The Shelborne by Proper: a Miami landmark is back in business

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Miami

Few hotel openings in Miami have generated quite as much industry interest as The Shelborne by Proper. Long before the doors to one of South Beach’s best-known Art Deco buildings reopened last year, there were whispers about what Proper Hospitality might do with the site. 

Following a $100mn restoration, the answer is here. The Shelborne by Proper is a stylish city-break hotel, one that respects its architectural heritage and has become, for locals, one of the city’s liveliest new social addresses.

A $100mn restoration has transformed The Shelborne by Proper into a stylish city-break hotel, while preserving its Art Deco bones

The Shelborne first opened in 1941, designed by Igor Polevitky and Thomas Triplett Russell, pioneers of the Tropical Modernism movement, and later expanded by Morris Lapidus, the father of Miami Modernism — the mid-century resort-hotel style that became synonymous with the Beach. It was part of Miami Beach’s glamorous hotel circuit, attracting Hollywood stars, musicians and socialites, from Frank Sinatra to Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles.

While the hotel’s Art Deco bones have been preserved, Barcelona- and London-based design studio ADC & Tuneu has introduced a warmer, modern-day Miami aesthetic. Beyond the Collins Avenue entrance, the lobby unfolds into a dramatic double-height lounge, where sculptural seating, textured fabrics and contemporary artworks sit against the building’s original features. The palette feels unmistakably of its place — warm neutrals punctuated by dusty pinks and muted greens — while the chic furnishings encourage closer inspection, with each piece offering form as much as function.

The Bar at Shelborne…

. . . and the hotel’s stylish seafood restaurant Pauline

When I visited early in the week, the ground-floor bar was consistently busy, drawing a mix of hotel guests and Miami locals dropping in for drinks. The stylish seafood restaurant, Pauline, was not open during my stay, but the bar menu did the trick, serving tasty pork tacos, tuna tartare and crisp, fried rock shrimp, alongside excellent cocktails.

Outside on the ground floor, the pool area captures the glamour of mid-century Miami more successfully than almost anywhere else on the property, through historic details like angled balconies overlooking the water, a spiral staircase with Lapidus-inspired cut-outs and the preserved diving board. Around them sit green-striped loungers, cabanas and lush tropical planting, with enormous terracotta pots filled with monstera, eucalyptus and mature fiddle-leaf figs. 

The pool area, with its historic details and preserved diving board, captures the glamour of mid-century Miami

The gym is similarly vast, with weight equipment, Peloton bikes and rowing machines, as well as Pilates reformers and a dedicated yoga studio.

Upstairs, the guestrooms reveal the compromises that inevitably come with restoring a listed building. My standard King room, on the 16th floor, was compact, with low ceilings, relatively small windows and an unconventional layout. It felt a bit cramped for both my husband and me. Couples looking to have a resort-style stay and spend a bit more time at the hotel would be better suited to one of the larger (and more beautiful) Oceanfront King rooms or the residential villas. Our bathroom, finished in creamy marble, was also snug but still managed to squeeze in a generous rainfall shower and full-size Aesop amenities. 

‘A room with a view’: an ‘Oceanfront Cozy King’ room at The Shelborne

During busy periods (we stayed in February during Miami’s peak season, with several major conferences in town), the two lifts serving the 16-storey hotel tower quickly became a bottleneck, with guests and housekeeping staff queueing to get upstairs. The wait times were the most consistent complaint I overheard during my stay, and understandably so. Our room, positioned close to the elevators, also picked up corridor noise, while South Beach’s ongoing construction projects added to the soundtrack. The air conditioning was also oddly noisy, and though I may be showing my technological ineptitude here, it took me a while to figure out how to turn it off. 

These shortcomings are worth noting, but some are beside the point, depending on how you’d prefer to style a stay in Miami. The emphasis here is on beautifully designed public spaces, lively bars, an excellent pool and being a part of the city’s social scene, rather than retreating from it. There is also a free electric car service for guests heading to or from the many attractions nearby, from the upscale restaurants in South of Fifth, the shopping on Lincoln Road or the array of art museums and galleries. The Shelborne is centred on a more urban model of hospitality; it is a city-break hotel, not a resort — the destination just happens to have a beachy shoreline.

Niki Blasina was a guest of The Shelborne by Proper, Design Hotels and Visit Florida