Menin: Borne and Bred

A postcard scene splashed in ice cream-pastels, South Beach throughout the mid-20th century was art deco on a high. An autonomous design movement was ideal for sin city with an ocean, packed with sunbathers by day and the beautiful and sinister spoiling in nocturnal vices by night. When The Shelborne South Beach Resort opened in December 1940, an oceanfront penthouse went for $15 a night.

“Cabanas in the summer, this was the real spot, the place to be,” says Keith Menin, principal and managing director of Menin Hotels. Since opening its doors, The Shelborne was more than a hotel; it was a way of life where society went to bathe in South Beach’s culture of excess. “It’s prominent art deco and probably the last district gem to be converted,” Menin says. “There’s a lot of family history here. It’s really the first property my uncle [Russell Galbut, managing partner of Crescent Heights, one of the nation’s largest, most reputable residential condominium and rental developers] purchased in the 80s.”

A sybaritic city fueled by tourism then, has retained much of its economic vitality, sparking a decade of restoration and rapid development. “It existed,” Menin says of The Shelborne. “But up until about ten years ago, the deco district hotels were fading fast.” A roundabout 280-room hotel, it is several times the size of its neighboring luxury boutique properties. “This is the right time in my life to recreate it to what it should be today. It’s a big asset on a great piece of property. Everyone’s in trouble, but for me it’s the opposite. It’s my time to go.”

Already one of the youngest developers in Miami and top hoteliers to hit the boutique hotel scene at age 30, Menin’s ambitions dwarf those twice his age whose portfolio’s statures are half his, and the man is minus pretention. While fellow hoteliers, his friends, are minding forced sales and foreclosures, Menin is undertaking his most considerable project thus far. Executing in phases while the hotel remains open, the rippling waves of construction will leave The Shelborne awash with restoration by next season.

The hotel’s new entrance will open to Menin’s own chic lifestyle boutique and Philly-imported Zama Sushi Bar from Chef Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka of Philadelphia’s POD and Morimoto. Enlivening the scene, Zama will dish out innovative sushi, a la carte sashimi, maki rolls, and vegetable offerings, paired with contemporary Asian dishes, and a bar pouring specialty Japanese cocktails, beers and sakes spilling to overtake the hotel’s new main lobby with a funky, cool vibe come May.

Longtime friend John Meadow, who owns several hot restaurants in New York City, is Menin’s food and drink partner, bringing NYC cool to the South Beach restaurant scene. “He’s the best restaurateur that exists in my eyes. John’s the next big energy to pop. There’s no leasing; we do it all. It’s not about taking something that already exists like a Nobu or BONDST. When you have a vision, that’s easy to do. That’s not my style. I adapt to the environment; I go with it and make it MY thing. I’m like an artist with my hotels, I paint what will work there.”

Once through the ultra-modernized lobby touched by crème founder Jun Aizaki, a retro lobby bar is in the works. Dressed to kill in racy all black everything outfitted with Lucite pool tables, black-and-white photographs will accessorize the walls with family ties. His great-grandfather Al Galbut was one of the first to develop Miami Beach in the 1920s, constituting one the oldest families in the tight-knit Beach community. “The lobby bar is all black and sexy as if JFK and Marilyn Monroe were sitting at a corner table at 3 p.m. having a drink,” Menin says.

Beyond further overhaul of its interior and exterior, a cross-street entrance with an old-school door will seduce the after-dark crowd through an urban kitchen concept into Vesper. Menin cautions me to watch my step as we venture through an under-construction American brasserie, whose rich brown and brass approach whispers dark and sexy, and into more added space, including a café and grand ballroom. Beachfront, an infinity-edge pool, glass sundeck, and rebuilt 40s bubble staircase (“Art deco flair with a modern twist.”) will meet the boardwalk, inviting visitors to Lucy’s Cantina Royale. “The idea is fun, not so serious. We’re taking down the hedges, putting up a surf shack where you can paddleboard, surf, rollerblade, do whatever you want.”

“When was the last time you played tetherball?” Menin asks me sitting in what will become the lobby bar. My child-eyes light up. “You can come here, play a game of tetherball, grab a fish taco, and chill in a cabana on the beach. Everywhere you go it’s the $16-drink, $22-sandwich, pretty pool thing. I want something different. A ‘let’s hang all day’ impression.” Once its multi-million-dollar facelift is complete, an iconic hotel will be reborn, keeping its old Hollywood glamour. “You’ll come back in six months and won’t recognize the place.” He goes on to describe The Shelborne of tomorrow as, “Art Deco 40s fast-forwarded to 2011, with swagger.” The invincibility of the new property mirrors Menin’s own ethics. Developing a hotel takes an oversized personality with omnipotent powers to create a physical and psychological ersatz for escape where people eat, sleep, work, and play.

Practically growing up in hotels, Menin learned the hospitality industry as a teenager working his summers on a very different yet vital constituent of The Shelborne. “This place is special to me. When you work the front desk at sixteen in an oversized vest, you never dream of one day owning it.” While other soon-to-be-graduates at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration were securing their places at impending banks, Menin began to design and build his first hotel at 1745 James Avenue. “James Avenue before there was a James Avenue. Before Casa Tua,” Menin says. “I think I was the only employee. There was no staff; it was just me running every part of the hotel. I had just come out of Cornell thinking I knew everything, didn’t know much.”

What he did know was enough for Menin to introduce Keith Menin Hotels (KMHotels) Worldwide; develop Sanctuary South Beach at just 21; sit at Chicago O’Hare people-watching for a day before turning the Windy City’s Hotel Rafaelo into Rafaello; and return to South Beach to become Morgans Hotel Group’s first outside partner, together closing a $190 million deal on the Mondrian South Beach, also recently purchasing The Bentley Hotel South Beach. “It’s all about drive,” he says of his success. Growing up in Miami Beach, Menin is now a direct contributor to the city’s growth.

“My life is what I do. I go to St. Bart’s with the family for Christmas; take the boat out on weekends; I love to travel and experience other hotels. I like to see what other cultures are doing to create fun. Everyone’s giving their hotels themes: The Setai, Asian; The Delano, Philippe Starck…I just want something different; appealing to locals, open to visitors, people who want to have a good time.” The man behind the born again property is one who puts hospitality in the hospitality industry. Menin has his hands in an array of business ventures, but hotels are his passion leaving us wondering what’s next for The Shelborne? For Keith Menin? “A lot of surprises,” he teases.

The new Shelborne will be a symbol of historic art deco, better than it was before, leaving nothing to be desired. Menin is planning on adding an open, two-story glass penthouse with an outdoor deck. Time may change the $15-penthouse into a $5,000-per-night decadence, but essence is never lost. Everything new is ‘Borne, and this rebirth is Menin made. As he walks me out of the hotel’s entrance he throws in mention of his new restaurant concept across the street, like oh yeah, that one too. “Hopefully in fifteen years, I’ll have fifteen properties.” And he is on the lookout to establish an eponymous Menin hotel. “It just has to be the right one.”

The Shelborne | 1801 Collins Avenue | Miami Beach, FL 33139 | 800.327.8757 | 305.531.1271 | www.shelborne.com