Colony Hotel, Art Deco hotel building in Miami Beach, United States
The Colony Hotel is an Art Deco hotel building on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, United States. Its symmetric facade has rounded corners, louvred windows that wrap around the structure, and a stepped roofline painted in soft colors, with a bright blue sign that becomes the focal point after dark.
Henry Hohauser designed the building, which opened in 1935 during a wave of construction that reshaped Miami Beach. It survived the decline of South Beach in the 1970s and gained federal recognition when the area was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The lobby fireplace is clad in Vitrolite, a glossy material common in the 1930s, with a mural above it painted by Paul Simone in a style close to Diego Rivera. Visitors can stand in front of the building and see how the hanging eyebrows over the windows and the neon-lit sign create a welcoming, almost smiling front.
Plan a visit in the early morning or late afternoon when the light makes the facade easier to photograph and the sidewalk is less crowded. The hotel faces the sea, so bring a hat for sun exposure and allow time to walk the surrounding blocks on foot.
Look for the painted geometric wave pattern just below the roofline, a detail that visitors often miss while focusing on the large vertical sign. The hotel also appears in films and TV series such as Scarface and Miami Vice, which used its facade as a backdrop for scenes set in a polished, sunlit world.
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