The 186 rooms at the Surfcomber Hotel on Collins Avenue have all been refurbished. The South Asian street food-inspired restaurant is open. The lobby area holds a collection of well-curated knickknacks and surf-chic furnishings.

But on Thursday, during an event celebrating the property’s relaunch as a Kimpton hotel, everyone was cooing over the farm animals.

Cows — not living, but lifelike nonetheless — leaned over the pool, appearing to take a cool drink. A black sheep hung out near shrubbery. A bull peeked around a wall inside.

“Are these cows from Chicago?” asked guest Chuck Heaver, a Chicago resident who remembered the city’s cows-as-public-art-invasion in 1999.

Actually, they’re from Europe. But the bigger point, said executives with the boutique Kimpton chain that now includes the oceanfront Surfcomber, is that they represent the brand’s sense of playfulness and approachability.

“The Kimpton style is to have fun and be kind of whimsical,” said CEO Mike Depatie. “Breezy but still South Beach. We’re trying to be the opposite of tragically hip.”

The marriage of the 1948 Art Deco hotel at 1717 Collins Ave. and the San Francisco-based operator came about after longing from each side.

“South Beach in particular has been an area that we have coveted for a long time,” Depatie said.

Kimpton, a privately held company with 53 hotels in 23 markets, already manages the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami and the Vero Beach Hotel & Club. He said the Surfcomber was the right size, quality and location for the move to South Beach.

“What the property always needed was the personality Kimpton could bring,” said Robert Balzebre, majority owner of the hotel. “The fact that they weren’t in South Beach didn’t make any sense.”

DoubleTree used to run the hotel; the switch, which was effective in April 2011, came as the management contract with Hilton Worldwide was expiring.

Renovations started in June and cost between $10-$15 million, with the bulk of the changes finished in time to debut on Dec. 1. Some last updates to the pool area, cabanas and awnings are still in store.

A grand opening special on the hotel’s website touts some rooms for as low as $239 a night this weekend, but those rates go way up in peak season. For the weekend of March 9, for example, options range from $475 to $773 a night.

The Surfcomber is just one of several hotels on South Beach to get makeovers and new branding. The Royal Palm at 1545 Collins Ave., which is open during renovations, will relaunch as part of The James hotel brand, which also has properties in Chicago and New York.

The Continental Oceanfront South Beach Hotel, 1825 Collins Ave., is expected to become B South Beach in the fall after renovations. The Tides, at 1220 Ocean Dr., has been managed since December by the King & Grove Hotels, a new boutique brand with two properties in the Hamptons.

Several other iconic hotels — including the Delano, Shelborne and National — have been getting their own updates.

“It’s great for the city; it’s great for the properties,” said Surfcomber general manager Sean McKeen. “It elevates the industry and it really elevates the type of clientele that will be coming through the area.”

The area probably hasn’t seen the last new Kimpton hotel either.

“We think there’s more opportunity in South Beach. There may be more opportunity in downtown Miami even,” Depatie said. “We like South Florida and we would like to continue adding properties in South Florida.”