Craft House Client, Generator, Featured In Condé Nast Traveler

Generator, Miami

Generator, the London-based brand that turned die-hard hotel lovers into hostel converts, is finally coming stateside in August 2018 at 3120 Collins Avenue on South Beach. 

Generator, Europe's Hostel for Grown-Ups, Is Opening Soon in Miami

"For the first Generator in the United States, we could not ask for a more perfect setting than Miami, considered home to one of the largest collections of design and style in the world…”

By Erin Florio, CNT

Hailed as the company's first-ever resort (meaning that unlike their 13 city locations in Europe, it has a pool, lounge chairs, and beach access), Generator Miami will have 105 rooms in a 1940s-era complex called the Atlantic Princess, directly across the road from icon and Condé Nast Traveler Gold List favorite The Faena. Famed South African muralist Chris Auret designed the mural on the facade by the swimming pool, while rooms by Miami-based Argent Design spearheaded the transformation of the building from condominium to hotel.

"For the first Generator in the United States, we could not ask for a more perfect setting than Miami, considered home to one of the largest collections of design and style in the world," said Generator CEO Alastair Thomann in a statement.

Generator became a staple on the hospitality scene in Europe in 2011, thanks to its non-hostel hostel approach to accommodation. Sure, its outposts have shared rooms. But they also have beautifully designed private ones, too. Food bears zero resemblance to the boxes of communal granola backpackers shared before hitting the Eiffel Tour in the nineties. And their bars—that's right, bars—are watering holes for entire cities (good luck getting into their three-week-old rooftop on Madrid's Gran Via).

Fans of European Generators will notice that more than just the pool makes the forthcoming Miami Generator distinct. Whereas 65 percent of the rooms in all their European outposts—including two in Berlin, one in Rome, Stockholm, and Paris—are shared spaces where travelers pay for a bed, Miami flips that.

"Miami and America are a more sophisticated market," said Thomann. "So private rooms will account for 65 percent of our floor plan at Generator Miami." In comparison, just 20 percent of the rooms at the Freehand, which opened in 2016 with a similar model, mere blocks north of where Generator will be, are private. Even better? Private doubles at Generator Miami start at just $95.

Thomann and his team did their homework, too: Renowned Miami mixologist Gui Jaroschy, who launched the Broken Shaker at the Freehand and is largely credited with introducing a serious cocktail scene in Miami, will lead their cocktail program, and Daniel Roy, formerly of Miami's Matador Room, will run point on the food.

Next time we're in Miami, you'll know exactly where to find us.