Maintaining one’s image in Miami is a lot of work, and keeping up with what’s haute in the Magic City can cost a pretty penny. Loews Hotel Miami Beach is finding that out first hand as they embark upon a $50 million facelift.

The Loews is located on a strip of Miami Beach filled to the brim with luxury hotels and condos, and competition is stiff, to say the least. Fortunately for Loews, standing out from the crowd isn’t that difficult when you’ve been a Miami Beach landmark for more than 10 years. Despite its reputation, however, Loews Chairman and CEO, Jonathan Tisch, felt it was finally time for a few (major) touch ups.

Tisch specifically was looking for a more dramatic, open, and inviting lobby for the hotel. This specification doesn’t come cheap or easy though, as it will require a complete overhaul and removal of a spiral staircase followed by the addition of a cascading water wall and a 20-foot long aquarium housing 5 fish.  Dramatic? I think so.

To cool down guests on hot Miami afternoons, the lobby will also be adding in an ice-cream shop near a new boutique where items from Trina Turk and Lacoste can be bought. The upstairs of the hotel is not immune from the renovations either, as guest rooms will be getting a more modern look which are said to include hand-designed headboards and color palettes that include lime greens, pale blues, and yellows.

Taking a technological cue from some of it’s equally luxurious neighboring hotels, Loews will also be incorporating flat screen TV’s embedded into mirrors in the suite bathrooms and replacing more traditional “Do Not Disturb” signs will be a doorbell outfitted to indicate whether guests would like housekeeping services or not. I could use one of those for my apartments, now that I think about it!

In addition (told you it was a massive overhaul) the hotel will be featuring motion detector sensors that will alert housekeeping if someone is in the room or not to avoid awkward “Just a minute!” calls to warn housekeeping that you’re actually still in the room they have just entered. A new “business center” panel will be installed to allow guests to use their TV screen to play DVD’s and MP3’s, or even just use the screen to attach to their computer.

Preparing for high season, in hopes this year will be better than last, the Loews renovations are scheduled to be completed sometime before the end of 2009, which means pretty darn soon considering it’s already the end of November. It’s likely the rushed, yet impressive, facelift has something to do with the Super Bowl being in town this year…clever Loews. Always one step ahead of the game.

Via: Hotel Chatter