Versace mansion in Fla. now offering tours

Upstairs is off-limits to tourists. To get a glimpse, you must be a club member or a paying guest. But it, too, is stunning and steeped in a history dotted with familiar names.

There's the bathtub — the only one in a house full of showers — put in for Madonna. There's the uppermost area of the house, the observatory, where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reportedly enjoyed a three-hour dinner before getting engaged. There's Versace's sprawling cedar closet, one filled more recently, the host says, by Paris Hilton.

The name-dropping here doesn't stop. The Wedgwood Suite was Cher's favorite; the Safari Suite was Elton John's. A photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton hangs in a cigar lounge; mentions of recent guests are made effortlessly.

Spendy stays
Just stepping out on one of the balconies facing Ocean Drive and throngs of tourists makes you a celebrity, albeit briefly, too.

The bedrooms share many of the characteristics of downstairs — elegant chandeliers and moldings; thick, rich drapes and bedding; and artwork on the walls. But they also often offer stunning views — in the foreground, a fountain spouts water into the pool, and just off in the distance, behind the palms, soft ocean waters lap ashore.

The style of each suite is very different, though they may share the fact that they're all out of your budget.

Three of the 10 rooms go for $1,200 during the peak winter season, plus 13 percent tax and 22 percent service charge. The others climb in price, up to the owner's suite, which goes for $10,000 nightly. Prices are cheaper in summer, when the blistering heat chases many tourists away, and for members.

There is no way to sugarcoat the price, but it is worth noting that you could stay in one of the cheapest rooms and have room for several and that, given the exclusivity, a lower-end room could be considered a deal compared with other pricey South Beach hotel suites. In the Parrot Suite and the Wedgwood Suite, there are two full-sized daybeds in addition to a queen, meaning it could comfortably sleep four.

And, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Those who take the tour may stay for breakfast or lunch, depending on the time of day. But it, too, will come at a price. My colleague and I had salads, pasta and a bottle of water. It was sumptuous, but the tab was about $120.

No one expects the Versace mansion to be cheap; they do expect it to be special. And it delivers. In here, everything seems different, and a Tuesday afternoon is transformed from mundane to magical.

If you go
Casa Casuarina: Gianni Versace mansion
1116 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach, Fla.
Web site: http://www.casacasuarina.com/
Phone: 305-672-6604. Call for tour reservations.

Tours typically offered every other day during the peak tourist season, with times varying morning and afternoon. Cost: $65. Those who take the tour can enjoy breakfast or dinner at Loftin's 1116 Ocean, the in-house restaurant, at an additional cost.

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