Blind Barber Shapes Heads and Quenches Thirst For Unusual In SoBe

MIAMI BEACH, FL — It's a bar. No, it's a barbershop. No, it's a hotel. Actually it's a barbershop inside a bar that's inside a hotel.

Welcome to the Blind Barber at the Nautilus by Arlo Hotel, a new concept in grooming — er entertainment.

"The juxtaposition between the white bright shop and then the sultry dim back complements each other," explained Josh Boyd, co-founder of Blind Barber, which also has locations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Nightclub guests enter the barbershop and pass through 25-foot curtains to reach the Backroom, a hidden lounge with a chic Miami vibe.

"It's kind of like a 'Wizard of Oz' moment," Boyd told Patch. "The door opens and then it’s color." The Blind Barber recently celebrated the grand opening of its new Miami Beach location inside the art deco hotel at 1825 Collins Avenue.

The bar features signature cocktails and rotating DJs in a setting of pink lights, neon and upholstered furniture.

Barbershop customers receive a free beer or cocktail when they get a haircut or any service. The barbershop is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. while the nightclub opens at 5 p.m.

"There's a sweet spot between 5 and 7 when both that is open and this is open," said Boyd, sipping a mojito in a barber chair. "You'll walk through the shop (while) we're cutting."

A haircut costs $55 while a shave costs $60 and a beard trim costs $30. You can get a hangover treatment for $30 but we're not exactly sure what that consists of.

Signature cocktails cost $14 and include the vodka-based Strawberry Fields, tequila-based Hot Heather, gin-based Batman and bourbon-based Smoke & Dagger.

"Hot Heather happens to be my wife. Batman happens to be my dog. Strawberry Fields is a Beatles song we all love and Smoke and Dagger" is a reference to the stronger taste of bourbon, according to Boyd.

Nautilus General Manager Karan Kakar told Patch there's nothing like the Blind Barber on Miami Beach.

"This has not been done in a hotel. There are speakeasies around Miami but not in this environment," Kakar explained.

He said the space had previously been a lobby bar. The barbershop space was a former hotel gift shop.

"It was a lobby bar, but we felt we could have a much more fun lobby bar experience with a barbershop," he shared.