel has served as the focal point of Bayfront Park's New Year's Eve festivities, where a neon sign of a cartoon orange in sunglasses dubbed the "Big Orange"—which was designed by local signmaker Steve "Mr. Neon" Carpenter—is raised up the side of the building as midnight approaches. The event was cancelled in full in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, while the 2021–22 event was modified to use a digital, projected version of the Big Orange after Carpenter and his crew fell sick with COVID-19. This remained the case for the 2022–23 event, as Carpenter declined to participate as a precautionary measure. The physical Big Orange returned the following year; while Carpenter originally stated that it would not occur due to the potential "disruption" to Orange Bowl players staying at the hotel, organizers reached an agreement to preparations for the event to begin earlier than usual.[7][8]
Gallery
[edit]-
The InterContinental in Downtown Miami on New Year's Eve, 2008-2009. Mr. Neon rises to the top one minute before midnight. -
InterContinental front view -
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Bank Forecloses on Gould's Miami Center". The Miami Herald. July 28, 1984. pp. 1, 10.
- ^ ""New" Hotel". The Miami News. March 11, 1986. p. 17.
- ^ "Pavillon Hotel going to InterContinental". The Miami News. January 11, 2021. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ "'Digital canvas' lets landmark Miami hotel go high-tech". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ "Art Basel Gets Suites by Venus Williams at the InterContinental Miami". Interior Design. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ a b "InterContinental Replaces Its Dancing Lady, The Modern-Day Coppertone Girl". WLRN. December 18, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ Cetoute, Devoun (December 14, 2023). "The Big Orange is back! How the New Year's icon was saved for a climb to hotel's top". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
- ^ "Miami's neon 'Big Orange' is squeezed out of New Year's Eve again". WLRN. December 27, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
