Wynwood’s only hotel caters to both tourists and young entrepreneurs
By Kylie Wang
You’re a young entrepreneur who’s considering starting or moving your business to Miami. Maybe it’s a fintech company and you’re looking to join the new South Florida fintech hotspot, or maybe you’re a transplant from Silicon Valley looking to make a name for your company in Latin America. Whatever the case, you’ll need to visit Miami first, to figure out if the culture fits, where you’ll want to open your office, and maybe just to have a little fun. Look no further than the Arlo, the only hotel located in Miami’s Wynwood art and innovation district.
The Arlo is vibrant, joyful, and full of art and young people. It’s smack dab in the middle of Wynwood, with a plethora of restaurants, bars, galleries, and shops within walking distance. The hotel itself is home to a high-end restaurant, MaryGold’s, and two bars: Higher Ground, an indoor-outdoor cocktail bar located on the third floor, and a poolside bar with bites.
Despite being in a hotel, Higher Ground is something of a place to be on weekend nights, when the courtyard fills with tipsy tourists and loquacious locals looking for a handcrafted drink courtesy of Bar Lab, the company behind one of the top 50 bars in the world (Broken Shaker on Miami Beach). The bar has also recently expanded its offerings to include lunch and an extended happy hour, and there’s a barbecue station outside. (Pro tip: if you’re planning on partying here, get a room on the same floor so your stumble “home” will only take about 15 steps.)
The cocktails’ bases range from bourbon to gin to mezcal and everything in between, each enhanced by Higher Ground with a list of ingredients so long it’s surprising the bar isn’t bigger. Our favorite was “Above the Canopy,” which combines cucumber and mint vodka with St. Germain and Lustau Blanc Vermut, a liqueur made from botanicals and two kinds of sherries. As if that wasn’t quirky enough, it also has fresh aloe, eucalyptus, and cucumber soda. We spent quite a while questioning the sourcing – where the heck do you find cucumber soda? And if you’ve never heard of Lustau Blanc Vermut, you’re not alone.
The pool is heated to a refreshing 75 degrees with cabanas (complete with fans, TVs, and mini fridges) available for rent by the day, starting at $300 on weekdays and $600 on weekends. The bar on the deck offers drinks and bites, including an interesting watermelon dish, where the wedges are compressed and served with a citrus marinade and tajin. Odd, but also invigorating and juicy.
While the pool and Higher Ground might be more enjoyable, the fare pales in comparison to that of MaryGold’s, located in the lobby, where the cuisine is no less strange but wonderfully toothsome. From oxtail beignets to ricotta “pillows” to tortellini with escargot, the dishes from Chef Brad Kilgore are distinctive, inventive, and perfectly paired with a coterie of Bar Lab cocktails. We fell in love with the oxtail beignets ($20), which are a blend of savory and sweet, served with coconut-gouda cheese and green onion. Three to a plate, they’re easily shared and take the consumer on a culinary adventure. Also fantastic is the steak au poivre, a more traditional dish elevated not so much by out-of-the-box ingenuity as by the “extras” – spun mashed potatoes that are heavenly soft and delicately flavored, and a foie poivre sauce so delicious it led us to a Google search for similar recipes to make for ourselves. And around the corner in the lobby is MaryG’s, a grab-and-go-style café with coffee and snacks.
To work off all these extra calories, we recommend forsaking the Arlo’s gym (all the usual gear) and instead going for a walk in the neighborhood. The Arlo isn’t the only building decked out with art – almost all of Wynwood is covered in paint. Walking distance from the hotel is Wynwood Walls, where $12 grants you access to over 35 outdoor murals and two galleries. The Paradox Museum, less than a block away, will have you questioning your sanity with creative exhibits that seem impossible. Along NW Second Ave, you’ll find a litany of restaurants, galleries, and shops, including Wynwood Marketplace, which hosts garage-style eateries and boutiques. On the weekends, a visit to Smorgasburg, Wynwood’s open-air food market, is a must for tourists and locals alike.
With so much to do and the Arlo at the center of it all, you may end up spending more time on fun than work. But how else will you know if you want to move to Miami?
