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Tila Tequila and Tara Conner to Co-Host Tapings of “Pretty Smart” and “Fantasy Couples”

On Saturday, March 8, 2008 and Sunday, March 9, 2008, more than 2,000 lucky spring-breakers will take over the landmark Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort in Sunny Isles Beach for MTV’s annual Spring Break celebration.  Known for satiric game shows and celebrity appearances, MTV Spring Programming is being co-hosted by Myspace sensation Tila Tequila, hot off her MTV show A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, and Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006.

MTV will film two game shows over the weekend, “Pretty Smart” and “Fantasy Couples,” slated to air later this March.  The Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort is undergoing production for a set build-out that includes a massive beachfront stage and several green rooms and VIP areas that will accommodate the celebrities in attendance.  The 2,000 audience members will have a chance to participate in the tapings, win prizes and meet the talent.

“It is our goal to show-off Sunny Isles Beach as a travel destination and entertaining alternative to the South Beach scene,” said Barry Harris, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Newport.

Nestled between Miami and Fort Lauderdale beaches, the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort offers guests a smart and fun way to travel with world class amenities and more than 14,000 square feet of special event space.  For more information, visit www.newportbeachside.com.

A historic wooden pier will get new life thanks to a partnership between the city and a local hotel owner.

The decaying Newport Fishing Pier, an attraction for tourists and anglers in Sunny Isles Beach since 1936, will be completely rebuilt with help from the owners of an adjacent hotel. 

About $4 to $5 million will go into repairing the wooden pier, damaged during Hurricane Wilma.  The Newport Operating Group, which owns the Newport Beachside Hotel and Resort at 16701 Collins Avenue., will continue $2 million.  The city will take care of the rest.

“It’s really quite unusual to see people come up and put their cash where their mouth is on these deals,” said Mayor Norman Edelcup.  If not for the offer, “we would be sitting here for years trying to file grants and requests,” he said.

The pier stretches 928 feet into the Atlantic Ocean and has been mostly shut down – a portion remained open for a few months – since the 2005 hurricane.  It was designated a historic site by the county in 1982.  A recent structural analysis by Marlin Engineering, a Doral-based firm, found damaged planks and heavy corrosion in the hardware holding the pier together.

The pier “could collapse at any moment due to the extensive damage,” the firm’s president, Ramon Soria, wrote in his report.  “It is our opinion that the structure should be removed in its entirety.”  A solution had to be found as soon as possible, said City Manager John Szerlag. “We thought that the next major storm surge could bring the pier down,” he said. 

Early this year, Robert Cornfeld, president of the Newport Operating Group, volunteered to help with the restoration.  Cornfeld said the pier held value, both for his business and for the city.  “It was extremely popular when it was open,” said Cornfeld , who has lived in South Florida for the past 50 years.  “We’d have, on some days, hundreds of visitors.”

The city will control and operate the pier but has agreed to split revenues evenly with the Newport.  Use of the pier will be free for city residents and Newport Hotel guests.  The city will decide who gets to occupy a coveted restaurant spot on the pier and also who will be liable for any future repairs and insurance costs.

The repairs will mean the return of the activity for which the pier was named.  “The fishing was excellent from the end of the pier,” Cornfeld said.

Guests and visitors to the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort can now have the convenience of Free Wireless Internet Access throughout the hotel.  This added enhancement is the result of listening to the feedback from the guests.

“Although a majority of our guests come to the Newport for pleasure, they increasingly have felt a need to communicate wwith their office or home and friends.  As a convenience we have installed free WiFi”, stated Dwight Goldstein, General Manager.  “Business travelers and group attendees have also benefited from this upgrade”.

Guests who are not traveling with their laptops can use the hotel’s recently opened Business Center on the lobby level.