Hotel of South Beach renamed. Famed News Café reopening there
.JPG "Patrons eat outside in December 2008 at the famous News Cafe, 800 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, that opened in December 1988. After a 17-month closure, the cafe is coming back to life in May.")
The Hotel of South Beach is getting a new name: Goldman Properties will rename the hotel The Tony Hotel South Beach after the company’s founder, the renowned South Beach developer Tony Goldman in honor of the 10th anniversary of his death.
The company also said the popular News Café will reopen in May after a 17-month hiatus. It is located on the ground floor of The Tony Hotel South Beach on Ocean Drive.
“The News Cafe was probably the most iconic and most popular people-watching outdoor cafe in all of the United States,” said Scott Srebnick, the CEO of Goldman Properties and Tony Goldman’s son-in-law.
The art deco hotel originally was named Tiffany Hotel. After being sued by jeweler Tiffany & Co., Goldman Properties had renamed the lodging property The Hotel of South Beach.
“It was a generic name. After reopening the hotel after COVID, we wanted to really give this hotel an identity and we think this is a fitting name, given Tony’s stature and involvement in bringing South Beach back to life,” Srebnick said Tuesday, noting the hotel was closed from March 2020 through October 2021.
Goldman climbed to development fame after he bought 18 rundown properties in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in the 1980s, paving the way for the area to become one of the trendiest, and most expensive, parts of Manhattan. Goldman later brought his cash with him to Miami in 1985 and began buying up art deco properties along Ocean Drive, acquiring one a month for 18 months, which played a pivotal role in revitalizing the area that had fallen into disrepair.
Besides the hotel renaming for Goldman, Srebnick was pleased to announce the reopening of the News Café, a South Beach landmark.
The News Café was previously owned by restaurateur Mark Soyka. Goldman Properties, which owns the retail space where the News Café is located, acquired the brand from Soyka. The cafe will reopen in a couple of months under the management of Vida y Estilo Restaurant Group.
“We’re working with Vida y Estilo group. They’re going to be faithful to ... the look and feel and nostalgia of the News Café,” Srebnick said, noting that the South Beach institution was a favorite spot of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace, who got his newspaper and breakfast at the cafe every day.
Versace was shot and killed on his way home from the News Café in 1997.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 2:31 PM.