Tampa's 1st 5-Star Hotel Opens With Lenny Kravitz Performance

TAMPA, FL — Unlike other 24-hour gateway cities, Tampa has always flown very quietly and confidently under the radar.

Its understated and simple approach to life gives it an authenticity that residents say distinguishes it from other great cities. But, with a growing reputation as a culinary hotspot, world-class shopping, a collection of highly regarded museums, energetic nightlife and national-winning sports teams including Stanley Cup- and the Super Bowl-winning teams, Tampa’s time has come — and with it comes its first 5-Star hotel.

Cementing the city’s coming of age, and its position as a gateway to southern Florida is the unveiling of Water Street Tampa's EDITION Hotel, the latest addition to the $3.5 billion urban mixed-use development expansion project led by Strategic Property Partners, a partnership between Cascade Investment LLC and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, which is transforming an underused waterfront into a vibrant community.

The crown jewel of Water Street Tampa deserved a royal opening celebration that featured a performance by global icon Lenny Kravitz on Oct. 22.

“Not often have I had the opportunity to work on a project that will completely transform the very center and heartbeat of a great city like Tampa, and make it even greater,” said Ian Schrager, the visionary pioneer of the boutique hotel concept and the EDITION creator. “I call it urban expansion, rather than urban renewal, and it serves as a model for how cities will transform and evolve in the future. The scale of it is mind-boggling and we’re very happy to be right here and a part of it.”

Reminiscent of Stockholm and other very livable European and Scandinavian harbor cities that offer metropolitan city with living by the sea, when complete, the Water Street Tampa neighborhood will double the footprint of downtown Tampa.

Unfolding more than 9 million square feet, the neighborhood is built around wellness, connectivity, walkability and sustainability, placing its residents in the heart of a balanced urban experience, and offering waterfront views, publicly accessible green space, first-rate dining and shopping, cultural attractions, entertainment venues, residences and offices.

“Water Street Tampa includes new hotels, retail, dining, workplace and residential offerings at a scale that has the potential to make Tampa a 24-hour international gateway city for all of central and southern Florida, one of the fastest-growing states in the country,” Schrager said.

At the heart of this transformative project, The Tampa EDITION sets a new standard as the city’s first 5-star experience, offering the sophistication and an original design that the EDITION brand is known for.

Designed, conceived and programmed by ISC Design Studio, in partnership with Morris Adjmi Architects, Nichols Architects, Bonetti Kozerski Architects and Roman and Williams, the hotel remains firmly rooted in the EDITION brand’s refined simplicity and style. Spread over 26 stories, there are 172 rooms and 38 private residences, a rooftop terrace with a pool, expansive spa and wellness facility, fitness center, and seven bars and restaurants including a signature offering from Michelin-starred chef John Fraser.

"The hotel seamlessly blends the energy of a major metropolitan city with a warm-weather resort sensibility," Schrager said. “The design is simple and pure. There isn’t anything superfluous or gratuitous, nor a wasted gesture."

From the outside, The Tampa EDITION is a striking addition to the Water Street Tampa neighborhood, its combination of industrial elements, art deco-inspired curves and lush greenery blending into the neighborhood’s organic ethos. Defined by a vertical tower that houses the residences, with wrap-around balconies that update the traditional idea of a Florida room, an outdoor garden in the sky, the building is anchored by the lower nine floors, which comprise the hotel’s guest rooms and public spaces.

Accessible from Channelside Drive, the hotel’s main entrance at 500 Channelside Drive with its softly curved bougainvillea-covered canopy, leads to an open-flow lobby with soaring 20-foot-high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows that bring natural light onto the elegant interiors anchored by a dramatic white marble sculptural staircase.

Here, a mixture of open-pore travertine, walnut wood and a jungle of live greenery comes together in the Lobby Bar to create a warm, natural backdrop for striking features such as a large-scale stainless steel Anish Kapoor-inspired lilac orb art piece, a custom-designed travertine pool table and intimately grouped furniture — from Christian Liaigre reading lights to Jean-Michel Frank-style chairs — that sit atop champagne-colored rugs. The Lobby Bar serves elevated classic cocktails with a Mediterranean twist, along with shareable small plates.

Flanking this space is a scalloped American Black Walnut bar with cognac leather stools, which then flows into Lilac, the signature fine dining Mediterranean restaurant helmed by Michelin-starred chef and California native John Fraser. Open from Tuesday to Saturday, the dining room’s walnut flooring and the warm glow from the pendant globes create a convivial space focused around an eight-seat Christian Liaigre chef’s counter in sandblasted walnut and an open kitchen.

Taking its cues from Fraser’s Greek heritage, the cuisine at Lilac highlights locally sourced and seasonal ingredients showcasing unique flavors and techniques through an Eastern Mediterranean lens. Guests receive a prix fixe menu, beginning with hors d’oeuvres to share followed by three courses of their choice. Signature dishes include locally sourced grouper cooked in a cataplana, short rib cooked on a rotisserie and herbed pasta with a soft egg and sherry-braised chanterelle mushrooms.

“It is always an honor to collaborate with the EDITION. We share a similar culture and are both keen on offering modern luxury and high quality," Fraser said. "Ian Schrager is a genius at providing the stage and setting the spirit and tone. We are grateful to him and the hotel's ownership for continuously investing in the best. Through great hospitality, architecture and design, we strive for our guests to feel as if they have arrived at a sanctuary where they never have to leave. We look forward to being a part of Ian’s vision through our food and beverage offerings — with something for everyone during all parts of the day."

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“John Fraser has created signature restaurants for us at the West Hollywood EDITION and the Times Square EDITION — both of which are amazingly successful," Schrager said. "Recognized as one of the best chefs in the world, his health and wellbeing-focused cooking style is appropriate not just for Florida’s climate, but it also fits into Water Street’s wellness principles. This is a great opportunity to bring a world-class, internationally recognized Michelin star chef to Tampa.”

Fraser is also behind the concepts of the hotel’s other food and beverage outlets, including Market at EDITION. Located on the opposite side of the lobby to Lilac, Market at EDITION makes the most of its streetside corner spot with a private garden oasis perfect for alfresco dining on Water Street. Here, the bright and airy all-day dining space features a scalloped white oak and Calcutta marble coffee and pastry bar, which sits adjacent to a casual dining space. Market at EDITION’s menu has an Italian trattoria flair, with fresh pizzas emerging from the open hatch behind the zinc bar, alongside light, healthy, casual and ingredient-driven classics.

The second floor — accessed via the sculptural staircase — introduces a variety of dramatic and distinctive spaces that work together or separately.

Evoking old Hollywood glamour, Punch Room is a cozy, muted space accented with rich jewel-toned shades of emerald and sapphire. Handsome walnut wall paneling creates a European gentleman’s club-like feel that is enhanced by Pierre Chareau alabaster wall sconces, a flickering double-sided fireplace, bright-blue George Smith furniture, Rojo Alicante marble tables and a cognac marble bar backed by a softly lit smoky antique mirror. Ideal for a sedate pre-dinner cocktail or a conversational nightcap, the venue’s unique cocktail menu focuses on the West Indies, highlighting aged spirits, spices, teas and tropical fruits in drinks such as The Black Pearl and The Tampa Punch, alongside elevated bar snacks.

Arts Club combines a trio of spaces that elevate Tampa’s entertainment scene. Visitors can start their evening in the Lounge with a cocktail and some light bites against a backdrop of ebonized wood, black damask velvet sofas, black leather banquettes and a specially commissioned photobooth in black lacquer with a gold interior.

From there, the Verde Antico marble bar noir, with its luminescent yellow velvet stools in the bar area, is the perfect precursor before an evening of entertainment in the finale, Arts Club Cabaret. Featuring an organic undulating ceiling of 350 mirrored balls of various sizes and theatrical ruby red velvet drapery, this Radio City Music Hall-inspired space will play host to a roster of entertainers with spectacular effects.

Also on the second floor and the mezzanine level above is the 250-guest private event space and a series of meeting rooms — including two studios and a boardroom — which all come complete with top technology, including electronically controlled black-out blinds and light-filtering window treatments, retractable walls to accommodate events of all sizes, and an interior design scheme of white oak and travertine details, resulting in a bright, modern and airy offering.

The design of the wellness facility, also on level two, is just as fresh. The reception area with its curved white oak and marble-topped desk and gold leaf accent wall behind is flanked on either side by arches, which lead to an all-white co-ed relaxation area and six treatment rooms. The spa offers a menu of treatments from Biologique Recherche Skinlab facials to the EDITION Signature Massage.

In a first for Tampa, The Rooftop is the place to see and be seen. Located on level nine, just below the residences, the area comprises Azure at EDITION, another restaurant overseen by chef John Fraser, and a sprawling pool club with cabanas for day and night, open to hotel guests and residents only, and accessible either via the restaurant or its own entrance.

Here, swathes of travertine create a neutral backdrop for a trimming of lush landscaping including Japanese blueberry trees and bright pops of purple bougainvillea, which sit atop the five poolside cabanas materializing an outdoor garden in the sky. With 81 sun loungers, resident DJs and a bar, the vibe here is relaxed, the perfect spot to while away a sunny day against Tampa city views.

Open to the public, Azure at EDITION serves a fresh Mediterranean-inspired menu of dishes such as Santorini Tomato Fritters, in an elevated setting anchored by a large white oak and marble racetrack bar and lined with intimate and private banquettes, upholstered in white leather and linen, separated by slatted bleached oak screens.

Finally, sandwiched between the second level and the ninth-floor Rooftop are the 172 guestrooms and suites. Each room is an understated haven with marble bathrooms and a curved American Black Walnut entrance that leads to a light white oak space embellished with photography by the late New York-based fashion and portrait photographer, Rodney Smith, and custom Jean-Michel Frank-inspired furniture alongside the sensuous curves of a white lacquer Cherner Chair.

There are five Garden Terrace rooms on the third floor. The one-bedroom Penthouse with a media room, open-plan living and dining room, pantry and expansive walk-in wardrobe and bathroom is on a light-filled corner of the eighth floor, while each guestroom either looks out onto the city, or has views of the boat-filled Garrison Channel.

“Tampa is a city that’s really coming into its own,” said Schrager. “It’s got a good quality of life and a great food scene. It’s a city in the sun, but it’s not a vacation-only spot. It’s a real living, breathing city and that’s what I think is so special about it.”

Nightly rates start at $479 for a superior king room. Reservations can be made here.