Colony Hotel

Colony Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, is one of the most recognisable Art Deco landmarks on Ocean Drive. Located at 736 Ocean Drive in South Beach, the hotel is known for its vertical neon sign, curved façade and classic 1930s Miami Beach style. It sits in the middle of the Ocean Drive strip, close to Lummus Park and the beach, making it a natural screen image for films and series that want to establish South Beach quickly. Even when it is only used in passing, the Colony’s exterior immediately places a scene in Miami Beach. The hotel’s own website gives the address as 736 Ocean Drive, while Condé Nast Traveler describes it as a 1939 Ocean Drive icon and one of Henry Hohauser’s Art Deco buildings.

Colony Hotel has appeared in productions including Miami Rhapsody (1995), Dexter (2006–2013) and Bad Boys for Life (2020). It is also visually connected to Scarface (1983), because the hotel stands next to the former Sun Ray Apartments at 728 Ocean Drive, where the famous chainsaw scene was filmed. Colony Hotel can be seen in the background as Tony Montana and Manny Ribera arrive in the area, and the hotel has embraced this connection through its restaurant décor. Even though the actual “Scarface” scene belongs to 728 Ocean Drive, Colony Hotel remains part of the same recognisable Ocean Drive setting.

In Miami Rhapsody (1995), Colony Hotel is used as the place connected to the affair between Jordan and Kaia. The hotel’s Ocean Drive setting fits the film’s Miami world of family complications, romantic confusion and stylish South Beach surroundings. Its Art Deco exterior helps place the story in a recognisable Miami Beach environment, where the city’s hotels, restaurants and streets become part of the film’s light romantic-comedy atmosphere.

In Dexter (2006–2013), Colony Hotel appears as one of the Miami Beach locations used to give the series its South Florida identity. Although much of the series was filmed in Southern California, selected Miami locations were used for atmosphere and establishing material. The Colony appears in the first season when Debra discovers the Ice Truck Killer’s vehicle on Ocean Drive, with the hotel’s bright Art Deco frontage contrasting with the darker crime material at the centre of the scene.

In Bad Boys for Life (2020), Colony Hotel appears during the Miami Beach material in the third “Bad Boys” film. The Ocean Drive location fits the franchise’s glossy version of Miami, where colour, nightlife, cars and coastal architecture are central to the look of the city. The hotel’s famous façade works as a quick visual marker for South Beach, placing the action in one of Miami Beach’s most recognisable streets.

In Scarface (1983), Colony Hotel is visible in the background during the Ocean Drive sequence leading to the Sun Ray Apartments at 728 Ocean Drive. The main scene takes place next door, where Tony Montana and Manny Ribera enter what becomes one of the film’s most infamous drug-deal setups, but Colony Hotel forms part of the surrounding South Beach streetscape. Today the hotel also acknowledges the film connection inside its restaurant, where one wall features a painted portrait of Al Pacino as Tony Montana and another displays the neon quote “I always tell the truth, even when I lie”. This makes the hotel part of the wider “Scarface” location experience on Ocean Drive, even if the key filming address is the neighbouring building.

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