I've heard the building that houses the new 100-room Mr. C Coconut Grove hotel called both a cruise ship and a spaceship. Both of those are fitting descriptions. It's an imposing, bright-white structure with small, round windows resembling portholes. It stands on 20-foot stilts, and arriving guests drive under the building -- still at street level -- to let the valet park their cars next to Aston Martins and Land Rovers.
It may be ultramod on the outside, but inside it's all classic Italian glam. The hotel is owned and operated by the fourth-generation Cipriani brothers, Ignazio and Maggio. Its lobby is anchored by the bar, where a white-jacketed bartender serves complimentary Bellinis to guests checking in. This sets the tone for the whole experience at the Mr. C Coconut Grove as a place where a little old-school pomp is appreciated. This is only the third Mr. C hotel in the country; the other two are in Beverly Hills, Calif., and New York.
The only way to describe the rooms is "cozy masculine." As soon as I walked in, my king room (which starts at $265 per night in the offseason) felt like a cross between a "Mad Men" set and a luxury stateroom on a decked-out ship. There's definitely a nautical theme going on. Vintage photographs of sailboats adorn the glossy, wood-paneled walls, the carpet's pattern recalls ocean waves and the bathroom's chrome and marble is muted by hexagonal navy-blue tile on the walls and lining the rainfall shower.
There's a lot of construction going on around Coconut Grove, which is located about 30 minutes inland from Miami Beach. Several hotel properties have opened alongside the Mr. C, and more are popping up, growing taller each day. The Grove, as locals call it, is now a posh address, with vintage consignment shops filled with worn-once haute couture, chef-driven restaurants and, soon. a luxury Cinepolis movie theater. The Grove was once the party spot of choice for University of Miami students, then fell into disrepair. Now it's on its way back up.
Since the Ciprianis are at the helm of the project, of course, there's a fabulous Italian restaurant on the top floor, with a stunning terrace overlooking the boat-filled bay. The restaurant serves breakfast (no room service, yet, tough), which is lovely, but dinner is when the place really fills up with the Grove's sexiest set. The grilled octopus appetizer is meltingly tender, and I happily cheated on my low-carb regimen with a perfect bucatini cacio e pepe paired with a Sicilian red wine with a briny finish perfect for dining near the water.
The Mr. C Coconut Grove contracts spa therapists for on-demand treatments. You'll just have to request a treatment in advance so they can schedule the therapist and check availability of the spa suite, which is a converted guestroom on the fourth floor. Private yoga classes are also available upon request. The ground floor also features a patio where guests can enjoy a dirty martini (or another signature Bellini because why not?) and live jazz on the last Thursday of the month.
It's a testament to the area that the Ciprianis would choose Coconut Grove for their hotel. Certainly, Miami Beach would have made sense, too, as South Florida's flashy epicenter. But this hotel is championing the Grove's renaissance, and locals are loving it, too, clinking glasses in the lobby after work and feasting on pillowy gnocchi at the restaurant. Coconut Grove cool is back, and Mr. C is its anchor.