• NPR, All Things Considered , Friday, November 21, 2008 10:15 AM

If you are a male past the age of puberty who reads magazines like Conde Nast Portfolio, you're probably aware that the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach has undergone a massive renovation. Or at least that the word Fontainebleau and a woman wearing a very revealing thong and no top have been seen together in advertising on heavier-than-usual stock doing little more than purring that "the epicenter for style, fame and glamour" has re-opened. (The model is also the face -- and body -- of the Web site.)

The hotel, designed by the architect who made Miami architecture famous, Morris Lapidus, was the paragon of a certain style of sophistication in the fifties and sixties. Frank and Marilyn and JFK were seen there -- not necessarily together; it also was the location for the opening shot of the James Bond flick "Goldfinger." One woman whom Allen interviews says that the hotel was a precursor to the theme park resorts of today.

New owners have spent $1.5 billion in renovating the Fontainebleau, and it re-opens tonight. Among the improvements is a series of pools, including an "adults-only European-style topless area." The guiding principle behind the entire renovation, we're told, is to build on Lapidus' vision of getting people to mix.

"People want to participate, and they want to be the star. They want to be part of the show; they don't want to be disjointed from the action," COO Howard Karawan tells Allen.

All the marketing activity, meanwhile, is aimed polishing one of the Fontainebleau's most valuable assets: its name. Another is under construction in Las Vegas, and there are plans to roll out more .

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