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The Mutiny Hotel

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Coordinates: 25°43′38″N 80°14′24″W / 25.7273°N 80.2400°W / 25.7273; -80.2400
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The Mutiny Hotel
Sailboat Bay Hotel
The Mutiny Hotel pool area
Mutiny Hotel is located in Miami
Mutiny Hotel
Mutiny Hotel
Mutiny Hotel is located in Florida
Mutiny Hotel
Mutiny Hotel
Mutiny Hotel is located in the United States
Mutiny Hotel
Mutiny Hotel
Alternative namesThe Mutiny Hotel on the Bay in Coconut Grove
Hotel chainProvident Resorts
General information
StatusLuxury Hotel Resort
TypeHigh-Rise[1]
Architectural stylePostmodern[1]
LocationMiami-Dade County, Florida
Address2951 South Bayshore Drive
Town or cityCoconut Grove
CountryUnited States of America
Coordinates25°43′38″N 80°14′24″W / 25.7273°N 80.2400°W / 25.7273; -80.2400
Elevation2 metres (6.6 ft)
CompletedJune 1968[1]
Opened1969
Renovated1998
Closed1985
Cost$3,800,000[1]
Height41.93 m (137 ft 7 in)[1]
Technical details
MaterialConcrete[1]
Floor countTwelve[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)
  • Thurston Hatcher
  • Sackman 2 Architects
[2][1]
Other information
Number of rooms90
Number of suites90
Number of restaurants1
Number of bars1
Website
The Mutiny Hotel

The Mutiny Hotel or The Mutiny Hotel on the Bay in Coconut Grove is a luxury hotel and resort located at Biscayne Bay on the Eastern Seaboard southwest of the Downtown Miami Historic District and Miami Beach Architectural District.

History

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Sailboat Bay was built by Burton Goldberg[3] in the Coconut Grove Historic District in 1968 as a 105-suite apartment building costing $3.5 million.[4] In constructing the complex, described as Coconut Grove's first high-rise, 100 coral boulders were shipped from west Dade County.[5] The apartments were converted to hotel units in 1976.[6] The Mutiny name was first associated with a private club on the property opened in 1971.[7] During the 1970s and 1980s the clientele included athletes, Hollywood celebrities, and musicians, including Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Crosby & Nash, whose song "Mutiny" on their Whistling Down the Wire album is a tribute to this hotel;[3][8] it drew comparisons to Studio 54.[9] Hotel rooms were themed, including the Bordello Room, Gypsy Caravan, and Hot Fudge.[3]

In 1983, a consortium of investors was loaned $13.5 million by the Sunrise Savings and Loan to buy the hotel, in part based on an appraisal that the hotel was worth $5 million more than it actually was. The borrowers defaulted, Sunrise sank into receivership over a series of bad loans in 1985, and efforts began to sell the property. However, that ownership coincided with a dramatic decline in quality. The Mutiny went from being the premier business hotel in the area to a "drug den" over the course of the 1980s,[10] gaining a reputation as a preferred hotel of "cocaine cowboys".[11] Ricardo "Monkey" Morales used it as an office, and one drug dealer, Carlos Fernando Quesada, had a private table.[12] In one famous 1980 incident, two men who were likely freebasers burned a bundle of cash and scrambled 10 floors down the balcony in an attempt to evade police.[13] The Mutiny was depicted in the movie Scarface as the Babylon Club; Goldberg refused to allow filming on the property, so it was recreated in West Palm Beach.[3] In 1987, police stormed a party held at the Mutiny with 100 attendees.[14]

The Stadler Development Companies of Coral Gables and two Boston developers purchased the hotel from the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation in 1989 with the intention of converting it to an all-suite property.[14] Later that year, the group assigned its rights to Miami developer Manny Medina.[12] Medina closed the hotel in preparation for major renovations, but neighborhood activists opposed a plan to reconstruct the parking garage.[15] In 1991, a decline in the economy led Citibank to foreclose on Medina's mansion, and the project was put on hold.[16] Abandoned for years and with its furnishings having been auctioned off in 1990, the building was subject to break-ins and the subject of neighbor complaints.[17]

In 1996, Flagler Development bought the structure, which at that point was merely a structural shell due to asbestos abatement work, with the intention of converting it into 178 condominiums that their owners could also rent out.[18][11] The $28 million renovation concluded in late 1998,[19] and the hotel reopened in April 1999, with Coastal Hotel Group and Provident Resorts operating it.[20] Another renovation was conducted in 2010.[21]

In 2017, journalist Roben Farzad wrote a book, Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami, on the hotel's heyday,[9] recalling the years when it was a "criminal free-trade zone" and the leading seller of Dom Pérignon in the world.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Mutiny Hotel". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "People in the news: Architect firm in shift". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. May 5, 1972. p. 12-D. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Cohen, Howard (November 20, 2016). "Mutiny Hotel's visionary, Burton Goldberg, dies at 90". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 18A. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Grove High-Rise Hits Halfway Mark". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. June 23, 1968. p. 12-G. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Sailboat Bay Offers Waterfall". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. May 26, 1968. p. 173. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Rau, Herb (April 7, 1976). "NAL stewardess played it smart". The Miami News. Miami, Florida. p. 13A. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Johnson, April (November 2, 1971). "Party Honors Newlyweds". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 2-D. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Graham Nash opens up about Crosby, Spotify, Joni and why he's curious; he's in Broward soon". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. March 10, 2022. p. 6C/7C. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b "'Hotel Scarface' recounts glamorous, infamous epicenter of Miami's cocaine days". PBS NewsHour. December 27, 2017. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  10. ^ Kane, Gary (January 29, 1989). "Sunrise: How to lose $600 million". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. p. 1A, 18A. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Gehrke White, Donna (August 10, 1997). "Condo/hotel concept gains fans; Mutiny joins trend". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 1H, 12H. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Medina buys Mutiny Hotel". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. October 24, 1989. p. 5B, 12B. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Beyer, Shula (June 24, 1980). "Pair Nabbed Scrambling Down Hotel". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 1C. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Reed, Ted (March 1, 1989). "4th deal for Mutiny made: Grove hotel to be renovated into suites". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 4B. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Rogers, Peggy (August 11, 1990). "Developer, Grove residents spar over hotel renovation". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 6B. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Reveron, Derek (March 23, 1991). "Bank forecloses on mansion: Developer's properties are at stake". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 1C. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Cavanaugh, Joanne (March 24, 1994). "Some in Grove feel slighted as mayor dines with Clinton". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. Neighbors 12. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Paiva Cordle, Ina (June 4, 1996). "Mutiny to get new life as respectable condo: Unsavory types cavorted at notorious hotel". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 7B, 11B. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Check-in time nears for Mutiny: Condominium-hotel concept takes shape". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. December 4, 1998. p. 1C, 3C. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Hospitality/Marine Notes". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. April 5, 1999. p. Your Business 7. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Cashill, Margaret (February 1, 2010). "Provident invests in property upgrades". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  22. ^ Farzad, Roben (October 17, 2017). "Coconut Grove's Mutiny Hotel Was the Cocaine Kingpins' Playground". Miami New Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.

Bibliography

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Bramson, Seth H. (2005). Miami Beach ~ Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0738541747. OCLC 62219998.
Bramson, Seth H. (2007). Miami: The Magic City ~ Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0738543680. OCLC 85822162.
Parks, Arva Moore; Bennett, Bo (2010). Coconut Grove ~ Images of America. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1439626382. OCLC 639158591.
Kushlan, James A.; Hines, Kirsten N. (2014). Key Biscayne ~ Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1467113229. OCLC 898889960.
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