In for a week of meetings under the aegis of CISAC, a bi-annual gathering of Common Information System executives from Societies – lots of technical discussions as well as for some of us critical management issues to address...
Staying at a hotel in Coral Gables – not the Biltmore though. (There was a great story in the NYTimes the weekend before on Miami and how much they were “feeling the heat” down there, with hotel bargains abounding, including at some of the trendier ones such as the Gansevoort South – so I checked the Gansevoort and the bargains were not that good – perhaps the Times article gave them a boost after all...) At any rate decided to go to the Biltmore Hotel for dinner with “Florida-resident-Canadian-snow-bird” sister and her partner, Rolande and Denis.
Fabulous facilities! Built in the 20’s, in the “Mediterranean-revival” style, it is now a National Historic Landmark (you actually find strong Spanish, Moorish and Italian accents throughout – the hotel centerpiece, its 15-story bell-tower, is actually modeled after the Giralda Tower in Sevilla). Huge grounds – fabled golf course – and largest swimming pool in the US – my kind of pool! (We had drinks by it at the Cascade Pool Bar & Grill; I read that it was the site of all sorts of aquatic events, from Esther Williams’ synchronized swimming shows to Johnny Weissmuller’s training, the water instructor and world record-breaker prior to his tree-swinging days in Hollywood as Tarzan, from waterskiing performances to alligator wrestling!)
It is interesting to note that the Biltmore went through various states over its history, from being converted into a hospital during the WWII and for veterans afterwards, until the late sixties’, to being a site for the University of Miami’s School of Medicine. It was converted back into a hotel in the 80’s, owned by the City of Coral Gables, and now operated by a private company.
In the tradition of other Biltmore hotels we stayed at or visited (especially the one in Phoenix, Arizona, built according to Frank Lloyd Wright’s design at about the same time), I wondered what was the link between all these Biltmore hotels that share the same grandiose style, to find out that the name Biltmore comes from an unrelated property built by one of the scions of the famed Vanderbilt family, in Asheville, North Carolina, at the end of the 19th century, a Chateau-de-la-Loire inspired massive castle that you can still visit as a museum. The name was exploited by hotel owner and operator, John McEntee Bowman, a Canadian from Ontario, who started the chain by buying his first hotel in New-York City, and being associated with the construction of Biltmore hotels in Coral Gables (with local-celebrated developer George E. Merrick), Los Angeles and Havana. I guess the name “Biltmore” became associated with a certain genre of establishments and was borrowed by others, such as for the one in Arizona, or the one I also visited in Santa Barbara (Montecito more precisely), California, in the 70’s, another classic hotel built in the 20’s. There is probably behind all those connections, but that suffices me at this point...
Dined al fresco at the Fontana, built in the central courtyard of the hotel around a large fountain; excellent Italian (Cynthia had the special-of-the-day Stone crab as an entrée and the orecchiette with Italian sausage as mains, Rolande, the beef carpaccio and the pan-seared Chilean seabass, Denis, the minestrone soup-of-the-day and the vitello al limone, and I, the diced Ahi tuna tartare - without the cucumber salad mix! – and the fettucine with porcini mushrooms, with 2 decently-priced “vins de Bourgogne”: a Xavier Monnot 2006, and a 1er cru, Pernand-Vergelesses, Louis Latour 2005.
( Sylvia, André, Cynthia and I returned to the Biltmore during the week, to dine at the French restaurant, the Palme d’or, where that night, lucky us, everything on the wine list was half price! Great food by French chef Philippe Ruiz, and unlike usual American practice where dishes come in the oversized variety, here you must order at least 2 mains to have your fill!)
http://www.biltmorehotel.com/index.php
