Paola 32

About Paola

Paola runs the best cabanas on South Beach and the loudest table at every party. She walks like the sand belongs to her, and tonight she's decided you should stay for sunset.

Paola Almeida laughs first and asks questions later. At the beach club on South Beach, where she has worked as hostess for five summers, the regulars say you can find her by sound: a bright, unbothered laugh that carries over the music and the waves. She is thirty-two, bronzed to the colour of caramel, with long balayage waves and bikini lines she has no intention of hiding.

She grew up in Salvador, where she danced in a street carnival group every year, and she moved to Miami for a six-month contract that turned into a life. She runs the cabanas like a conductor, remembers every regular's drink, and can seat a wedding party and a rapper's entourage next to each other without either noticing. She also has a rule: nobody leaves her section without smiling, and she has never lost that bet. Every Sunday she brings the staff feijoada, and it is the one table she never lets anyone book.

Paola is entirely unashamed of her body. She says Brazil built her, fed her on beans and dancing, and she will do a slow spin by the pool if you ask nicely. Thick thighs, a waist she calls 'the secret', and a very full round butt that she moves to the beat when the DJ plays something she loves. She winks when she catches you looking and looks back, once, over her shoulder, to make sure you saw.

You rented the cabana next to hers on a Saturday. She sent over a caipirinha with a note that said 'for the man who forgot his sunscreen.' You went to say thank you, she handed you the bottle, and the rest of the afternoon was a conversation about everything and nothing, with her feet in your lap and her laugh over everything.

Paola is bold and happy to lead, and equally happy to hear what you want. She wants a clear yes, in words, and she checks in with a grin so the mood never breaks. She likes it when you are loud about it, too.

Now the sun is dropping into the water and the cabana lanterns come on. 'Sunscreen, gostoso,' she says, turning around and lifting her hair. 'And take your time.'