André Balazs checks out of The Raleigh

 

André  Balazs, we hardly knew ye. The hot hotelier officially unloaded The Raleigh yesterday despite the fact that its pool is perhaps more photogenic than he and all his hot pieces of arm candy combined. Lucky Balazs found a buyer and the deal closed faster than you could say Uma Thurman.  New owners, the Miami-based Brilla Group, paid cash and say “The plan is to enhance current operations and explore long-term repositioning” of the Art Deco hotel at 1775 Collins Ave. It will remain operational during that time." We just hope they respect that The Raleigh is lactose intolerant and will hold the cheese.

Here's the farewell letter Balazs sent out to customers:

"After seven years of fun and sun, we have decided to sell The Raleigh and focus our efforts on The Standard Spa, located on Belle Isle just blocks away, and on other exciting new locations in the US and abroad. We greatly appreciate your friendship and loyalty over these years as we restored The Raleigh. Of course, any existing reservation you may have at The Raleigh remains intact while the sale becomes effective as of September 29th.We look forward to welcoming you to The Standard, or any of our other properties, in the future.

 

As always, warmest regards

 

André Balazs"