Biltmore Hotel Miami Coral Gables

The Biltmore Hotel Miami Announces Complete Rooms & Suites Renovation and Golf Course Restoration Projects to be Completed in December of 2018
This upwards of $25-million set of projects, which began in 2017, will welcome a new era of hospitality excellence and signature golf at the famed resort

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (June 26, 2018) – The Biltmore Hotel, a national historic landmark established in 1926, member of the Leading Hotels of the World and iconic luxury hotel in the heart of the exclusive area of Coral Gables, today announced the redesign of all the hotel’s luxurious accommodations & corridors as well as plans to restore its 18-hole, par-71 golf course to the original grandeur of the 1925 Donald Ross-designed course layout.

Designed by D’Shakil Designs and Studio 5 Design + Architecture, the rooms’ relaunch will be a fresh take on the hotel’s history of old world glamour and regal elegance with the addition of royal hues, luxurious materials, and elegant furniture pieces that harmonize seamlessly with the newly refurbished main lobby. The golf course restoration, which is one of only nine (9) Donald Ross designed golf courses in the top-100 golf courses in the U.S., will be overseen by veteran golf course architect Brian Silva and will add new Bermuda grass on the existing tees, fairways & greens, incorporate new bunkers, enhance the short-game practice as well as separate range areas, establish challenging signature holes, and extend the overall course length to over 7,100 yards making it worthy of championship level play. Both projects are scheduled to be completed in December-2018.

“We are proud to celebrate the Biltmore’s relaunch via its rooms & corridors renovation and golf course restoration projects” said Gene Prescott, president and CEO of the Biltmore Hotel. He continued, “This historic landmark is a treasure of the City of Coral Gables, and the newly redesigned elements allow us to highlight the hotel’s old-world feel while exceeding today’s modern-day standards of hospitality and golf offerings. We remain committed to the property’s success while maintaining its status as a first-rate, world class destination.”

The main theme that will transpire throughout the hotel’s rooms’ relaunched design is its rich, storybook history. Inspired by George Merrick and his love for South Florida’s natural landscape, the newly revolutionized spaces incorporate the sage green South Florida foliage, the rich greens of Coral Gables’ canopy roads, and the warm Mediterranean architecture inlays of the property’s original architecture. Additionally, the rooms & suites will feature an elegant array of transcending tones including luscious plums, silver sage, and accents of regal gold that transports guests into a lavish and tranquil paradise. Designer touches include romantic gemstone chandeliers over the beds, classic moldings that complement the hotel’s character, couture fabrics such as cut velvets, embroidered damask, framed art created from original architectural blue-prints, and imported plush carpets. “We are honored to have partnered with the Biltmore Hotel to bring a new era to the guestrooms & suites of this elegant and truly historic property.” said Dee Malone, Principal, D’Shakil Designs. She continued, “We sought to integrate the current, yet elegant feel our team brought to the main lobby while honoring the legendary architectural details George Merrick envisioned for this grand resort in relation to the Coral Gables community as a whole.”

In terms of the golf course, the original 1925 Donald Ross course routing plan that is being restored demonstrates for one a greater number of bunkers than now exists on the course. The additional new bunkers will provide more ‘movement’ to fairways that have more twists and turns as it works its way from the tee-to-the-green-into the hole. This movement will have a positive impact on both aesthetics as well as the strategic playing interest of the golf course. According to Mr. Silva, “Reacting to this movement, the more accomplished players can take the risky route to shorten the distance from tee to green; which is the ultimate litmus test for a good golf course. And, while such a course will maintain the playing interest of the accomplished player it will also still being entirely manageable for the leisurely player to enjoy.” Also of note, while the course is already home to the University of Miami Women’s golf team and the NCAA Hurricane invitational, in January of this year it also became the headquarters for the Jim McLean Golf School and is being considered as a potential host site for a future PGA-Champions Tour event. These developments, coupled with the fact that for fifty-four (54) consecutive years the Biltmore golf course has been the annual host site to the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship, ensures that top golfers compete at this course; boasting an alumni list that includes but is not limited to Tiger Woods, Lexi Thompson, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler, Mark Calcavecchia, Jim Simon, Gary Koch, Brooke Henderson, Grace Park, Christie Kerr, Kelli Booth and Michelle McGann.

As part of this multi-million dollars redesign and restoration project, the hotel has already completed the renovation of its main lobby, a state-of-the-art 10,000 square feet gym with new equipment from Technogym, and a new (skincare industry pioneer) BABOR retail space within its Spa. The resort will remain open during construction and continue to provide the same top-notch hospitality guests have come to expect/enjoy, as will the Biltmore Golf Pro-shop, the Jim McLean Golf School, and the 19th-Hole restaurant.

For more information on the Biltmore Hotel, please visit www.BiltmoreHotel.com or call (800) 727-1926.

CORAL GABLES-MIAMI, FLA - What happens when cooking classes are mixed with meeting groups, creative chefs and an iconic hotel in South Florida? A recipe for success at the Biltmore, located in the upscale neighborhood of Coral Gables, in the heart of Miami. An ideal meeting option for companies, groups and meeting planners interested in building good fun and great food into business meetings, Biltmore Interactive Cooking offers more than just a meal.

What is the Biltmore Interactive Cooking experience?
Biltmore Interactive Cooking gets staff out of the boardroom and into a completely new environment, where it's not rare to see an entry-level employee teaching a corporate CEO how to sear foie gras. The interactive setting breaks down traditional "hierarchy" barriers and fosters a true team-building environment.

The Biltmore takes the guesswork out of developing a rewarding, team-building experience by incorporating the expertise of chefs who have led Biltmore Interactive Cooking events since 1992. Classes are offered for lunch or dinner. The reversal of roles - from passive meeting attendee to active participant in a new shared endeavor - serves to motivate and engage all members of the group in a rewarding way.

"The Biltmore offers meeting planners an exceptional range of innovative programs that motivate, inspire and help build teamwork and cooperation," said Femke Weller, Director of Catering and Conference services. "Drawing on the expertise of an award-winning culinary team and adding a measure of light-hearted fun and adventure, the Biltmore Interactive Cooking meeting option breaks the ice, builds teams and sets the tone for productive meetings."

How does it work?
With the flexibility of taking place in a conference or banquet room, each group of participants is provided with their own tabletop burners and a supervising chef from the resort's kitchen. Meeting participants choose which colleagues at their table will cook each appetizer, main course and dessert. Then the fun begins! Guests are cheered on by their "table teammates" as Biltmore chefs guide the way. With instruction and hands-on supervision from the Biltmore professionals, each table creates a full meal using pre-measured and pre-cut ingredients. Sample gourmet menu items include favorites from Biltmore restaurants, such as Foie Gras, Maine Lobster Fricassee and Rack of Lamb.

"Our Biltmore Interactive Cooking experience showed our company the importance of teambuilding," said Rolando Aedo, acting Senior Vice President of Marketing and Tourism at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Instead of the traditional monthly boardroom meeting and holiday event, we had very senior members of our company interacting with junior staff to saut scallops - achieving not only laughs but building a familiarity and trust that is typically difficult to create."

Does Biltmore Interactive Cooking provide cost benefits to my meeting?
In addition to the extraordinary benefits of fostering teamwork and camaraderie, Biltmore Interactive Cooking classes provide solutions to two tough issues. First, the Interactive experience provides a team-building activity option beyond traditional activities such as golf - solving the challenge of selecting an activity that pleases diverse meeting attendees: men, women, Generation X and Y, etc.

And for slightly more than the typical lunch provided during a conference, the two-in-one approach of a fun, team-building exercise combined with a gourmet lunch outing saves dollars overall. Prices per person are $110 for lunch and $140 for dinner, for a three-course meal and coffee/tea service. This price includes the service staff, Biltmore chefs to oversee cooking at each table, menu items and ingredients, room rental at the Biltmore and personalized aprons for all participants.

Why meet at the Biltmore?
The Biltmore offers extensive and elegant facilities for meetings large and small. The resort features 76,000 total square feet of function space, with an entire wing devoted exclusively to small meetings and breakouts in order to enhance productivity. Meeting capabilities include:

36,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space accommodating up to 1,000 people
40,000 square feet of additional meeting space at the Conference Center of the Americas
11,280 square feet of outdoor banquet space
A total of 33 meeting spaces, including three ballrooms, largest ballroom is 6,200 sq. ft.
Most meeting rooms feature natural daylight
Located adjacent to the hotel, The Conference Center of the Americas (CCA) is a world-class conference center with technologically advanced facilities. The CCA has become South Florida's preferred site for high-level professional and executive education programs.
The CCA features 40,000 square feet of exceptional function space that includes eight main meeting rooms, six breakout rooms, a 6,200 sq. ft. Ballroom, two, state-of-the-art, tiered amphitheaters that seat groups of 60-90 and 90-130 persons, and a private executive boardroom. State-of-the-art technology includes Ethernet access to T1 high-speed internet, simultaneous translation, wireless audience response devices, ISDN Videoconference capability and more. Specifications and a virtual tour of the facility are available for viewing at [url]www.ccamericas.com[/url]
For more information about Biltmore Interactive Cooking and meeting options, call Director of Sales Frank Fuentes at 305-913-3118.