Tampa’s Edition: Luxury Along the Riverfront
Enjoy your vacation within a vacation.
The Tampa Edition hotel, just steps from the city’s scenic four-kilometre Riverwalk, is a wonderland for the senses, with a magical lobby that will stop you in your tracks, and dining and imbibing experiences that have put this addition to the city’s redeveloped waterfront community in focus.
When it opened last fall, the 27-storey art deco–inspired Edition made an instant splash, redefining what luxury looked and felt like in western Florida. In the jungle-like lobby with its 20-foot-high ceiling, cozy couches and faux fur loungers invite you to sit and take in the rainforest-like oasis of potted palms, a yellow-topped travertine pool table, and the stainless-steel orb sculpture at the centre of the room. A spiral staircase conceived by hotelier and Studio 54 visionary Ian Schrager is easily one of Tampa’s most Instagrammable spots.
Bright and airy with neutral tones, each of the 172 rooms and suites has floor-to-ceiling windows, to let the Florida sun shine in. Small, signature touches throughout include white-oak flooring and furniture, Rodney Smith black-and-white photographs, and faux-fur throws draped casually on the bed.
The state-of-the-art gym is open 24 hours/day, but sessions at the Edition’s spa must be booked. While its signature Le Labo black tea aromatic toiletries are available in-suite, tucked away on the second floor a candle-lit relaxation lounge and six treatment rooms offers skin-care, massage, and wellness treatments.
The seven bars and restaurants make it almost undesirable to ever leave the premises. Led by Michelin-starred chef John Fraser, Lilac combines rich, deep greens, walnut flooring, an open kitchen, and a Mediterranean-inspired, vegetable-forward menu, while his breezy Azure restaurant on the rooftop offers both exceptional views of the Channelside area and a Greek meze-focused menu. On the ground floor, Lobby Bar’s inviting cocktails are an afternoon delight .
As day turns to night, head outside and enjoy tropical, poolside ambiance under a canopy of Japanese blueberry trees and bougainvillea at the rooftop Pool Bar; enjoy a live performance in the Arts Club, upholstered in rich red velvet and peppered with dozens of mirror balls; or settle into the Punch Room, dedicated to celebrating Caribbean and Gulf cane spirits, spices, and flavours. Take a mixology-guided tour and raise a glass to the evolution of punch and the influence it’s had shaping Tampa into the culturally rich melting pot it is today.
