Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Live across the Great Lake State. You're connected to Michigan's
most engaging and influential radio and television program, Michigan's Big
Show starring Michael Patrick Shields, presented by Blue Cross, Blue
Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm producer and creative director Tony Cuthberts.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Now in the shadow of the Capitol Dome and Lansing.
He's heard from the beaches of Lake Michigan, to the
halls of power and behind closed doors. Here's Michigan's Michael
Patrick Shields Roman Capital of the World, Miami met.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
The time has come. Listen to this for the triumphant return.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm the great one. Ah sweet, it is Michael Patrick
Shields is on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Good Morning World, the Invenido Amiami. It's Michael Patrick Shields
radio stations across the state of Michigan worldwide at mibigshow
dot Com. That's right. And yesterday the Dolphins were winners.
Believe it or not. They beat the Saints in the
rain and CBS Sports is saying they might make the
(01:15):
playoffs after all. Good luck to the Finns. And also
in Miami today February first, the reopening the reopening of
Torino Sibido. Why do I talk about that. Well, our
friend Masimo Btura, the chef from Italy who we interviewed
on this program in Italy, in his backyard, in his
(01:36):
garage back in May, is the sort of well, the
mastermind behind Torno Sabido, which translates to mean I'll be
right back December one. Today his restaurant is reopening in
Miami in the more in the design district. And so
those of you want to score a table and enjoy
(01:56):
the work of Massimobtura. When I say the work, his
food is artwork. To be sure, you can go there
to Torno Sabido and the chef Bernardo Palladini. We'll be
looking after you there. So there's lots of news. And
by the way, when your food is artwork, it's a
very good thing to be opening now because art Basel
is on in Miami, and you know and I know
(02:18):
that as we make our way through the year, there
are events around the world that we celebrate. The Winter
Carnival in Quebec City, the running of the bulls in Pamplona,
even the Olympics. Now that's not every year, but it's
coming up, and we were the first radio broadcast to
(02:39):
emanate from the US headquarters, the broadcast headquarters for the
Olympics in Milan two months ago at the NH City Life.
And considering that the World Cup is coming to America
this summer and Miami is one of the major cities,
I might stretch so far as to say we were
the first radio broadcast to come from Lowe's Miami Beach Hotel,
(03:02):
which of course will be full up for the World Cup.
And that's one of the reasons they put in lots
and lots of money in renovating. So we bring to
the radio stage now the complex managing director of two
hotels in fact in Miami Beach, both Lowe's Hotels, Lowe's
Miami Beach and Lowe's Coral Gables, Lukachuk is back with us.
(03:23):
Thank you for being here and welcome back to the program.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Good morning, Michael, It's nice to talk to you. It's
been a while. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
It just occurred to me, do the Dolphins ever play
the New York Giants? And if they do, what happens
at Lowe's there since the Tishes owned that hotel.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, it might be an exception where I would actually
support the New York Giants.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Well, I don't blame you. That's called a political expediency.
And you are a diplomat after all, and you have
to be because seven stories on Miami Beach opening in
nineteen ninety eight, the world comes to Miami. It is
the most international, wouldn't you say of America cities?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I would say so. I mean I was looking at
some data that came out of the SDR reports all
things about travel industry, and they were saying that Miami
depends on the international traveler more than any other city
in the world, followed by New York City and Honolulu.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
So you try to make people feel at home. And
you know, when we think of a Miami hotel, particularly
one on the beach, it would be easy to default to,
you know, aqua and orange like the dolphins, and you
know that whole Miami kind of neon kind of look.
That's not what Los is like, though, is it?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
No, not at all, and that neon look. I think
it has changed over the years. There's still elements of that.
But as far as the Loos Miami Beach Hotel is concerned,
especially after our most recent design and I hope you
can come by with it us so you can see
it for yourself, Michael. But it is very different now.
(05:13):
The color palette is very different, and overall the textures
are different. The property looks a lot different than it
used to be. We are more about coastal living, elegant
coastal living, elevated coastal living. Of course, we'd still try
to showcase our beach, which seems to be a super
(05:35):
valuable part of our city. Nevertheless, the Low's Miami Beach
Hotel is not about just the neons and colorful, colorful
orange colors.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
As you mentioned, having said that, you're in a prime
spot because you're right where the Lincoln Mall is, and
that's an outdoor sort of boulevard. You've got Ocean Drive
with all the nightlife of Deco Drive, if you will,
right at your doorstep a beach on the other side.
Fantastic stuff. And yeah, you've taught us a business lesson
because you say that. You know, unless you're advancing and
(06:09):
renovating and sort of recreating yourself, you'll lose a position
in the market. And in order to do that, for instance,
you went to I understand hard floors because in your
mind that represents luxury.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
No, absolutely so. Our last renovation, Michael, was in twenty sixteen,
and the hotels typically depending on the market, but typically
get renovated after twelve to fifteen years, and we only
renovated back in twenty sixteen. But as you stated, we
wanted to reinvent ourselves and we did just that, and
(06:45):
we believe in reinvesting in the property so that we
can continue leading the market. And as far as the
hard floors, yeah, there are certain elements that gives you
the feeling of luxury and elevated experiences, and hard floors
happens to be one of them. You know, our guests
when they walk into our newly redesigned rooms, they're going
(07:08):
to see some differences. They're going to see the hard floors,
they're going to see the TV is mounted on the wall.
It's going to have a lot more residential feel and
look to it. And we are super excited about our
new product and we can't wait to showcase it.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
So the balance is you have a combination of business travelers,
you have vacationers. Some of them want to feel like
they're on vacation and some of them at the same
time want to feel the comforts of home. And it's
a funny how a little thing like having the TV
up on the wall instead of like it used to be,
sitting on top of the credenza can give them the
(07:47):
space they need these days. Right, I mean, it's function
and form, is it not?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
It? Sure is? It? Sure is? And it's very important
for a hotel like ours to create two separate experience
because we are a family friendly beachfront resort and at
the same time a convention hotel. So if you're here
for a convention in a meeting, I need to make
sure that your mindset is all about business and at
(08:15):
the same time, if you're here just to enjoy yourself
and enjoy the resort, that's again my job to make
sure that I had enough touch points and I created
an enough environment for you so that you know that
you're checking into a hotel that's in front of the
ocean and you're here to relax and enjoy yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Well, we are going to turn one of your rooms
into a radio studio, as we have in the past.
In just a couple of weeks when we broadcast from
Lowe's Miami Beach Hotel we'll continue with the complex managing
director at Low's Lukachuk with Michael Patrick Shields. Everybody knows
I love Miami and so we're happy to bring our
microphones back to their Skyline studio in a flash. Oh mister,
(09:08):
bring up the upology of the Bells team. Log your
travels away.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Everybody's went to all the man would come back. Christmas
is coming up again.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Why don't you plan a trip for Christmas? It's Michael
Patrick Shields with you, or give a trip, give the
gift of travel. Remember in my book Invite Yourself to
the party. The theory was I'd rather have roses on
my table than diamonds on my fingers. And travel is
something that they can never take away from you and
experience unforgettable. Read my travel writing every other Sunday in
(09:44):
the Lantic State Journal. That's going at Newspapers part of
the USA Today network and Yahoo News and at go
world travel dot com. And my latest book, Travel Tattler
Less than toward Tales is available at Amazon dot com.
We thank Capital Region International Airport at fly Lancing dot com.
They can easily get you to Florida or anywhere you
(10:04):
want to go and visit Detroit too if you're going
down to the d Of course, the Lions are hoping
to make the playoffs and then they'll have to travel
to do it. Right now, it's only a forty six
percent chance. Some of the world's greatest events we mark
on this program and we celebrate them as we pass
(10:25):
the time. Octoberfest, for instance, Dia de las Buertos in Mexico,
the Calgary Stampede, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and at
Rio de Janeiro. The Confilm Festival is another one. But
Art Basel in Miami is taking place right now, and
you may ask, what is that. Lukachuk is the complex
(10:48):
managing director in the middle of it all at Loewe's
Miami Beach Hotel and Lowe's Coral Gable Hotel, and he's
going to explain to us why Art Basel is on
that list of the world's greatest and well sort of
sought after events. Thank you for being here. What is
art Puzzle?
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, so it's arguably it's it's the most famous art
event of the of the world. It's one of the
most important events for the year for us. It also
symbolizes the beginning of the season for us Michael for
a week. Basically, Miami becomes the art capital of the world.
Both of our properties, Low's Miami Beach Hotel and Lows
(11:30):
Coral Gables have activations that integrate the properties with the
events taking place in the city. But we will as
a city, we will we will host and will welcome
art lovers from all around the world. And I mean,
you name the country, the chances are we are going
to have some guests from those countries. So this is
(11:52):
one of the most important events for the city of Miami.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
We if we watch sort of the gossip newspapers and
so forth, the New York Post, TMZ, et cetera, we'll
also see that a huge number of notable people descend
on Miami. They come there for art basel, to look
at art, but also to attend the parties, right, celebrities
and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yes, absolutely, there's gonna be a lot of celebrities in town.
There's gonna be a lot of people who want to
be part of this art event. Some come in, as
you stated to just for the arts and you know,
purchase some arts, enjoy some art shows, and some others.
They want to be here. So that you know, they're
not missing out and they get to be seen and
(12:39):
they get to enjoy what Miami offers, especially at this
time of the year.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We've had for many, many years. And JP McCarthy before me,
Albert SCALLIONI who was a very major art dealer in
Michigan and in Florida and Miami there too, So we
turned to him from time to time when there are
art stories because they are very fascinating. And I suppose
that Art Basil crowd might be still buzzing about what
(13:05):
took place at the Louver in Paris earlier this year.
I didn't think in the modern era and art heist
like that could take place, but it did.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, that was a fascinating event. Nobody thought that could happen.
And following the event, the way that whole investigation went through,
that was absolutely amazing to watch. I'm sure they'll make
TV series after that incident.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
They will. And so you said that Lowe's Miami Beach
Hotel and Coral Gables will engage somehow with activations to
bring in the Art Basle crowd and the spirit of
Art Basel. Can you tell us specifically what.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Sure? Absolutely so, when we have large events like this,
it's really important that our properties integrate well and reflect
what's happening in the city within our property. So, for example,
for the Lows Miami Beach Hotel, every year we have
an artist in residence, and this year it's Steph Rass.
(14:07):
She's from Chicago. She's a Chicago based artist and she's
known for her secraal pop culture inspired pieces that blends
fine art with fashion forward flayer. Her work will be
on display all week throughout the lobby. That includes some
signature floral and pearl work, interactive moments with our guests,
(14:31):
and also it gives an opportunity for our guest if
they choose to purchase some of her artwork or even
create their own.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Artists are eccentric necessarily in your experience of dealing with
celebrities and eccentric artists, what stands out as, for instance,
an example that you find in your mind's eye when
you think of art.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, so they are eccentric, that's for sure. It does.
It does make it a little bit easier because they
have come to our hotel several times. So over the
years we have we have developed relationship with our artists
and with our celebrity guests. Yeah, from time to time
we do have some new celebrities and artists come to
(15:19):
our hotel as well. What what what helps us is
that we usually know in advance what their preferences are,
what their choices and needs are, and we accommodate accordingly.
But they're always surprises. It's our job to make sure
that we stay quick on our feet and cater to
(15:40):
our guests as their needs arise.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Well, i'd ask you for the celebrity names, but I
know you won't tell me because you're discreet about that
kind of thing. But trust me, if you show up
at Lowe's Miami Beach Hotel, you will see the stars
and you'll feel like a celebrity too. We will be
broad casting from the Rotunda City Skyline Studios December tenth
(16:04):
through the thirteenth, and we'll catch up with you there,
take some nice pictures, and if you follow the Low's
social media, I'm sure you'll see plenty of artwork during
Art Basel, as well as their renovations, which are artistic
to say the least. Thank you, sir, and we also
look forward to World Cup and don't forget the Food
and Wine Festival. At Miami Beach, too, Low's has a
(16:25):
big role right in the center of all that. It's
MPs