After closing most of its property in 2006 for a $1 billion renovation and expansion, Miami's famous Fontainebleau Hotel has officially and completely reopened, it announced last week. To mark the occasion, the hotel organized a high-profile weekend of celebrity events designed to showcase the reinvented property.
The weekend commenced on Friday night, Nov. 14, with a party that was orchestrated by high-profile event planner David Monn and attended by a slew of celebrity VIPs, including Sean "DIDDY" Combs, Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez, Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart and Kate Hudson, among others. The evening opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Fontainebleau's famous "Staircase to Nowhere," featuring a cast of Victoria's Secret Angels, and ended with performances by Robin Thicke and Mariah Carey.
The weekend continued on Saturday night, Nov. 15, with the taping of the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which featured Heidi Klum and 34 other supermodels who took the runway on a seven-story set that was constructed around Fontainebleau's outdoor "pool-scape."
Still, the real star of the weekend was the transformed Fontainebleau Miami Beach, which was once a destination for Rat Pack-era stars such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Built in 1954, the updated hotel now features 1,504 guestrooms and suites, 11 restaurants and lounges, a 40,000-square-foot spa and 107,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including three ballrooms totaling 66,000 square feet that will accommodate up to 3,000 people.
For more information about the new and improved Fontainebleau Miami Beach, visit
www.fontainebleau.com.