![]() Some of these working-class people, who often struggled to make ends meet, were so shocked and fascinated by the lifestyle they witnessed at the Mutiny that they simply decided to switch sides. Most patrons at the club usually spent more money in a single night than the average 1970s cop could earn in a month. “They had the looks but always wore wrong shoes”, he would say “That was the giveaway”.įinancial disparities also played a huge role in keeping the police at bay. Joking during an interview years later, one of the former owners would laugh at how cops seemed to always mess up their disguises somehow. Although both Miami PD and the newborn DEA did their best to always have undercover agents inside the club, mingling with such an elite crowd proved particularly hard for police. And the Stiletto Tap, where girls would use their heels to discreetly spot ankle holsters, was one of the most popular moves on the Mutiny’s dance floor.įinally, the hotel’s exclusivity and lavishness also worked as a natural shield against prying eyes. Most of the Mutiny’s hostesses, for example, were trained and actively encouraged to search their patrons for concealed weapons. Naturally, maintaining this status quo of safety and peace of mind wasn’t always an easy task. ![]() Prominent members of the criminal underworld would continue to use the Hotel to discuss, plan, and execute their moves without the risk of being caught for most of its existence. ![]() ![]() A strange, almost ethereal atmosphere of peace permeated the club’s marbled halls, while the hotel itself quickly became a safe haven of sorts for most of the activities connected to the distribution of narcotics.ĭespite the growing animosities between rival factions battling for control of the streets of Miami and the mounting number of murders registered within the city, the Mutiny remained a relatively violence-free zone. Even music celebrities such as Rick James or members of the rock band Fleetwood Mac could sometimes be spotted at the bar.Īside from the colorful clientele it welcomed and the incredible amount of money it was able to generate, there was one other thing that made the Mutiny Hotel a one of a kind establishment. Instead, the club would also host prominent entrepreneurs, politicians, CIA agents, and judges. Unsurprisingly, while criminals and guns were a constant presence at the premises, the tables at the Mutiny Hotel weren’t exclusively reserved for smuggling lords and drug kingpins. On top of that, the hotel’s luxurious rooms would often be the background for secret meetings, drugs-fueled private parties, orgies, and other forms of debauchery. The girls were also rumored to offer an array of other, more private, services – for a hefty fee, of course. By the mid-1970s, the hotel was already selling more bottles of Dom Perignon – most of which were paid for with drugs money – than any other establishment in the country and rivaled the Studio 54 Club in Manhattan both in terms of prestige and earnings.īut fine drinking and good company weren’t the only things one could find at the Mutiny. Anybody who could afford to walk through the entrance was welcomed by a cast of beautiful women, aptly named the “Mutiny Girls”, and guided into a downstairs nightclub which would later be the basis for the iconic Babylon Club in Scarface.Īlmost immediately after its inauguration, the Mutiny became a meeting point and a central hub for the blossoming criminal underworld in Miami. The Mutiny Hotel first opened its doors in 1968 a 130-rooms, sailing themed mansion to which hard cash was the only key. Today, we go back in time and explore the rise and fall of the Miami Mutiny Hotel, one of the largest and most infamous hangouts for both celebrities and criminals during the disco era. They called themselves the Mutiny Club and elected what would soon turn into an iconic part of the Coconut Grove’s skyline as their new headquarters. In the span of a few years, these people would become one of the most influential forces within the United States. ![]() While tons of cocaine streamed in from the south and flooded the city’s streets, a new elite gradually emerged one that quickly became addicted to the high life linked with narcotics trafficking. By the turn of the 1960s, Miami was already known as the drug capital of the world. ![]()
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