By: Shanut Anaut
live | play

The Resurgence Of MiMo | The Vagabond Motel

press to play as you read 

Honesty Hour: I am completely & utterly obsessed with the MiMo District.

MiMo Cheat Sheet:

  • MiMo is short for Miami Modern Architecture
  • Runs roughly from 50th St through 77th St on Biscayne Boulevard
  • Think 1950’s Miami (amazing)

Now that we got that out of the way, enter stage left Avra Jain; the developer bringing those eclectic blocks of Biscayne Blvd &, more importantly in relation to this post, The Vagabond Motel back to life.

1953, The Vagabond Motel

TVM was designed in 1953 by architect Robert Swartburg (the same guy responsible for SoBe’s Delano. Cool huh?) on the motel ridden Biscayne. Why motel ridden? “The advent of the automobile era increased traveling, and thus also the need for lodging” as per Mandy Baca from The New Tropic.

Snagging it for $1.9M, A.J. put the iconic Vagabond Motel through a major restoration… multi-million dollar type of major.

Rewind to some time last week, whilst browsing the Miami real estate blogs I ran into an article raving about Avra’s work on the Boulevard. I did a little research & to make a long story short, my very long workday did not end without driving by the Vagabond first. The vibe was right & I was back by 6pm on Sunday. Snapchat as my witness. This time to see what was behind the big, green grass wall.

I walked into what felt like an oasis in the middle of a desert. So much green, so much water, so much happiness. Every person there relaxingly enjoying life, including the staff & Avra.  I had a cocktail by the bar as a 50’s style band played live across the pool. I could not have been more impressed. Complete with the quintessential motel room-turned-office at the front, the motel-day feel was genuine. Every last retro-luxe detail was simple, perfect & in place to make a statement.

Avra, wearing comfy jeans, flip flops & a polo, mingled around & enjoyed of her masterpiece, too. On the way out, my aunt & I had to let her know how incredibly pleased we were with our experience there. Two words to describe her response: humble & awesome.

Check out the official website for detailed history, booking info & pics  –> The Vagabond Hotel , & let them know live | play sent you when you visit.

On my top 5 Miami favorites, for certain. I wasn’t able to see the rooms as they were (unsurprisingly) all booked, but I will be back soon with a write up to correspond. Appropriate song choice or what? Motel Pool by Travis Garland

Bye for now! – Shanut