BAL HARBOUR VILLAGE, FL— The concept of an oceanfront luxury hotel will step up a notch this fall when the new Regent Bal Harbour makes its debut here. From its glass façade, which curves like a ship’s sail, to its elegant interiors, the new 124-room condo hotel is likely to set new standards for sophistication along Miami’s shoreline. Designed in art moderne style by the Atlanta-based Culpepper, McAuliffe and Meaders, Inc., the exterior of the Regent Bal Harbour has a curvilinear glass façade and two side 17-story wings intersecting a 26-story tower. The soaring building faces the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Intracoastal Waterway on the west, Miami on the south, and Haulover Park on the north. Within the building, the 22-foot, double-story lobby features Jatoba columns, leather upholstered walls and limestone flooring and walls. A specially commissioned art and sculpture collection is displayed in the lobby, meeting spaces, guestrooms and Guerlain Spa. The art includes a 32-foot bronze sculpture by Guy Dill and works by artists Jay McCafferty, Ed Moses and Darren Waterston. Much of the inspiration for the interior design came from the property’s Bal Harbour location, noted Jeff Beindorf, a CMMI principal. “The shops and the luxury feel of Bal Harbour” came into play, he said, “and because it’s a Regent and the background is Hong Kong, there is a little Asian feel, hints and touches of it.” In the guestrooms and suites, the color palette is rich and includes bronze, gold and green with red accents to convey a tranquil feel with a touch of Asian flair. The rooms have 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, mahogany parquet floors, sheer textured drapes, Anichini bedding and handmade Asian grass cloth wallpaper. The case goods vary depending upon room type, Beindorf noted. “The smaller room is 550 to 600 square feet and is laid out as a typical guestroom with the bed, nightstands, a side seating group and desk. We used rich materials and clean lines to work with the architecture of the building,” he said. Each six-fixture bathroom has white carrera marble double-vessel sinks, a bidet, a freestanding tub and a shower. Beindorf noted that the tub and shower fit in the window to offer water views. “They are one of the real wows” of the hotel, he said. An accent wall in the shower features square-glass mosaics while the wood-slatted ceiling is African mahogany. A plasma television is built into the mirror over the vanity, which has a Chinese green stone top. The bathroom walls are French beige limestone. “The stone was selected for its beauty and we brought wood in as part of the vanity design,” Beindorf said. The larger executive suites are 1,150 square feet and have an entry foyer with a leather tile wall. “It’s an eight by 10 wall of leather tiles and there is a powder room door that you wouldn’t know was a door except for the handle. You don’t see a casing. You don’t see a frame, “ Beindorf said. The executive suites are also furnished with an entry table in the foyer and have living rooms with a main seating group that in cludes a sofa, a cocktail table and side chairs. There is also a leather-topped desk, which is a built-in piece along one wall. The piece, which has a built-in bench, also houses a surround sound system. “And a 50-inch flat-screen television is recessed into the millwork. The space was designed sufficiently large enough to upgrade to a larger television,” Beindorf said. The suite also has a kitchen area with Wolf and Subzero appliances, he added. Considerable attention was given to detail and achieving a cohesive, luxury look, Beindorf indicated. “When we first started there were originally three different suppliers for the millwork, kitchen and doors, but in the end the decision was made to go with one supplier so that all the veneers would match,” he said. That supplier is Akira of Gainesville, FL. Luxe touches abound in the Presidential Suite on the 18th floor of the Regent Bal Harbour. T
