The New Playground on the Beach: W Hotel Fort Lauderdale

The new hotel on the block in Fort Lauderdale? The W has made quite the splash with its debut on Florida's Gold Coast. The Miami Herald says it best:

The W is going where no Fort Lauderdale hotel has gone before: after affluent hipsters. With stylists instead of housekeepers and brownie spa options, the chic hotel will pursue the cool, not just the rich.

Looking to carve out a new niche in the area, Starwood Hotels opened the new W as a symbol of edgy Feng-Shui design with cutting-edge amenities and a hot bar by Rande Gerber. (Whiskey Blue is distinguished by the "hundreds of golden pipes cascading from the ceiling.") Next up: The W Hotel in South Beach, scheduled to open on June 2.