MUTINY HOTEL
The Mutiny Hotel was developed in the late seventies from a an apartment building, converted to a thriving hotel booked 93% of the time, on Sailboat Bay in Coconut Grove. The owner, Burton Goldberg, developed the hotel for his guests traveling from South America to visit his well known Mutiny Club…a two level private nighttime venue, perched on the front of the twelve story building. Ten rooms were developed by his girl friend Denise Domb, until I was brought from San Francisco in 1978 to complete 94 of the 103 rooms. It was made possible with the help of a diligent hotel staff of five ‘engineers’ who barely spoke a word of English. Each room in the hotel was different than the next with Roman tubs in most. Recently in the Fall of 2017 a most compelling book, Scarface Hotel, written by Roben Farzad, depicts the goings-on in the hotel and club, known as the hang out of high rollers and drug cartel. Partying in the hotel room hot tubs, ordering flaming drinks on the ‘poop deck’, mingling among the adoring audience of the pole dancers, or witnessing the club turn into Carnival Night, was all part of the club allure. As a design project it was challenging to manage a maintenance crew who built the rooms in-house, with little or no experience. Also to work with a housekeeping staff educated in how to maintain everything from polished plaster walls, patin leather upholstery, tatami mats or velvet curtains! There has never been another hotel of its size and popularity in this country and probably never will be again. It was the passion of a single man, his dedication for creativity, finding the personnel to fulfill his dream of a Club and Hotel, to serve his clients with lavish entertainment. From rooms adorned with huge fruit baskets, elegantly dressed girls in hats evening attire, live orchids set in corners of the dark club, for the guests to give their women and record sales of Dom Pérignon, that all made The Mutiny Hotel and Club an international sensation.
Photos by Dan Forer