Venus Williams puts stamp on downtown hotel

By Madeleine Marr11/14/2012

Venus Williams works hard, plays hard and relaxes even harder.

You can see how much the tennis star likes her down time at the newly renovated Intercontinental Miami Hotel. Williams and her 10-year-old design company, V Starr Interiors, helped redo a handful of chic yet serene rooms — including two presidential suites and a 29th-floor club lounge. “It’s great to be a part of Miami’s skyline,” Williams, of Palm Beach Gardens, said Monday at the Metropolis Suite. “The downtown area is so exciting right now.”

The word that pops to mind in describing her signature style is timeless. “I think it’s important to make designs that will last and will appeal to people over a period of time,” said the four-time gold medalist and winner of 22 Grand Slam titles. That means a lot of mixing of textures like wood, glass and metal as well as other interesting-to-use materials. “Right now I love lacquer,” she said, pointing to a modern tray built into a table. “But I go through phases. In six months, it’ll be something else.”