Nearly seven years after being ravaged by Hurricane Irma, one of the landmark resorts of Fort Lauderdale is back in business.
Pier Sixty-Six reopened on Jan. 10, after being shuttered for redevelopment since 2017. The property, now with 325 rooms, has been a pillar of Fort Lauderdale tourism since it opened in 1965.
The good news for fans of the old resort is that the iconic midcentury modern tower with its space-age, hat-like roof has been restored.
But the rest of the 32-acre resort might be unrecognizable to many past guests.
I toured the hotel recently with Brett Boreing, executive director of sales and marketing. The owners, Orlando's Tavistock Group, were set to redo the resort in the spring of 2020 when Covid struck. Forced to hit the pause button, they came back with an even more upscale plan than the initial one.
The hotel, which is not affiliated with any chain, now has a private club with its own pool, a pair of condos and two more residential buildings with units that can go in a vacation rental pool. Prices for those units range from $3.85 million to $15.5 million, Boreing said.
When all is completed, there will be 12 restaurants and lounges, three pools, three ballrooms, a spa and 164 marina slips along the 17th Street Causeway.
Boreing said the foundations of the resort were extensively fortified before any new building during the redevelopment. Pier Sixty-Six may not have been ready for the last hurricane, but it is clearly better prepared for the next.
Boreing said the effect Pier Sixty-Six is striving for is luxurious but relaxed. The brand pillars adopted by management company CoralTree Hospitality are "marina lifestyle" and "on the water, of the water," he said.
The design is a mix of midcentury modern and Mediterranean, with a clean, light cream, brown and blue palette. One striking aspect is the indoor-outdoor ambience provided by the high ceilings and fold-open, floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the resort.
With 32 acres to work with, the owners wanted to emphasize spaciousness, Boreing said. A lot of thought went into arrivals and departures, so the residential and ballroom spaces each have dedicated road branches. Restaurants are meant to be used by locals, so there is easy vehicle access to many of them.
Most of the resort rooms are in the original 17-story tower and an addition that has been added onto its side. A king standard room I toured had furniture and fixtures with lots of curves. There is a smart toilet and a phone app that controls features such as lights and air conditioning.
The addition has roomy balconies 8-feet deep, while the original tower has triangle and rectangular balconies alternating by floor.
Dining options abound, with cuisines of France, Spain, Italy, Greece and the eastern Mediterranean well represented. The showcase Calusso includes an exhibition kitchen and a small chef's table. Garni Cafe, with a windowed, two-story atrium, has an all-day brunch menu.
A king standard room at the resort. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pier Sixty-Six
Top is spinning once again
But the real excitement surrounds the return of the Pier Top revolving lounge atop the original tower, which had been decommissioned under previous owners. Opened in 1965, three years after Seattle's Space Needle, the restaurant revolved once every 66 minutes, giving diners a 360-degree skyline experience.
"The first question everybody asks is, 'Is the Pier Top going to rotate again?'" Boreing said. After finishing touches, the Pier Top is expected to start serving fancy cocktails and light snacks sometime in March.
The Pier Sixty-Six name evolved from a marina fuel dock opened on the site in 1957 by the Phillips 66 gasoline chain. In-house architect Richard F. Humble had been designing gas stations with space-age features and carried over the concept to the resort.
With the reopening, past guests are requesting to book rooms they occupied in the tower on special occasions in years past, Boreing said. Since the tower has been reconfigured, it's not always a simple task.
Beyond FIT guests, Pier Sixty-Six is well located to get upscale cruise and convention business.
"We're a good venue for a VIP block," Boreing said. The resort will also be a sponsor of the massive Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show each fall and expects to benefit from that event.
Three ballrooms feature 42,000 square feet of business or social function space. The largest can accommodate 600 guests.
For all its charms and amenities, one the resort lacks is a beach, even though the sand is within viewing distance. Never fear, Boreing said: "We have ways to get you to the beach, both by land and by water."
Pier Sixty-Six will offer incentives to travel agents as outlined in consortia agreements, Boreing said. Already, it has hosted the Virtuoso Travel Forum in late January and a regional group of Signature advisors in February.
"I loved the Pier 66 hotel. It is without hesitation that I would call it No. 1 for this Florida city," said Valerie Wilson, CEO of Valerie Wilson Travel, who attended the Virtuoso event.
Rooms start at $599 for a standard king and run up to the 3,000-square-foot, $5,000-a-night Presidential Suite with panoramic views of Fort Lauderdale, the Atlantic Ocean, the Intracoastal Waterway and cruise ships in Port Everglades.
Correction: Prices for residential units range from $3.85 million to $15.5 million. A previous version of this report had an incorrect price range.