A Taste of Gianni Versace - Miami Style and Australian Style...and now Dubai
How Fabulous Are You?
Want to stay at a 5 star hotel in Miami? Well, there are lot of choices these days, but the one near and dear to my heart is Casa Casuarina aka the Versace House (1116 Ocean Dr., Miami) was built in 1930 and modeled after the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, a residence built in 1510 by the son of Christopher Columbus and reputedly the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere.
Gianni Versace purchased the building in 1992 for $2.9 million. After receiving city approval, he demolished the hotel next door, and a two-story, 6,100-foot addition was built, transforming it into Versace's Miami Beach house.
Peter Loftin, a telecommunications billionaire, purchased the house from the Versace Estate in September 2000 for approximately $19 million. The City has allowed Mr. Loftin to convert Casa Casuarina--the scene of Versace's 1997 murder, into a member's only club. The house is also available for private events, starting at $25,000. Styled after traditional European clubs, the composition of the Casa club will be formed by the members themselves. Membership only comes through personal invitation.
There are 2 restaurants now on the property - one is open to the public and one for members only. There are 10 sumptuous suites available to members and guests. Each suite has its own unique decor, capturing a different element of the house's colorful, cosmopolitan spirit. But whether the Italian, Persian, Egyptian, Wedgewood, Baroque, La Mer, Parrot, Pompeii, Safari or Owner's Suite is chosen, every guest will delight in the exquisite craftsmanship evident at every turn, from the murals adorning the walls and ceilings, to the carved marble baths, to the intricately mosaic tiled floors, and lavish stained glass windows. Hand-carved, custom-made extra king-sized beds and luxury linens courtesy of Anichini guarantee blissful rest, but for those who need to keep their fingers on the pulse, each room is equipped with wireless internet, satellite radio, plasma television screens and Bose sound systems.
Of course, fabulous doesn’t come cheap! This members' club in Miami Beach is open to the public for about $1200-$4000 a night off-season all the way up to $10,000 per night, during the peak season. Oh yes, and the room rate includes continental breakfast. See more online or For more information, call 305-672-6604
If you find yourself in Australia, Donatella Versace will let you stay at Palazzo Versace (Versace Palace) for only $500-$1500 per night.
The five-story hotel opened its doors on the 15th of September, 2000, and incorporates 205 classical hotel rooms, 72 privately owned condominiums, 3 restaurants, health spa Salus per Aquum, a Gianni Versace boutique and a private marina, all on a historic site at the edge of the Gold Coast Broadwater.
All cutlery and china in the hotel is Versace. Framed photographic work from Gianni and Donetella's collection line the hotel's corridors. The rooms are furnished with a special range designed exclusively for the hotel by the House of Versace in Milan. The bathroom sinks are each made from one piece of marble, and the hotel has 28 pools.
Five Italian mosaic tilers created the driveway in six weeks. Each tiler was from a different region of Italy, and collected the stones from their own local area. The average age of the tilers was 75 years.
The chandelier which hangs in the lobby, once hung in the State Library in Milan. It was purchased by Gianni Versace for himself and kept in storage pending its installation in his own home in Miami. Tragically, he died before he was able, and Donatella Versace, who inherited it, decided it should hang in the hotel. It weighs 750kg.
Palazzo Versace Dubai is on 130,000 square meters and will include 215 rooms and suites, restaurants, and a day spa, rooftop gardens, all of which will be furnished with an exclusive line of products from the Versace Home Collection. Suites range in size from 55sqm to 1200sqm for the Imperial Suite, of which there are two. In addition there are 160 condominium residences (now available for purchase) are part of the luxury resort. As is the new trend, some of the condominiums will be available for rental through the hotel. It should be fully open in early 2009!
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