On our first day in Miami, we couldn't wait to get out and enjoy the beach! As soon as we woke up, we changed right into our swimsuits and headed down immediately.
The beach access is just on the other side of the Mammoth Garden, which prominently features Damien Hirst’s iconic sculpture, Gone But Not Forgotten. This 9 foot gilded skeleton of a wooly mammoth is one of the most well known works of art in the hotel and is housed in a temperature controlled, golden tank.
"Hirst explained of the sculpture: "The mammoth comes from a time and place that we cannot ever fully understand. Despite its scientific reality, it has attained an almost mythical status and I wanted to play with these ideas of legend, history and science by gilding the skeleton and placing it within a monolithic gold tank. It's such an absolute expression of mortality, but I've decorated it to the point where it's become something else, I've pitched everything I can against death to create something more hopeful, it is gone but not forgotten."
On our walk to the beach, we passed by other gorgeous outdoor spaces, such as the Tree of Life courtyard and the Sun bar. The handprinted tiles were extraordinary.
We did a quick glance at the pool area which looked luxurious, we were excited to spend some quality time here later on in our trip.
I didn't realize the bones of the mammoth were real until I saw the temperature control panel, which made the sculpture all the more impressive.
The grounds of the hotel were so lush and green, it was a tropical paradise.
The entrance to the Faena's private beach!
Their signature red and white umbrellas were so picturesque, I wore a red swimsuit to match!
The beach service from our hotel was top notch. They set up umbrellas and chairs for us, complete with fresh towels. They also supplied us with a bucket of ice and bottled waters that they kept refilling as needed throughout the day. The service everywhere we went was outstanding, we made friends with every person we came in contact with at the hotel, they were so friendly and welcoming.
When the Sun Bar opened, we ordered brunch to enjoy on the beach. We each got specialty alcohol-free drinks. I got the Beach Comber which consisted of Ginger, Cinnamon, Grapefruit, Lime, Mint, Crushed Ice. It was so delicious. At first I was caught a little off guard because it tasted like a chilled wassail, which, while tasty, isn't what you imagine for a beach-y beverage. But the more sips I had, the more I fell in love with it and even ordered it again later in the trip.
It came garnished with mint leaves and a cinnamon stick.
One thing I was looking forward to most on this trip, was having a nice, juicy, gourmet burger on the beach. Dreams do come true.
We ordered churros for dessert and we were pleasantly surprised when they came with a special birthday message for Lex, since it was her birthday that exact day! We had no idea how they knew it was her birthday, we experienced all kinds of birthday magic throughout the hotel that day, they really know how to make a memorable experience for their guests.
After our wonderfully relaxing day on the beach, we headed back up to the room to get all dolled up for Lex's special birthday dinner at Los Fuegos.
Their starter bread was amazingly delicious, it was so hard to not fill up on it!
(I know, the filter on this selfie is a little out of control, it was low light and I had to be quick cause our food was coming! But I wanted to document my memorable time here)
Our dinner here was not just a meal, it was an experience. We had a three course meal, the food came out at a relaxed, very European, pace so we got to enjoy the alluring atmosphere all night long.
We began with a couple of appetizers:
Wood fired artichokes with sesame yogurt, sourdough breadcrumbs, toasted sesame seed and preserved lemon.
Wood oven empanadas, hand cut prime fillet with llajua sauce and mozzarella cheese, porsalut cheese caramelized onion and oregano.
Born from a passion for the ancient art of South American live-fire cooking, Argentine grillmaster Francis Mallmann creates a contemporary asado experience with an open-fire kitchen, local ingredients and a gaucho’s touch to transform traditional rustic recipes into sophisticated, savory dishes.
For my main course I got the prime skirt steak with chimichurri sauce and wood fired onion rings. It was amazing.
For dessert we shared the toasted almond pavlova served with white chocolate cream and orange, mango and passion fruit jam.
Another birthday magic surprise for Lex! Again, our server knew we were celebrating without any of us telling him.
Our dinner experience was long enough that we got to enjoy some of the live music they had going on at the Living Room lounge next door. That night, the Gypsy Kings were performing and they put on an amazingly fun show, we were so glad we got to experience it!
After dinner, we headed back up to our room to change back into our swimsuits and headed to the pool for some night swimming and hot tubbing.
We had the place to ourselves.
Best first day!
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