One of the most highly anticipated hotel debuts of 2017 will be the Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, prepping to open soon on a 1,000-foot-stretch of beach in Surfside, Florida. A legendary retreat dating from 1930, The Surf Club has served as a private hideaway for the likes of Sinatra and Churchill. It’s now getting a new lease on life thanks to developer Nadim Ashi, who is reopening the property-- after a substantial investment and renovation—as a 77-room hotel and 119 private residences. The original building by celebrated architect Russell Pancoast has been preserved, with new additions (12-story transparent towers) by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier.
Highlights will be the private cabanas on the beach, an extensive spa overlooking the ocean, and—perhaps most buzzed about—restaurants by Thomas Keller, one of the country’s top chefs. In breaking the announcement of his latest venture, The Miami Herald describes Keller as “the chef who elevated fine dining in America with the landmark restaurants French Laundry in northern California and Per Se in Manhattan.” Taking inspiration from The Surf Club’s history, this concept restaurant will be—to quote the chef—“a tip of the hat to a time when America was the most optimistic, when the appeal in America, the pride in America, was at its peak. The glamor, the celebration, that’s the kind of restaurant this will be.”