The 1 Hotel South Beach is unlike any other property in Miami. It is not technicolored party hub, but rather an escape from just that. It’s an oasis in the middle of it all, founded on the idea of green living with an eye toward luxury, and the latest addition to the property is the Bamford Haybarn Spa, which soft launched last week to those in town for Miami Art Basel 2016.
It’s the brainchild of Lady Carole Bamford, the green living mastermind known far and wide throughout her native United Kingdom, who counts the Bamford Haybarn Spa at the 1 Hotel South Beach as her first stateside venture. “It was my fantasy when I was running Starwood Hotels to actually do something with Lady Bamford,” 1 Hotels creator Barry Sternlicht said raising a glass of biodynamic sparkling wine made by the Bamford family. “It always amazes me that she is the original person who did farm to table dining. She has her own farm, and all of her clothes are organic cotton, and I couldn’t afford any of them 20 years ago.”
It should be clear that as a “green” experience, it might be nature-friendly, but it doesn’t come cheap. The space include elements from the 1,500 acre Bamford farm in the Cotswolds where Lady Carole lives with her husband, Anthony Bamford. “It wasn’t affordable by the way,” Sternlicht interjected to laughs as we were shown a wall made from Holly sourced from the overseas property. “The concept here is about wellness,” Lady Bamford said. “It’s holistic. It’s about bringing nature from the outside inside. I really believe in sustainable luxury, and conscious shopping. We live in a crazy world, and need to nurture ourselves, so this concept is about nurturing ourselves. We have to think about the bigger body, the world, and the smaller body, ourselves. We have to take care of it all for future generations. It sounds a bit pompous, but we have to do it, and I’m not perfect by the way.”
Her eyes were first opened when she and her daughter visited an organic farm’s tent at a horse show nearly 40 years ago, where she and her daughter spent 2 hours getting to know the ins and outs of a then little-known organic industry. Lady Bamford, who already had a green thumb living on the family’s farm, came back with a new perspective. “I came back and said, ‘We have to stop the way we farm,;” Lady Bamford added. “I thought, I have a daughter now. We have to think about what we’re feeding her and just be conscious. It was like an open window moment. I never thought it would lead to all of this.”
Lucky for Lady Bamford and her legions of Bamfordites, there’s even more in the works. For New Yorkers, the soon-to-open 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge will bow in February and include a Bamford Haybarn Spa of its own, and with it comes an entire collection of Bamford home wares and fragrances for those with an appetite for the ultimate in green luxury living.