The InterContinental Miami is a luxury hotel in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Opened in 1983, it is owned by

Strategic Hotels & Resorts Strategic Hotels & Resorts is an American REIT in the hospitality industry. It was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BEE. The company owns 18 luxury hotels, 17 of which are located in the United States and one of which is in Germa ...

and operated by

IHG Hotels & Resorts InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. It ...

as part of its

InterContinental InterContinental Hotels & Resorts by IHG is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe. It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998. As of January 2023, there were 208 InterC ...

portfolio.

History

Designed in 1982 by noted architect

Pietro Belluschi Pietro Belluschi (August 18, 1899 – February 14, 1994) was an Italian-American architect. A leading figure in modern architecture, he was responsible for the design of over 1,000 buildings.Belluschi, Pietro. (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britanni ...

. it was opened in 1983 as the Pavilion Hotel, as part of developer Theodore Gould's waterfront Miami Centre project. However it was subject to foreclosure in 1985 which led to

being selected to manage it. They were granted a long-term management contract the following year when it was renamed the Intercontinental Miami. In 2009, the hotel began $30 million in renovations to better-complete with other downtown hotels, which were completed in 2012. The renovations included redecorated rooms with more technological features, presidential and executive suites designed by

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American inactive tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA for 11 wee ...

' agency V Starr, the new Richard Sandoval restaurant Toro Toro, and an exterior lighting system consisting of a new entrance with customizable multi-color lamps, and a 19-storey "digital canvas" of LED light bars on the sides of the building that can be used to play animations. The "digital canvas" launched with an animation featuring a silhouette of a dancing woman. Since the 1980s, the hotel has served as the focal point of

Bayfront Park Bayfront Park is a public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. History The park began construction in 1924 under the design plans of Warren Henry Manning and officially opened in March 1925. Beginning in 1980, it underwent ...

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

festivities, where a neon sign of a cartoon orange in sunglasses dubbed the "Big Orange"—which was designed by local signmaker Steve "Mr. Neon" Carpenter—is

raised ''Raised'' is the third studio album by American country artist Hailey Whitters. It was released on March 18, 2022, via a partnership between Big Loud and her own imprint, Pigasus. Background Heavily inspired by her Midwestern upbringing in Iow ...

up the side of the building as midnight approaches. The event was cancelled in full in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Florida On March 1, 2020, the U.S. state of Florida officially reported its first two COVID-19 cases in Manatee County, Florida, Manatee and Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough counties. There is evidence, however, that community spread of COV ...

, while the 2021–22 event was modified to use a digital,

projected Projected is an American rock supergroup consisting of Sevendust members John Connolly and Vinnie Hornsby, Alter Bridge and Creed drummer Scott Phillips, and former Submersed and current Tremonti guitarist Eric Friedman. The band released the ...

version of the Big Orange after Carpenter and his crew fell sick with COVID-19. This remained the case for the 2022–23 event, as Carpenter declined to participate as a precautionary measure. The physical Big Orange returned the following year; while Carpenter originally stated that it would not occur due to the potential "disruption" to

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

players staying at the hotel, organizers reached an agreement to allow preparations for the event to begin earlier than usual.

Gallery

File:Hotel Intercontinental Miami New Years 2009.jpg, The InterContinental in

Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...

, 2008-2009. Mr. Neon rises to the top one minute before midnight. Image:Hotelintercontinental2.jpg, InterContinental front view Image:Hotelintercontinental.jpg, InterContinental at the edge of

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is large ...

and the Miami River in

References

Hotel buildings completed in 1982 InterContinental hotels Hotels established in 1982 1982 establishments in Florida Skyscraper hotels in Miami {{Miami-struct-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References