Hemp Sheets and Motion Sensors: Eco-Luxury Hotel Comes to South Beach

The Starwood Capital Group’s chief executive Barry Sternlicht has debuted its first eco-luxury brand hotel in Miami Beach, along with developer Richard LeFrak.

1 Hotel South Beach, the first property under the eco-luxury brand, has 426 guest rooms with an average of 700 square feet. Of the rooms, there are 84 studios and one oceanfront presidential suite. All rooms include a Nespresso coffee machine, yoga mats and glass terrariums. Also on the property are: four outdoor swimming pools, which include a 112-foot-long rooftop pool, 57 cabanas and daybeds. Guests will also have access to Tesla cars when traveling within a three-mile radius.

The new eco-luxury property will feature amenities with renewable and recycled products. There are restored woods for guest room headboards, hemp-blend mattresses, eco-friendly dry cleaning, LED lights, motion sensors to reduce electricity use and more. In addition, the pool deck was constructed with wood from the property’s original promenade.

The Hotel will have three restaurants and bars from chef Tom Colicchio: the signature Beachcraft, lobby lounge bar Tom on Collins and poolside restaurant The Sand Box. He will also oversee in-room dining. STK, by the One Group, anchors the south end of the hotel.

Later in the year, developers have plans to add an 18,000-square-foot gym and spa. Debora Aguiar, who also crafted the residences, will design the spa. Meyer Davis designed the interior of the LEED certified hotel, restaurant and gym.

In an interview with the New York Times, earlier this month, Mr. Sternlicht discussed his motivation for launching eco-luxury properties. He said, “I decided that if I was going to do something in hotels again that it had to be about more than another brand. We’re not a brand, but a cause. The concept is all about doing a little better every day. It’s a journey, but I think people will see that we’re designing luxury hotels but doing it in an ecologically sensitive and conscious manner.”

Starwood Capital will open 1 Hotel properties in Manhattan and in Brooklyn by the end of the year.

Rates for 1 Hotel South Beach will begin at $700 per night.

Mr. Sternlicht founded Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in 1995. He left Starwood Hotels in 2005.

(Photo via 1 Hotel South Beach)