While hotel occupancies are up, it’s been a rough go of it for
Florida’s lodging industry of late. But a few new hotels are due to open
on Miami Beach, and they all have one thing in common: Luigi Vitalini. The
Italian-born architect moved to Miami as a teenager and studied at the
University of Miami. He operates VC Architects in Coral Gables with
partner Pablo Corazzini, and has designed the already-open Sense Hotel,
along with the soon-to-open Prime Hotel and Villa Italia, which will
open in the fall. The hotels are low-scale, between 14 and 18 rooms
each. Vitalini spoke with The Real Deal about his projects and
the state of design in Miami.  

How does Miami hotel design compare with New York?
I do
think a lot of the hotels that we’ve been getting here in Miami are
starting to become comparable, in terms of creativity, with some of the
New York hotels. They’re starting to do a lot of design, more quirky
than in New York. I think in Miami with the sun and the beaches you can
get a little more playful in general. [more]