The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami ( after $100+ million renovation)

The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne is always a sentimental favorite having lived on the key and just truly loving this little spot of paradise. If you're curious what the hotel looked like before the renovation, please see our "before" video (brilliantly!) titled Ritz Carlton Before Renovation. Just opened mid-December 2025 after the hotel's first complete renovation since opening in 2001, The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne lunges toward a desired 5 star rating in Great Gatsby fashion. Resembling Longboat Key's St. Regis, already boasting a 5 star rating in its first year and also under the Marriott umbrella, toes also in the sand, there are surprising no crossover designers. The recent major renovation of The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne credits Hart Howerton as the design architect, DesignAgency for the public spaces, and Chapi Chapo Design for the redesigned guestrooms with The Johnson Studio also designing new dining. Ownership is also different with Gencom at the helm of RCKBM led by Karim Alibhai. Dropped is any Latin influence for a more Caribbean/Mediterranean feel with the exterior boasting an ivory facade with sage, blues, beige, reds and pinks sprinkled about the interior and expanded exterior lounging spots. Our club level executive suite featured pickled wood furniture with more rustic upholstery with some marble and leather accents. The highlight was absolutely the gorgeous bath and shower area with brass fixtures finally including a shower spray and a truly classy soaking tub set apart from the rest of the bathroom in a much appreciated and unique luxury set up. The sophisticated Kettal balcony furnishings also are a massive improvement lending to the upscale feel. Lightkeepers is replaced by Luma, which is top tier We especially enjoyed the carpaccio, tuna crudo and rosemary focaccia loaf along with an unexpectedly tasty cava. The decor is art deco in a vibe I thought hit the mark better than the St. Regis' similar Italian offering. The lobster and truffle pastas were tasty. Beach and poolside Cantina is now Paralía. We sampled the Meze Experience, which was good. Dune is Dune with the same great burgers and the guacamole imported from the previous Cantina (though no longer made table side) and a spot that feels like South Beach's calmer cousin and to everyone's delight, Geno is still there in all his cocktail crafting glory. The Rum Bar is still the Rum Bar although totally different. The Cuban nod is no longer and this was the area I was sure I would miss the most but the change is beautiful. It's not the super comfy, plop on a leather couch it used to be but it's grown up and I guess I have as well. The Marketplace is now Pura Vida, a Miami based company and a great branding cooperative. Also staying the same is Stephano's pizza available poolside, which also saw no notable changes but upgraded lounge cushions, which the beach also received along with new beige umbrellas. I'm not the most ardent supporter of change and like a lot of people, I do miss the grand staircase and the one for every room display of roses, which will maybe appear again someday and while not Latin myself, I think the ambiance suits the key and Miami clientele. I get the vibe and me encanta. But having missed Cioppino, I was thrilled to enjoy Luma so much, Greek and Turkish food are certainly culinary favorites and when given the choice to dress more casually or kick it up a notch, I kick. The revisions are lovely. What has stayed the same respected and above any fixture hauled in or gussied up, what struck me most was the Ladies and Gentlemen, some legacy members and others brand new, who absolutely made the experience what it should be and what always distinguishes a 5 star property. A reminder that I film these videos on an iPhone on vacation and without the benefit of production to clear the set or keep the door to the bedroom from slamming shut from the wind on all 15 takes, write all the copy, choose and pay for all the music, edit everything myself and respect the privacy of other guests in an irony not lost on me that in my professional life as Director of the Commercial Division of a Milan-Paris based modeling agency, I spent a considerable amount of time convincing clients that including my talent in their advertising was crucial, I do everything I can to exclude any human, most especially myself. "So we beat on, boats against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past."