TRAVEL

Art Fair Insanity: Miami


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Each December, the art world heads to Florida for the nonstop hobnobbing, dealmaking and debauchery of Art Basel Miami Beach. Here is W’s mini guide to the most happening hotels.

1

The vibe: Still-buzzy South Beach landmark. Who stays: At past Art Basels, guests included Dennis Hopper, Narciso Rodriguez and Dita Von Teese. Inside info: The more exclusive dinners take place in the penthouse.

2

The vibe: The ultimate performance art—partying—reigns in this all-white South Beach palace. Who stays: Art Basel head honcho Samuel Keller. Inside info: Nobu, the house restaurant, will deliver its famous bento boxes for room service.

3

The vibe: The kind of place where half the guests arrive by private jet. Who stays: Top collectors such as Aby and Samantha Rosen, Dan Macmillan and Tico Mugrabi. Inside info: “The East-meets-West-style courtyard is the sexiest place ever to meet for drinks,” says regular Becca Cason Thrash.

4

The vibe: Hip home away from home. Barefoot guests pad around in their bathrobes. Who stays: Gallerists Marian Goodman and Yvon Lambert; anyone connected with the art-collecting Rubell family, who own the hotel. Inside info: Start your day with gossip and bagels at the Pantry.

5

The vibe: Unofficial headquarters of Art Basel. “It’s definitely where you go to see and be seen,” says Courtney Plummer of Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Who stays: Art world glitterati like Jay Jopling. Yvonne Force Villareal and Jeffrey Deitch usually host parties on the hotel’s private beach. Inside info: If you can’t get a room, go for breakfast and hang around the famous pool till lunch.

6

The vibe: Elegant Coral Gables refuge from the scene-y strip. Who stays: Lisa Dennison; Olivier Widmaier Picasso (grandson of Pablo); European collectors like Tiqui Atencio. Inside info: Being landlocked isn’t so bad when you’re flanked by a golf course and 600,000-gallon pool, though traffic to the fair can get hairy.

7

The vibe: André Balazs’s latest property, on a tiny island, feels like a New Age hippie camp. Who stays: Gavin Brown and Keanu Reeves stayed here last year; art-world whippersnappers. Inside info: Has the city’s funkiest spa, complete with coed hammam.