With a host of hotels and restaurants, Miami Beach has a lot to offer. The more relaxed location being North Beach and Mid Beach… it gets louder in South Beach with it’s late night party atmosphere.
Arts District Miami Beach
Size: 179 rooms and suites
Style: Contemporary Classic & Happening
Year Opened: 1948
Most Recent Renovation/Update: 2015
Designer/Architect: Roy F. France
Originally: The Saxony Hotel
Easily one of our favorite hotels in Miami, Faena Miami Beach is the combined brainchild of hotelier Alan Faena, film director Baz Luhrmann, and costume designer Catherine Martin. The theatricality practically smacks you in the face as you walk into the gilded lobby, where mythological murals and a golden woolly mammoth skeleton (courtesy of Damien Hirst) fight for your attention.
Alan Faena doesn’t do things halfway. The pioneering Argentinian hotelier didn’t just open a hotel in Buenos Aires — he transformed a piece of abandoned waterfront real estate into a glamorous urban destination, turning a once-derelict neighborhood into a thriving arts district. And now he’s brought the Faena brand to Miami Beach. It’s a place that, of course, doesn’t require the same kind of vision or transformation. This part of Miami is well-developed, to say the least. But in some ways the Faena Hotel Miami Beach is an even more ambitious project. That’s because Faena, just as he did in Buenos Aires, isn’t just opening a hotel: he’s taking over the neighborhood.
Surfside
Size: 77 rooms and suites
Style: Modern Design & Quiet
Year Opened: 1930
Most Recent Renovation/Update: 2017
Designer/Architect: Richard Meier (architect, hotel and residences)
From the moment it first opened its doors on New Year’s Eve in 1930, The Surf Club has hosted history. It is here that you will find Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, an iconic Surfside hotel. This beachside hotel, a hallmark in the Miami Beaches area, brings a new era of luxury, with celebrated dining and a world-class spa, to its Surfside shores.
Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, the former social club that hosted the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra, originally opened on New Year’s Eve 1930 and re-opened as a Four Seasons experience in 2017.
2024 #34
South Beach
Size: 143 rooms and suites
Style: Modern Design & Lively
Year Opened: 1937
Most Recent Renovation/Update: 2004
Designer/Architect: Jean-Michel Gathy for 2004 remodel
Originally: Dempsey-Vanderbilt Hotel
The long-awaited opening of the Setai was some of the biggest news to hit the South Beach hotel scene in a while. This is a town that’s not exactly hurting for over-the-top luxury accommodations, but the Setai manages to set itself apart by being even more over-the-top than the competition.
From a distance what you notice is the tower, forty curvaceous stories of aquamarine glass right on the beach, home to the private owners’ suites as well as some of the more excessive hotel suites; like the sky, it’s hard to say whether the tower’s color is a reflection of the sea or some intrinsic property. From the inland side on Collins Avenue, though, you can see that the Setai’s heart lies behind the refurbished facade of the Dempsey Vanderbilt hotel, a classic eight-story Art Deco building dating back to the first golden age of Miami Beach. This is where you’ll find the comparatively more modest studio suites; it’ll quickly become clear, though, that modest isn’t really a word that applies in this case.
Miami Beach
Size: 294 rooms and suites
Style: Contemporary Sophisticated
Year Opened: 1955
Most Recent Renovation/Update: 2014
Designer/Architect: John Pawson
Originally: Seville Hotel
Best to stay in the new build Bungalow Suites… very nice.
The Miami Beach EDITION is a luxury beachfront urban retreat in a 3.5-acre private enclave. This modern resort offers 294 spacious and sophisticated accommodations, including bilevel suites with a private plunge pool or a sauna; two large pools; and intimate cabanas. Basement showcases a bowling alley, ice-skating rink, and nightclub. Signature restaurants by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten; and The Spa. The dedicated VIP team ensures an enchanting experience by fulfilling the needs and desires of the luxury traveler, with every thought given to enhancing a customized stay, whether for relaxation, vacation, or work.
South Beach
Size: 426 rooms and suites
Style: Contemporary
Year Opened: Meyer Davis
Most Recent Renovation/Update: 2015
Designer/Architect: Contemporary
Originally: Hotel Gansevoort Miami Beach (2008), Perry South Beach Hotel (2012)
This is the only South Beach oceanfront hotel with a rooftop pool and a Beach Club.
Look for living green walls and a lobby farm stand inside 1 Hotel South Beach, a stylish nod to nature. Salvaged driftwood and glass terrariums bring the outside into its 425 rooms, while local Florida food can be found at Plnthouse and Habitat. Unwind in the spa, on 600 feet of prime sand, or at the 30,000-square-foot rooftop pool area, South Beach’s largest. Reset body and mind through Mind & Movement wellness offerings, including challenging fitness classes, or grab a complimentary bicycle to ride along the promenade, then visit town in the complimentary house car.
Twelve Hotels That Tell the Story of Miami
The boutique hotel scene in Miami is maturing nicely, with a growing collection of charismatic spaces that have more to say for themselves than just being close to a beach.
► VIRTUOSO: Miami Beach Information Page
Here is a good place to start for some additional information on quality Hotels, Water Adventures and Activities.
► WIKIVOYAGE: Miami Beach Page
A great resource for all the basic information you need for Miami Beach.
Miami General Information Page
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page updated: August 2025
images courtesy: Wikimedia Commons, Florida Tourism Board
Please Note: All Hotel / Resort / Cruise / Services Amenities are subject to availability and may have changed since the date of this being originally published.
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