{"id":326112,"date":"2026-07-01T16:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:27:13","slug":"four-seasons-fort-lauderdale-brings-maritime-glamour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326112\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale brings maritime glamour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida’s former spring break capital has shed its party reputation, emerging as a sophisticated yachting destination where Four Seasons’ arrival signals a new era of refined waterfront luxury.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWriter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClarissa Sebag-Montefiore\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

For decades, Fort Lauderdale has been known as an infamous \u201cspring break\u201d destination for students keen to party. Lately the Florida beach city has been quietly cleaning up its act and today it offers family-friendly fun with a gleam of old-world glamour, courtesy not just of its miles-long beach but the warren of canals and inland waterways that have made the city a global yachting stop-off.<\/p>\n

\"OceanOcean sundeck<\/p>\n

\"ExteriorHotel\u2019s exterior and entrance<\/p>\n

\"HoneyHoney Fitz caf\u00e9 and champagne bar<\/p>\n

\"CoupleNorth Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of the change in the current is the Four Seasons, which opened in a prime waterfront location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean this March. \u201cThe Four Seasons will be a gamechanger here,\u201d says British designer Tara Bernerd, who outfitted much of the hotel\u2019s interior. \u201cIt adds a gravitas to the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 525 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, the 189-room hotel and the private residences next door both play on the city\u2019s nautical past, with a transatlantic design crew at the helm. The building\u2019s curves, courtesy of Miami architect Kobi Karp, are reminiscent of sails, while Miami-based Fernando Wong Outdoor Living Design has created an ocean sundeck, complete with an infinity pool and plenty of greenery. The hotel\u2019s caf\u00e9 and champagne bar, Honey Fitz, is named after the presidential yacht used by John F Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Bernerd\u2019s interiors draw on what she calls the \u201cpalmy Floridian river lifestyle\u201d; for her, Fort Lauderdale has something of the French Riviera about it, albeit with a more upfront, tropical twist. Varnished wooden accents take their cue from classic yachts designed by heritage US boatbuilder Chris-Craft. Added to the mix are mid-century-inspired furniture and windows framed in antique brass.<\/p>\n

The bespoke pieces were created by Tara Bernerd & Partners for the hotel, including an oversized credenza in the lobby, based on a vintage 1950s Italian piece in Bernerd\u2019s own London home. \u201cWe do not cut and paste,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery project is a character of its own. I don\u2019t theme things. But it\u2019s a little homage to where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PortraitTara Bernerd<\/p>\n

\"ElegantSeating in one of the hotel bedrooms<\/p>\n

\"Mid-centuryMid-century-inspired furniture in the lobby<\/p>\n

If the interior design of the hotel harks back to the elegance of times gone by, its restaurant, Evelyn\u2019s, is firmly future-focused. Up-and-coming chef Brandon Salomon serves coastal classics (lobster rolls, oysters, a freshly netted seafood platter), alongside experimental Mediterranean flavours inspired by Salomon\u2019s Moroccan grandmother. The Lebanese kibbeh is made with tuna (rather than lamb); homemade chocolate ice cream is mixed with Urfa biber (Turkish pepper). The cocktails also utilise ingredients from the Levant: date molasses, cardamom, za\u2019atar, pomegranate and rosewater.<\/p>\n

And while Bernerd is keen to emphasise that the coastal touches are just that \u2013 touches \u2013 she describes opening a hotel as a piece of theatre. \u201cWe draw back our curtains and it\u2019s daytime,\u201d she says. \u201cBut as the evening comes, the whole colour scheme changes.\u201d Like the ocean, which the Four Seasons overlooks, \u201cit\u2019s a living organism, a moving vessel\u201d.
fourseasons.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida’s former spring break capital has shed its party reputation, emerging as a sophisticated yachting destination where Four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[28,249,251,250,11938,134841,87942,88888,46520,27475,134842,134843,19235],"class_list":["post-326112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-four-seasons","tag-hospitality-design","tag-hotel-design","tag-hotel-openings","tag-luxury-hospitality","tag-luxury-hotels","tag-tara-bernerd","tag-waterfront-hotels","tag-yachting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}