National Hotel vs Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club

Comparing the National Hotel and the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club is especially interesting because they share much in common. Both rise in Miami, FL both were designed by Roy F. France, and they were completed in the same year.

This overlap gives us a unique opportunity to understand how Roy F. France approached different commissions in the same urban context and historical context during a short period.

Both the National Hotel and the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club 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 National Hotel and the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club were designed to serve as hotel towers, and that has remained their main use since their completion, serving similar roles in the urban fabric.

Both towers incorporate hotels as part of their program. The National Hotel features a 4-star hotel with 101 rooms, while the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club includes a 4-star hotel with 357 rooms. For more details, see the official website of the National Hotel. You can also visit the official website of the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club.

These two towers illustrate the many possible ways to combine structure and enclosure in skyscraper design.