Word: fontainebleau
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When James Bond needed a vacation from fighting Her Majesty's cold war enemies, he stayed at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. Now I know why. As the Fontainebleau prepared to re-open this weekend, I watched busty young women in skin-tight uniforms serve fruit drinks to seaside cabanas large enough to have P.O. Box numbers. Supermodel Marissa Miller was posing in a bikini beside a swimming pool as long as her legs, looking a lot like the hottie who fell for Sean Connery in Goldfinger...
...years ago, it seemed that the memories of the Fontainebleau's heyday - when the likes of Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich used to luxuriate among its marble columns - were about all the tired resort had left. But after a sumptuous $1 billion renovation, the Fontainebleau is making its comeback this weekend with a $5 million, celebrity-drenched celebration...
...this weekend's excess seems inordinate fuss for a hotel re-opening, it's because the Fontainebleau is more than just a hotel. Built in 1954, "it's still a timeless and iconic showcase of the style and energy of the Beach," argues Howard Karawan, the Fontainebleau's chief operating officer. "The Fontainebleau made Miami Beach." That's not hyperbole. Even more than the art deco splendor of Ocean Drive, Lapidus' wavy edifice and quirky interior design - the Stairway to Nowhere, the Swiss Cheese Wall - define Miami the way the Plaza once epitomized New York and the Ritz embodies Paris...
...famous have encourged the not-rich to emulate their ways - creating the kind of credit-driven nightmare that has sapped the nation during this crisis. Much moreso than in other U.S. cities, profligate values, from condo-flipping to Jaguar-leasing, hold sway here. In that sense, this weekend's Fontainebleau fete is pure Miami: the dysfunctional creed, to quote the title of Lapidus' autobiography, that Too Much Is Never Enough...
...showcase Samant's range of Indian wines in a space that oozes class and cash--with bottles costing twice the average Indian weekly wage, it's meant to be exclusive. Tonight the guests include local investment bankers, venture capitalists and a group of students from the business school in Fontainebleau, France, on a two-week trip to India to see what all the buzz is about. Over Chenin Blanc and Reserve Shiraz, the patrons swap investment tips and gossip about recent sightings of Richard Gere and Will Smith. "You're so lucky to be here now," says Samant, 39. "This...