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“Fantasy” and “opulence” are words Argentine titan developer Alan Faena frequently uses in conversation to describe his vision for the Faena Hotel. And a visit to the newly opened property is a delightfully disorienting experience. One moment you think you are in the home of an eccentric collector. Another, on the set of Moulin Rouge or perhaps you have travelled back in time to a luxe 1940s Miami Beach hotel.

The 1948 modernist Saxony Hotel has been elegantly restored. (Todd Eberle)

“I wanted to create a place that encourages magic to happen,” Faena said in an interview. And so he enlisted a star-studded roster of collaborators, including artist Damien Hirst and Hollywood power couple director Baz Luhrmann and Oscar-winning costume/set designer Catherine Martin.

This is Faena’s bold and reverential attempt to recreate a lavish 21st-century version of the Golden Age of Miami.

The lobby features giant gold leaf columns. (Kris Tamburello)

LOCATION, LOCATION

The hotel is in the heart of Miami’s Mid-Beach, once a mid-20th century luxury destination that later fell into decay and is now seeing a renaissance. A six-block chunk of Mid-Beach is now called Faena District for the developer’s still-evolving, billion-dollar, imagination-infused project that will have its own cultural venue and shopping bazaar.

In the meantime, take a short expedition to Wanderlista, a concept store featuring a collection of rare vintage items and pieces from emerging global designers. For a quick, mini-art experience, cross the street to the newly renovated Casa Claridge’s Hotel and visit its elevator (yes, elevator) that hosts installations from Miami artists.

The rooms of the Faena Hotel have been designed by Oscar-winning costume/set designer Catherine Martin. (Nik Koenig)

DESIGN

The postwar exterior of architect Roy France’s 1948 modernist Saxony Hotel have been beautifully restored. Once inside the Saxony reboot, however, almost everything is new, except the giant gold leaf columns that line the lobby. Argentine painter Juan Gatti’s eight floor-to-ceiling colour-saturated murals are replete with golden snakes, white winged stallions, jewel encrusted daggers and amulets known to ward off the evil eye.

Touches of glamour are evidence throughout the rooms. (Nik Koenig)

In the guest rooms, costume designer Martin’s handiwork is clear: turquoise and red rugs on white-oak floors, scalloped sconces illuminating each side of the bed and gold-tassel ties on the teal chenille curtains.

On the balcony, guests lounge in turquoise sofas with retro red piping, flanked by marble topped side tables. Screens with peacocks painted on them (another Martin touch) divide the balconies.

Serene morning breakfasts on the Veranda eatery come with an ocean breeze. (Nik Koenig)

The public spaces, as hotel visitor and Chicago interior designer Stephanie Wirth puts it, “evoke a mood of Versace opulence and decadence with a dash of vintage-store whimsy.” Try to picture furniture in zebra print and red leather with a taxidermied white peacock watching over a collection of curiousities such as geodes and stag horn coral on glass tables supported by brass storks.

The garden, pool area and beach are less visually busy, except for maybe Hirst’s enormous 24-karat gold leaf mammoth skeleton by the pool.

One of Faena's restaurants, Pao, offers a sea urchin specialty called Unicorn.(Juan Fernando Ayora)

EAT IN OR EAT OUT

Why head out when there is so much to try in-house? Serene mornings on the Veranda eatery come with an ocean breeze, rich espresso and huevos rancheros on bone china, all to the tune of Si Te Contara by Cuban crooner Ibrahim Ferrer. For dinner, step into the dramatic atmosphere of Los Fuegos, chef Francis Mallmann’s open fire Argentine style restaurant. Here, a large chandelier art installation flickers every time lightning strikes the pampas in Argentina as you dine on iron-charred wild salmon or rack of lamb with roasted herbs and pistachio dressing. At Faena’s other restaurant, Pao, chef Paul Qui’s Philippine and Japanese-inflected menu offers taste curiosities such as peanut gazpacho and a sea urchin specialty, aptly named Unicorn after another golden Hirst statue in the centre of the room.

The balconies feature turquoise sofas, which are tied to the mostly-red interior furniture by the rug, which includes both colours.

BEST AMENITY

Attending to you on Faena’s wide, white-sand beach is a staff so attuned to your needs they clean your sunglasses on the spot and even apologize if a too-strong gust of wind ruffles your newspaper.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING

Faena has butlers, but Downton Abbey’s Carson they ain’t. The charming red-jacketed young people are perfectly lovely when you meet them in the hallways, but fail to show up swiftly when you have a problem (albeit a first-world problem) to solve.

Miami’s Mid-Beach was once a mid-20th century luxury destination that later fell into decay.

WHO YOU’LL MEET

Faena is a celebrity magnet. Queen-of-pop Madonna holed up on three floors of the hotel, and there have been John Legend, Pitbull and Zac Efron sightings as well as a not-as-glamorous Kevin O’Leary appearance. The hotel draws a moneyed, sophisticated international and understated clientele who probably prefer Tesla to Rolls.

Faena Hotel, 3201 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, Fla., faena.com/miami-beach. Rooms from $745 (U.S.).

The writer was a guest of the hotel.