Few diving boards carry landmark status, but the one at The Shelborne by Proper — a tiered white plinth rising from the pool deck like a piece of mid-century sculpture — does exactly that, and it sets the tone for everything else. The original structure was raised in 1941 by Igor Polevitzky and Thomas Triplett Russell as an Art Deco oceanfront tower on Collins Avenue, then expanded in 1958 under Morris Lapidus, the architect who gave Miami Modern its theatrical confidence. The $100 million renovation completed in 2025, with Bermello Ajamil & Partners as architect of record, preserved both layers of that history while bringing in Barcelona-based ADC Atelier — Aaron David Clarke and Marta Tuneu — to reimagine 251 rooms and all the spaces connecting them. What Clarke and Tuneu delivered feels less like a hotel renovation and more like a considered argument for a certain kind of tropical calm. The palette runs through honed Perlino marble, travertine, and pale ash wood — materials that hold the South Beach light without bouncing it back aggressively. Guest rooms carry sage-green upholstered headboards and boucle-covered window sofas positioned to frame the Atlantic as a living canvas. The lobby bar, with its double-height draped windows, brushed brass pendant lights, and deep lounge chairs in cream bouclé and woven textile, has the atmosphere of a private club that forgot to lock its doors. Outside, mint-striped chaises and a garden terrace thick with palms and sea grape complete a picture that honors the building's glamorous past without being enslaved to it.

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