Florida - 1
Raj Mohan, above, is the very model of a modern hotelier, able to talk food through to golf, and cope effortlessly with hundreds of families checking in more or less simultaneously, and 800 employees (for a total of 685 keys).
We're at J.W.0 Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort and Spa, still majority owned by the Soffer, family, with 25% held by thee Reuben Brothers, who seem to be taking over the entire world. It was lovely to escape to this large, airy space, 300 acres in all, with, next to them, two 18-hole golf courses, one called Miller, one Soffer, both par 70, and 19 tennis courts and padel and pickle, and a marina.
There’s alsoa glorious wetness park, Tidal Cove. Girlahead had one of the 23 all-white cabanas, open on two opposite sides, with a bright blue sofa and table and two sun lounges, and a safe big enough to put several babies in, and a big television and a big cooling refrigerator and a view of the activity. The view from the cabana out and up to manicured palm trees was naturally mesmerizing, below. Tidal Cove has a lazy river that goes round and round, and two of those sky-high tube-like water chutes that twirl around and around before depositing screaming and happy younger people into the water below.
In the main, Girlahead was there. to talk to Raj Mohan about the challenges of running a mature establishment (it opened in 1972 and has been variously Rafael and Leading and Autograph Collection before becoming J.W. Marriott in 2020. Room 2507, in Coral Tower, was about 60 square metres and easy to understand visually, almost square in shape with a slight protrusion at one end forming the entrance corridor and bathroom zone, while at the far end a balcony stretches across the exterior wall. The balcony is about one and a half metres deep, plain concrete, equipped with two upright chairs and a table. Colour comes from the carpet, a muted beige-green, echoed by lighter beige-green walls. A soft cream-beige three-seater sofa with chaise extension adds comfort. Artwork is minimal and abstract, a pebble-shaped mirror above the sofa, plus an indistinct splash-like composition above the desk and another near the bed. In the bathroom, Aromatherapy pump pots - freestanding rather than fixed to the wall - are a definite touchpoint…
