Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club vs Delano South Beach Hotel

Comparing the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club and the Delano South Beach Hotel is interesting because they both rise in Miami, FL, yet they were conceived by two different design teams, Roy F. France and Robert Swartburg, and were completed at different points in time. They were finished more than 7 years apart.

This contrast within the same city allows us to see how different creative minds interpreted the evolving needs of Miami across time.

Let's take a closer look!

The Delano South Beach Hotel is clearly the larger tower of the two, both in terms of height and number of floors. It rises to 190ft (58m) with 15 floors above ground, while the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club reaches 0ft (m) with 14 floors above ground.

Of course, each project may have faced different briefs or regulatory constraints, which we don't really know about and could also explain the outcome.

Both the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club and the Delano South Beach Hotel were designed in line with the aesthetic conventions of the Art Deco style.

Both buildings were completed when the Art Deco style was already past its peak. This makes them feel like late echoes of the movement, more reflective of continuity or nostalgia than of cutting-edge design at the time.

Both the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club and the Delano South Beach Hotel are primarily hotel towers, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

Originally, the Delano South Beach Hotel was designed for residential, but over time it was converted to hotel. The Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club by contrast has maintained its original role.

Both towers incorporate hotels as part of their program. The Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club features a 4-star hotel with 357 rooms, while the Delano South Beach Hotel includes a 5-star hotel with 194 rooms. For more details, see the official website of the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club. You can also visit the official website of the Delano South Beach Hotel.

The Delano South Beach Hotel also provides 700 parking spaces.

Both the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club and the Delano South Beach Hotel rely on a Bearing Walls structural system.

A bearing wall system depends on massive walls to transmit vertical loads to the ground. While effective for smaller buildings, it limits interior flexibility and facade openings.

They also employ the same type of facade, a Masonry facade.

A masonry facade gives the building a heavier, more traditional appearance. It often conceals a frame structure behind it, creating the look of solid walls without carrying the main loads.