The open-air swimming pool at Florida’s Biltmore Hotel is such a colossus it seems to follow you around the place. Wherever you venture in the hotel’s 150 sprawling acres, the pool is there, tempting you to dive in with an aquatic wink.
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An iconic national landmark originally built in 1926, the turreted hotel’s pan-Mediterranean architecture combines Italian, Moorish, and Spanish influences.
The effect is at once retro, sophisticated and homely. As you arrive in the palatial lobby, with its 25-foot Corinthian columns, vast palms, and velvet chairs, you feel as if you’ve stepped into the Old World glamour of the 1920s.
Earlier this year, the hotel’s lobby, rooms, corridors and golf course underwent a $30 million restoration, making the hotel slicker and more dynamic, but without surrendering any of its old-fashioned charm.
Decorated in calming blends of plums, silver sage, and gold, its spacious rooms boast plush carpets, gemstone chandeliers, and panoramic views of the city skyline, the large golf course, and the ubiquitous pool.
Dining in style
The award-winning Palme d’Or is one of only three AAA Five-Diamond restaurants in Florida. When we visited for the tasting menu, they brought me a plant-based version of each course, conjuring magic with mushrooms, nuts, beans and fruit. The longer the evening wore on, the more my vegan versions drew envious glances from my omnivore fellow diners.
The open-air Fontana courtyard restaurant is the setting for the hotel's Sunday brunch buffet, which comprises an astonishingly huge array of choices, including caviar, lobster, crab, sushi, carving, fresh pasta and tapas stations. There are also waffles, dozens of decadent desserts and bottomless champagne top-ups. But for the vegan visitor the choices are fewer.
For inspiration, they can look close to home - the Biltmore’s Culinary Academy, a recreational cooking school that has a learning area and fully equipped professional kitchen that offers classes, workshops and team-building events, for both adults and kids.
All diets are catered for here, from vegan, to gluten-free and anti-cancer. Our chef and host for the evening was Victor Santos, a star of the US culinary scene and also about as fun as any human being could hope to be.
Time to unwind
If you need to rejuvenate after any indulgence, the Biltmore spa is your friend. A 12,000-square-foot sanctuary, it offers massages, facial treatments to suit all skin types, therapeutic body scrubs, chakra healing and organic seaweed wraps.
The hotel also features a restored Donald Ross 18-hole, 71-par, championship golf course and a 10,000-square-foot fitness centre that includes treadmills, stationary bikes, and weights.
The fitness centre offers more than 100 weekly exercise classes including pilates, yoga, zumba, spinning, and body sculpting. I went to the spinning class and enjoyed the sunshine-state camaraderie of the regulars, who all seemed to be “holding a space” for one another.
Or why not surrender to the seductions of the pool? In the 1930s, it was the scene of celebrated aquatic galas featuring everything from synchronised swimming to alligator wrestling. Thousands came to watch, including celebrities of the era.
Nowadays, flanked by palms, hibiscus and bougainvillea and bordered by teakwood chaises and loveseats, it is a stylish spot to soak up the South Florida sun
Venturing beyond
The Biltmore is a towering feature of the exclusive Coral Gables neighbourhood.
Coral Gables is nicknamed ‘The City Beautiful,’ and it is well earned - a stroll around its tree-lined boulevards is a treat, taking in ivy-covered mansions and serene churches and synagogues. On many of the boulevards, Banyan trees from each side of the road have joined forces in the middle, forming natural canopies.
If you prefer a higher gear, downtown Miami just a short drive away. Here, we breathed in the creativity of the murals of Wynwood Walls and the hedonism of South Beach - prime people-watching territory, where drag queens stage walk-offs, muscle-men flex and swagger, and everyone is getting absolutely stuck into vast cocktails with potent names like Call a Cab, Attitude Adjustment and You’re Done.
Star guests
Speaking of people watching, back at the Biltmore there’s a good chance you’ll spot a famous face. Over the years it has hosted Judy Garland, Babe Ruth, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. More recently, its guests have included the Clintons, the Obamas and the Kardashians. With its stylish design, excellent food and impeccable service, a stay at the Biltmore makes you feel instantly part of this exclusive A-list club.
The Biltmore Hotel Miami has rooms from £250 per night based on two people sharing a superior room, on a room-only basis. For reservations, visit biltmorehotel.com
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