2 weeks Ago By Elise Taylor
Searching for the best hotels in Miami? It’s that time of year—those of us residing above the prime meridian are besieged with long days of snow, sleet, and freezing temperatures, making a warm-weather getaway more appealing than ever. And where better than the South Florida hotspot? A direct flight from most cities in the United States, Miami brims with heat both figurative and literal thanks to its world-class nightlife, Michelin-starred restaurants, dynamic art scene, and iconic Art Deco architecture. Sit poolside in South Beach while making plans for a bacchanalian evening at Story or E11even, or wander around the Design District for world-class shopping, galleries, and museums (the ICA is a must).
Head to Little Havana for the best cafe con leche you’ll ever have in your life, take in the sweeping urban waterfront of Brickell from a rooftop bar, or dine on gourmet Greek cuisine in the romantic glow of Mandolin’s courtyard. With all that in mind, Vogue ’s selected our favorite hotels to live out your Miami fantasies—whether they’re filled with vice or virtue. When it comes to Miami, the word “iconic” is best reserved for The Surf Club, the Surfside social club that’s served as a playground for the world’s glitterati since the 1930s.
Some famous guests from across the decades? Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, as well as Winston Churchill. “I want sun, solitude, serenity, and something to eat, perhaps something to drink,” the British prime minister said. (From his cabana, he painted the ocean.
) Today, the historic property’s hotel is managed by the Four Seasons, who act as a worthy steward to its grandeur: a rich landscape of coconut palms graces its nine acres of oceanfront, while the restored lobby maintains the same Mediterranean style, vaulted ceilings, and flora murals as the original. (In fact, so spectacular is the setting that Dolce & Gabbana hosted their Alta Moda show in its hallowed halls this past December.) It’s also a culinary paradise: Michelin-starred chefs Thomas Keller and Michael White each have their own signature restaurants.
The Faena, with its bold red awnings, gold-leaf ceilings, and unabashed embrace of animal print, exudes a dramatic, disorderly glamor. Which, for many in Miami, is exactly what you want —this is the city, after all, known for its magnetic atmosphere of neon lights, pool parties, and nightclubs. The Faena allows you to indulge in this maximalist energy without sacrificing comfort: its guest rooms have Carrara marble bathrooms and private butlers, while its restaurant, Los Fuegos, is helmed by Michelin-starred chef Francis Mallman.
Then, there’s its famous art glass-encased mammoth titled “Gone But Not Forgotten,” by Damien Hirst. (Go ahead, take a picture—you know you want to.) The Miami Beach Edition is somehow both a sanctuary and a social haven: their spacious guest rooms are adorned in warm calming neutrals and pale woods, many with balconies that look over the ocean.
There’s an 1,800 square foot spa, and the hotel itself—an Art Deco gem—sits on the largest stretch of beachfront in Miami. Yet come nightfall, you’ll find guests flocking to the high-octane basement, which is complete with an ice rink, bowling alley, and a nightclub where DJs spin late into the night. Also make sure to book a reservation at their restaurant, Matador, helmed by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
The Soho Beach House is cool . Walk through its doors and you’ll see fashionable people lounging artfully by the pool, drinking by the bar, dining on truffle pizza in the courtyard at their restaurant Cecconi’s, or relaxing on their blue-and-white chaises on the beach. (Fret not—if you feel you want to artfully Miami-fy your wardrobe, their on-site shop curated by tastemaker Anastasia Koutsioukis of Mrs.
Mandolin.) Meanwhile, the rooms—featuring tiled floors, exposed wood beams, and palm-decorated curtains—exude an English country home meets Miami bungalow ambiance, whereas the Cowshed spa is the perfect play to amp up for (or wind down from) the famed Miami social scene. Which, by the way, you may not even need to leave the hotel for—from day to night, the atmosphere at Soho Beach House is always lively.
Somehow, amid the madness of Mid-Beach, the Setai manages to be a sanctuary of serenity: guest rooms are equipped with Duxiana beds, while the state-of-the-art Valmont Spa features views of the calming Atlantic Ocean. Then there are the interiors themselves: black brick and granite with polish teak, evoking a zen Japanese aesthetic rather than the colorful beachy vibe found elsewhere. An added bonus? The breakfast buffet set amid the palm-lined courtyard, where you can either jumpstart your day, or detox from the night before.
Looking for lodging in Miami proper rather than Miami Beach? Consider East, the first American hotel from the Swire Group, which operates trendy high-design properties like the Upper House in Hong Kong and the Middle House in Shanghai. In the heart of Brickell, the city’s financial hub, East has a distinctly tropical urban retreat feel: sure, it’s housed in a high rise, but it also offers four pools and a rooftop adorned with jungle-like greenery and a hand-carved Balinese bar. It’s particularly great for guests decamping to Miami for a long-term stay, offering several residence suites complete with full kitchens and washer-and-dryers.
Miami Beach hosts a number of mega-resorts, complete with multiple pools, several restaurants, and occasionally even over 1,000 guest rooms. Esmé is the antithesis of that: a quaint boutique hotel designed by Jessie Schuster that sits upon South Beach’s historic Española Way, it’s the kind of spot where you can borrow a baby blue cruiser from the bike rack or sit down at an outdoor bistro table for a coffee at a moment’s notice. Several Mediterranean-style buildings are connected via a pink-and-green interior courtyard lined with tea lights, while guest rooms are adorned in blush or moody jewel-tone shades.
Best of all is their restaurant The Drexel, which is the second Miami restaurant from the famed team behind the beloved Design District haunt Mandolin. Here, the emphasis is on clean flavors, with a charcoal grill and wood oven producing wild prawns, smoked guanciale pizza, and roasted eggplant. Don’t miss their 10-dollar wine happy hour.
The experience of staying in Miami comes to me in nouveau riche flashes: mirrored high-rises, revving Ferraris, sky-high stilettos, an errant rollerblader weaving through a sea of string bikinis. But just 30 minutes away in the cozy neighborhood of Coconut Grove, The Mayfair House Hotel & Garden offers an entirely different scene. Here, the vibe is more Gaudi than gaudy—the building is made up of intricate floral ironwork and white organic columns that seem to grow rather than stand.
The Mayfair was designed in 1985 by Kenneth Treister (an architect who cut his teeth under Frank Lloyd Wright) and indeed the hotel is full of natural wonders: the property's showstopper is not a tricked out pool or man-made waterfall, but rather a verdant vertical garden that extends the entire interior of the Mayfair. In 2022, the hotel reopened after a massive renovation, refreshing the 179-rooms and suites (but thankfully leaving the Mayfair’s eponymous garden untouched). Each room was designed to feel like a small private home, complete with its own terrace, living, and dining spaces—and indeed my suite, retro yet refined, felt straight out of Don Draper’s West Coast daydream.
There is also an excellent on-site restaurant (led by Top Chef winner Giorgio Rapicavoli), a full-size swimming pool, and a tasteful cabana bar with views of the Intracoastal..
