Tampa's Hotel Haya Nominated For USA Today's 10 Best New Hotels

YBOR CITY, FL — Less than two months after opening its doors, Ybor City’s newest boutique hotel, Hotel Haya, is a contender for USA Today's 10 Best Readers Choice 2020.

Hotel Haya is among 20 hotels around the country nominated for USA Today's best new hotel. Two other Florida hotels also made the list of nominees: Barbary Beach House in Key West and Kimpton Key West.

Readers still have time to vote for their favorite hotel by clicking here.

When nominating Hotel Haya, USA Today's panel noted Hotel Haya's "easy access to vibrant 7th Avenue in Ybor City," the artwork throughout the hotel by Tampa artists and amenities like the 24-hour fitness center and outdoor pool with a pool bar.

But topping the list is Hotel Hayas two restaurants, Flor Fina and Café Quiquiriqui, headed by the man who's been recognized globally as the "Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine.

Aparium Hotel Group lured James Beard-winning Chef Douglas Rodriguez to Tampa to oversee the menu and kitchen for Flor Fina, an upscale Latin-inspired restaurant featuring wood-grilled coastal cuisine, and Cafe Quiquiriqui, a charming Cuban cafe that has already become a neighborhood gathering spot.

The hotel’s flagship restaurant was inspired by Ybor City’s diverse mix of Spanish, Italian and Cuban cultures. Virtually everything is made in-house including the pastas, pickled vegetables, meats like bacon and ham and custom bread.

Rodriguez's coastal cuisine is inspired by Latin America, the Mediterranean and Florida’s Gulf Coast, and includes local ingredients, shareable plates and large-format entrees on the custom-made oak-wood grill.

The menu features a selection of tapas including Sweet Corn Fritters, four signature ceviche including Salmon Leche de Tigre, Aguachile, Amarillo Mixto and Tuna & Watermelon, along with a Maine Rope Mussels.

Flor Fina entrees include house-made pastas and specialties from the grill such as the 24-ounce “Dirty Bone” Tomahawk Ribeye with chimichurri and fried beef chicharron scraped tableside.

Flor Fina also offers occasion-worthy experiences like the three-course Porchetta Suckling Pig Feast: stuffed with rosemary, pistachios and currants and served with coffee carrots, broccolini, farro gratin, salsa verde and agrodolce demi (only available with advance notice).

Rodriguez's specialty desserts include Quatro Leches Cake (a spin on the traditional tres de leche cake); Lime in the Coconut Pavlova (filled with coconut yogurt, tropical fruit salad and key lime ice cream) and the popular Shock-Alate (parfait with dark chocolate, milk chocolate Nutella and white chocolate ice cream.)

The hotel group gave Rodriguez carte blanche or, as the Spanish would say, completa libertad, with the menu, and that includes the beverages.

Flor Fina’s beverage program celebrates Ybor’s diverse cultural fabric and local ingredients. An extensive rum collection curated by region features over 40 varieties from 17 countries including Venezuela, Guyana, Jamaica and Martinique. Cocktails are inspired by Cuban and pan-Latin ingredients such as green chilies, habanero peppers, cane juice, freshly juiced fruits and coconut water.

Designed by local firm Alfonso Architects Incorporated, the restaurant’s warm mid-century wordly decor acts as a key part of the immersive culinary experience, especially the dining room’s 20- by 8-foot glass chandelier by the Morean Art Center.

“There is so much inspiration to pull from in Ybor City,” said Executive Chef Rodriguez. “I wanted to pay homage to the Cuban, Italian and Spanish influences, and showcase a blend of the city’s history while incorporating ingredients native to the area.”

Café Quiquiriqui, pronounced KEE-KEE-REE-KEE, is Spanish for the call of a rooster and a nod to the free-roaming roosters of Ybor City. This chic Cuban-European-inspired cafe transports diners to another time and place. Designed to become the centerpiece of the neighborhood, guests and locals can sit and enjoy a café con leche featuring locally roasted coffee and purchase a custom-made cigar and snack from a menu of house-made bites.

Colorful terrazzo marble forms a tapestry on the floors and lush greenery hangs down from a steel trellis surrounding the space. The menu features an all-day breakfast, soups and snacks from empanadas with daily rotating flavors to “between the bread” items including the quintessential Cuban sandwich and desserts like the guava jelly filled doughnut with pistachio glaze.

Flor Fina is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. Bar hours Sunday and Monday are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the kitchen is open from 3 to 10 p.m. For reservations at Flor Fina, click here.

Café Quiquiriqui is open Monday to Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. No reservations are needed.

The 178-room Hotel Haya designed by local firm Alfonso Architects Incorporated. The decor is reminiscent of mid-century Cuba with rooms featuring period fabrics and colors: warm and inviting palettes of blue, red, brown and gold in addition to four massive Francisco Goya reproductions and Chihuly-style glass blown globes paying homage to Ybor’s famous streetlights.

The project is an adaptive reuse of two historic buildings: the district’s first restaurant built in 1890 and the Warren building, rumored to have housed Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.

Hotel Haya’s secluded courtyard pool features lush greenery and Italian white tile. The property also offers meetings and event spaces including a 4,000-square-foot ballroom.

Led by co-founders and world-renowned hoteliers Kevin Robinson and Mario Tricoci, Aparium Hotel Group currently operates eight hotel properties across the United States.

See related story: 2 Historic Ybor City Buildings Make Up Soon-To-Open Hotel Haya