Gulla Jónsdóttir's Unframed Hotel Opens in Miami After Years

April. Miami. The Unframed Hotel opened its doors after a multiyear build, designed end-to-end by Gulla Jónsdóttir, the Icelandic-born, Los Angeles-based architect. The project took four years from first sketch to final check-in.

Jónsdóttir's approach, which she calls tropical modernism, leans into Miami's climate without defaulting to the usual coastal pastels or deco revival. The interiors read restrained: natural fibers, low seating, airflow as design principle. She worked with local craftspeople on custom furniture and textiles, a decision that shows in the details. The lobby daybed, for instance, is woven rattan over a powder-coated steel frame, all fabricated within thirty miles of the site.

The hotel itself is small by Miami standards. Forty-eight rooms, a single-story pool pavilion, no ballroom, no convention space. Jónsdóttir told WWD the brief was to create a place that felt like a private house opened to guests, not a resort. The room count reflects that. So does the lack of signage. You either know where you're going or you ask.

This is Jónsdóttir's first hotel project after a decade of residential work in Los Angeles and Iceland. Her studio, which she runs with a team of six, has built a reputation for tight budgets and long timelines. The Unframed took longer than expected, though she hasn't said why. Construction paused twice, once in 2024, once in early 2025. The final phase ran clean.

The opening was quiet. No launch party, no influencer weekend, no press preview beyond the WWD interview. Rooms are bookable now. The rate starts at $480 a night in low season, $720 in high. Early photos show the kind of place that photographs flat but reads differently in person. That's the test. Whether it holds up past the first Instagram pass.