What's Next for the Best Spa Hotel in Miami, Carillon Miami Beach?

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Carillon Miami Beach has big plans. “Health, wellness and spa will be one of the pillars of the hotel instead of the foundation,” says Lester Scott, managing director. “Another pillar is exceptional hotel service.” To achieve those goals, Carillon is investing $30 million in the hotel over two years. Slated for May 2016, an initial $15 million renovation will create better sightlines to the beach, more gathering spaces and upgrade the restaurant. The second renovations should begin in May 2017.

Personal concierge service will move from test phase to hotel-wide in the coming months. Once someone makes a reservation, the concierge contacts the guest to personalize the upcoming experience, offering everything from airport transportation to suggested spa treatments to neighborhood information.

A Canyon Ranch property from its inception in 2008 until January 2015, the Carillon is building on its base as a health and wellness lifestyle facility.

“We own a unique space,” says Michael Choiniere, Carillon’s director of sales and marketing. “No other hotel in Miami Beach has 23 spa treatment rooms, a 70,000-square foot spa facility, four pools and 750-feet of linear beachfront.”

In adapting Canyon Ranch’s model, the Carillon focused the spa and exercise classes. “Canyon Ranch had 60 different spa treatments. It was too broad,” says Scott. “We scaled back to 15 treatments and now people are buying them.” The Carillon still offers 40 different exercise classes and lectures per day, most of which are complimentary with a room booking. The Carillion is expanding the definition of health to include medical components. Practitioners of holistic medicine, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and other disciplines are already on staff and more will be added. It’s likely that the resort will add fillers, botox and other look good cosmetic procedures to its roster of services.

Part of opening the 580-unit condo-hotel to a wider audience includes tweaking the Canyon Ranch formula. Now anyone may book spa treatments and the hotel plans to offer a limited number of gym memberships to the community. The Carillon Grill, while still serving healthy entrees, has relaxed its definition of good food to plate such tasty but not calorie conscious items as potato fries, lamb and duck along with low-cal goodies as chicken, lobster and fish.

And of course, the beach, much less crowded than in South Beach, is still a big draw.

What are your favorite wellness hotels? Have you been to the Carillon Miami Beach? Comment below or connect with me on Twitter, @familyitrips.