Navigating the Chaos of New Flying ID Regulations

Today, Rockstar Games released the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, providing insights into the game’s characters and storyline. While fans speculated about the voice actors behind the characters, I found myself fixated on a different, seemingly trivial detail: Is that the Clevelander?

GTA 6 is set in Vice City, the game’s version of Miami and the iconic backdrop of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. When it debuted in 2006, Vice City delivered a remarkable portrayal of Miami. However, advancements in video game graphics over the past two decades mean that GTA 6 will present an even more lifelike depiction of Miami, so much so that it seems to include actual real-life landmarks.

Although a representative from Rockstar Games did not provide comments by the time of publication, I can’t say with complete certainty that the location in question is the Clevelander, but let’s be real: it looks just like the Clevelander. I’m pretty sure of it. Probably.

The Clevelander is a hotel situated on Ocean Drive in the heart of Miami Beach’s Art Deco district. Established in the 1930s, it flourished after a sale and renovation in the late 1980s. As noted by the Miami Design Preservation League, brothers Tony and Kent Kay revitalized the space, introducing a bar and hosting nightly outdoor concerts. In the ’90s, local noise ordinances restricted many hotels from playing loud music late at night, but the Clevelander happened to be within a two-block radius exempted from those regulations, enabling the party to continue until it naturally fizzled out.

Fast forward 30 years, and the party is still going strong. At nearly all hours, you’ll find people enjoying tequila shots and dancing—not only on the elevated dance floor but also in the pool, on tables, and quite possibly on the bar itself. The Clevelander exemplifies a place where a man in a leopard fur coat could stroll in at 1:30 a.m. on a Thursday and blend right in (true story). In short, it’s the perfect embodiment of Grand Theft Auto’s wild spirit.

Another amusing detail that highlights the Clevelander’s party atmosphere: its marketing department shares a phone extension with its bottle service reservations, a fact that a journalist reaching out for a comment would typically find interesting.

The Clevelander also did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

In just a brief 0.06 seconds of the second GTA 6 trailer, there’s a fleeting glimpse of a neon-pink courtyard surrounded by Art Deco walls that might very well resemble those of the Clevelander (one curved and one straight). People are dancing on every conceivable surface. Although there’s no sight of anyone donning a full-length fur coat in 85ºF weather, you just know that somewhere off-screen