Winter escape :: Miami and the beaches
When viewed from the air, Miami Beach even looks like a cruise ship-one of those deck plans telling you where to find everything you need. So is it any wonder that the world’s most famous sandbar is a never-ending party? From its inception in the imaginations of robber barons with big money and big plans, right through the war years, when 500,000 Army recruits called it home, Miami and the Beaches have always been a non-stop bacchanal. With photographer’s light as fabled as the south of France and a smorgasbord of Art Deco masterworks, it’s no wonder that fashionistas and gays reclaimed the Beach as their own. The stretch of Miami Beach south from 21st Street is the Deco District known as South Beach, or SoBe.
From the cocaine cowboys of Miami Vice to Madonna, Oprah, Ricky and the Versaces, nearly everyone who’s anyone has taken a fiesta here. A lifestyle that’s built around skin and sun and sin and more skin means that the locals keep themselves fit so they look even better when they’re not wearing much-which is most of the time. Just be sure to strut and stroll and work it like you own it, and you’ll be indistinguishable from the natives. That, and a couple of months of hardcore dieting and gym workouts
Where to Stay
The Catalina
1732-1756 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. 305-674-1160
The hotel’s website
Affordable luxury and style, with white rooms and new white bathrooms. Oversized towels, 300-thread count Belgian sheets, and goose down comforters. Settle in and smile.
The Essex House Hotel/Lounge
1001 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. 305-534-2700
The hotel’s website
Designed in 1938 by Henry Hohauser, Art Deco architect extraordinaire, this landmark represents classic elegance married to today’s technology. As much sanctuary as center of SoBe style, with one of the loveliest front patio porches.
Metropole South Beach
635 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. 305-672-0009
The hotel’s website
Chic and intimate one- and two-bedroom suites provide a residential feel in the heart of SoBe shopping. A bit of Melrose on the beach.
Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel
1717 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. 305-532-7715
The hotel’s website
Host hotel for Winter Party, as well as site of its Pool Party, a resort atmosphere makes it difficult to leave the premises. But an ideal location only blocks from Lincoln Road makes it convenient for meals-and las citas with the locals. One of the most loved South Beach hotels.
Townhouse Hotel
150 20th Street, Miami. 877-534-3800
The hotel’s website
Owner Jonathan Morr created a hotel that is a little bit wallpaper, a lot Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Just the kind of playful and easy place you associate with island vacations.
The Whitelaw Hotel
808 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. 305-398-7000
The hotel’s website
Located in the heart of SoBe’s retail strip, the Whitelaw enables easy access to the many stores, as well as a perfect porch for watching other inveterate shoppers. And when you head inside, the magenta lobby with its black crystal chandeliers reminds you that you’re no longer in Kansas.
Next :: Where to eat, drink and play!
