Just B Rant: Welcome to Miami

Published Apr 3, 2024, 4:00 AM

Bethenny took Miami with her best friend and as you can imagine… it  was a trip! Wait until you hear what they did, what rules they broke and how Jay Z and Beyoncé's name came into the mix!

I went to Miami to visit my best friend Sarah, and I've been going to Miami my entire life. And Miami's amazing because like it's got culture and it's it's definitely multicultural, and it's it's like upscale and also extremely cheesy, which I love because, like I am, I have like a definite strain of cheese in me. I want to shout out the W Hotel because I stayed at the W Hotel in South Beach and sometimes I'm hesitant to be like a big hotel where it's like a zoo in the lobby and there's so many people and all that stuff. And I got there, and first of all, I'm always reminded when I get there, like the gorgeous art and the design of the place. And this has been around for years a W. I remember when it open, it was like the coolest thing ever. And these places get busted up and tired, and the W has held up like they have held up so and they give you an upgrade if they have it, like they're not trying to, you know, just gatekeep rooms for no reason, Like they give you whatever they got. And they had this thing where when you were waiting to check in, you got to go upstairs to this penthouse because I guess the hotel was at one hundred percent occupancy, but they had not yet rented this penthouse, which is probably like twenty five thousand dollars a night or ten thousand a night. So while you're waiting for your room to check in, you get to go upstairs to this penthouse and there's all this food like cheese, salami, like you know, champagne, and it's like, you know, there's a beautiful like outdoor pool, and just people are on their computers. It's like a wee work, But like, how smart of them? What? Because otherwise you feel like a loser. You're just like walking to a hotel. Then you're like wandering, your bags are somewhere, you're walking through the lobe, you're trying to go to spa, you're outside, like you just hate that feeling. You've just gotten somewhere and you're waiting to get into your room to unpack. It was just so smart, and I feel like hotels don't do the basic thing that they should do that just makes it easier, Like even if it's not a fancy hotel, like a w just a shitty hotel to have like a shitty room that just like has some freaking cheese and crackers in there for people to wait until they check in. Just little things. It's like a warm bread basket in a restaurant. Doesn't take much extra to do, but to go the extra mile and do it makes a difference. So anyway, it was East. It was Easter weekend, which I didn't even think about. I forgot, and every hotel was packed, and this w maintained good food, good service, like it totally held up. And I filled out the survey and they gave you like your own personal person that was just gonna check in and be like do you need chairs by the beach? Do you need this? And I emailed them back at the end of the weekend, like with the survey and said it was honestly immaculate and peccable. I was impressed. It was great because people only ever tell the shit at a hotel, They only ever complain, and I find it to be the hardest business. And you know, I've been sort of in my social media journey reviewing different hotels and I'll be honest, like there's a hotel that I stayed in Sydney. It was gorgeous. It was the most beautiful hotel I'd ever been to. Its six star hotel, but like they would send fruit every day and the peaches were like were like hard rock hard and brown inside. And if no one says it, they're not gonna know. But I also don't want to be the one that's only gonna complain. I mentioned all the good things, but I also was gonna because people might spend their money and then go stay there because I said it. So I want on both ends, like people to know like what something is and from my perspective, like give a baseline. The Crown Hotel in Sydney was six stars and it was amazing. But not everybody wants a big, like transactional dobai like intimidating hotel experience. Some people, I think that's super impressive. Someone else might like intimate. I personally like an intimate, boutique hotel, which is why I was so shook by the fact that the w felt amazing and it was immaculate, like it was clean and it was the service was good and they had an ice machine in the hallway, which you know, I'm so fucking massive on an ice machine in the hallway, so that an upscale hotel like that would be smart enough to put an ice machine in the hallway, because usually really fancy hotels don't have that, and it's stupid. It's stupid. Six star hotels, five star hotels, every star hotel should have an ice machine in the hallway. It's less labor on your servers. The person feels like they have the liberation to have a cold drink whenever they want. It's just freedom. Ice is freedom, like require ice and a bathtub, And I will not stay somewhere again if it takes me forty five minutes to get a bucket of ice, which happens, and why hotels will bring ice in a non cooler situation, I'll never understand because you then have to ask for ice three times a day. Then it's a melting like plastic bag inside an ice bucket filled with water that has to be dealt with like put it in a small, cheap cooler. Ice can be there all day. Everyone deserves ice. It's an it should be ice. Some places just don't fuck around with ice, like Australia. You go to a place you like, can I get ice in this? They give you one ice cube, what's the problem. So anyway, that's my ice rant that I didn't intend to do, but I just wanted to say that the w deserves a shaf I went to hang with my friend. The pandemic was a time suck, was a time capsule. We did not spend any time together my best friend and I. It was like it was so insulating, which I already am isolating, and like it took a time to get back into it, like to come out and be like, wait, I have a best friend, and like we need to spend time together and we need to do stupid things because we need to laugh, because you have to have interaction, human interaction, you know, to live to like it's therapy, and I don't do it enough. And so spending a whole weekend with her, which I did in Vancouver and then now again, you know, we danced Friday night. We went to a place called the living Room inside the Fayena and the day before my assistant I said, can we just go there? Just get me on some sort of a list, and I didn't really show to buy a table. And so the person who we connected with was like, I don't know why, but this table's available. It's the day before and I don't know why this table is available, but you should take it because this amazing UH band is playing. So we take this table. And I thought it was a scam that they were saying, but you should take it. We take this table. It is like the size of a living room in the center of the most popular place in South Beach. The living room. It's like very popular and like rich people there and influencers and like a lead and you can't get in and there's a rope and it's like glamorous and the food's amazing and there. Okay, so to the point where like I saw some billionaires that I know and they were sitting in the corner and my friend and I were center in the middle of this entire room, rope and stanchions all over us. We got some sort of last minute deal because someone must not have bought this table, which the takeaway and the messages for whatever you're doing, always give it a shot. It could be the hottest restaurant in New York City or France and Paris, like maybe someone just didn't show up or canceled at the last minute, or a hotel room. I have no idea, but we were in like you could fit fifteen people in the two couches that are inside this it's called the living room, but we were in a living room within the living room. I felt like Madonna, you don't understand, like, yes, I'm more known than I was years ago, like maybe because of social media, but more people come up to me. It's almost I almost am like the Emperor has no clothes. I'm almost embarrassed, like I feel like I'm fucking Madonna. Like fifty people will come up to a table and the security there, I'm sure some of them know who I am. They start, they get to know who I am pretty quickly because they're like, who the fuck why is this girl? Of all these people coming up to the table, But it felt like we were jay Z and Beyonce. I'm not kidding, Like who are these two bitches sitting at these two giant couches in this rope and stanchion like all on their own, and there are billionaires in the corner and like two tops, the six people on a two top table. It was so ego boosting, I cannot tell you. And then we and the next night to Casa Donna, it's a hot spot. The guy who owns it, his name is Dave Grutman. He owns the Live I'm sure you've heard about Live, that like place in the Fountain Blue that's like the hot club. And he owns Komodo, which is a Japanese restaurant. I think that area is called I think it's Brickle and it's like the hotspot and the food is great. And you know, we're at this place, Casa Donna, which is this gorgeous outdoor place and it's on the water and it's like big, and it's a vibe. And I think Andrea Agassi was there that night, and Shakira was there, you know, sitting at the next table from us, and like it was a vibe, right, And and this guy, Dave Grutman, they carry Forever Young, They carry my wine. It's on the menu. Made me feel like a baller and I thanked him for supporting us. And you know, this guy. There are some guys like this, like and there are different levels, but there are these like nightclub, empresario entertainment hospitality guys. These are the forward facing hospitality guys. They usually have a backer, like Noah and Jason were the two guys behind Marquis and Tao. But like Mark Packer was this guy that I know that you know he was the backer behind the two forward facing like guys that are gonna be there every night. It's a very hard thing to do the job that they do because you've got to be on all the time. You might have a wife, you might have a baby. They all happen to have wives and babies and girlfriends, but you've got to be the guy in the club or the restaurant till two o'clock in the morning, watching everything like a hawk. Because if you have Shakira and there Andrea Augusty, nothing can go wrong. Like you've got to be on the case. So my friend and I there before the grace of God. I don't know why. It was Saturday night. And just as an aside, the waitress, the server tells me, just like anecdotally, she said, this is the most covers we've ever had since we opened. Like I don't remember it was eight hundred tables or whatever the number was, but she was like, this is She complained for being like two minutes delayed on something I didn't even notice. She goes, I'm sorry, it's the most reservations we've ever had since we opened. Well and behold, my friend and I are at the best table, no exaggeration. The CEO of the Four Seasons at the table next to us were at this giant booth again like I'm jay Z and Beyonce, Like we just like got lucky this week. And I don't know why they gave us a table, like yes, he has my wine and the menu. There are a million wines, and there are like very famous people like rolling through there. The Kardashians roll through there. I'm sure j Loo's rolled through there. Like Dave Grutman doesn't fuck around with like celebrity, Like none of these guys do. It's Eugene and Mark that are the other duo that do this for catch restaurants. Like that's another duo, and Dave is in a duo. He seems like he's on his own. But what I'm getting too here is that I was sitting in this baller booth and yes, girls were coming up to me, and it started to be like a lot, and I felt guilty because he put security on my table. And several times he stood up from his table and walked up and was like girls just like, you know, she's eating, let her eat, et cetera, which was really kind. I felt tremendously guilty because I felt like, in this one case, there were these two girls and the one girl, you know, she actually sat down next to me, which was a little you know, she like sat down while we were eating, and she was like, oh my god, we love you and it was so nice and like I'm so grateful, and she was like, can we get a picture? And then Dave came up and he had put security on the table and they were like, just you know, she's eating dinner. And she was like, but you don't mind, right, And I was like no, because like I didn't mind, but then I'm gonna be sitting with like ten people at my table and then it's you know, uncomfortable with my friend and it's all about me and not my friends. And I felt sort of guilty, and I'll still I'll go into the box one day, like feeling guilty that the one girl got the picture and the other one didn't. And I ended up seeing her from a distance later and wanted to scream her name to like you get your picture, Like I felt badly. I genuinely did. It was not like my fault and nothing happened and the security guy said something and then they were gone. But I always feel guilty about something like that, like it's weird. Paul used to, you know, always say to me like like or he'll be I happen. Even recently he'll say, like you'll obsessed about it. Just take the picture because you're gonna obsessed about it and feel bad. Like someone comes up to me in the bathroom and then I don't get the picture because I feel weird because I'm like midstream peace basically or washing my hands, and like then I like hunt the airport and feel bad that I didn't take the picture. But anyway, there's that one girl that has blonde hair, and if you know, if if you're listening, I will get the picture with you one of these days because I still feel bad. But the point of the story is just to say that Dave Grutman, who's like made it. You know, he's got successful restaurants, and he works like it's the first day he was working. He works like as hard as I was working when I was like, you know, working on Save by the Bell, like fourteen hour days or as hard as I've ever worked any day, like you watch. I went up to him, I was like, you know what, you deserve your success, Like I'm watching you and you're on every table and it's not just the Shakira tables, Like he's just on what's going on in the room. Who's coming up to my table? What's going on? Is that food good? Was that cold? Was this server on the game? Was this like on time? Well, like just impossible. So just shout out to Casadana, which was very good in a beautiful restaurant that I had not been to. But shout out to Dave Grutman, because that guy straight hustles like the first day he ever worked. And the people that are really successful at every level, whether they are paupers or billionaires, they're working the same, like you do it or you don't, whatever job it is. Like I used to be the copy maker when I was a pa at saved by the Bell, and I made those copies like it was my life and whatever job you have, because I do find this day and age, people think that like things should come easy and they're a little entitled. Like the people that succeed are the ones that work their asses off, like just it's just who they are, like do it or don't. And what I noticed at that table and that's see, it was a Dave Grutman was doing it, and you know I was. I was impressed. And so we had a very very VIP weekend. I am you know, it's not they say the artist for the artist formerly known as I'm the artist currently known as jay Z and Beyonce, because I was a baller shot caller in Miami this weekend. So it was good, it was fun, and it was most importantly great to connect with my friend because you've got to connect with your own friends and just like take that time. It's not the same a group dinner with a bunch of people, it's not the same. Just like talking and facetiming. You gotta like dance, get down and dirty, laugh, like be alone with them, not with the spouses, not with the boyfriends, not with the fiances. Just do it. And we did it and it was amazing. So shout out, I guess to Sarah too. She came and moved into my hotel for the weekend. I was really find and nice

Rants with Bethenny Frankel

Bethenny Frankel tells it like it is. RANT Definition: speak or shout at length in a wild, impassio 
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