traveling101

My husband and I will be visiting South Beach for our anniversary in November and want to stay somewhere hip and romantic. We looked at The Hotel, Delano, and didn't know if there was any other suggestions out there in travel world.
Thanks for your input!

rjw_lgb_ca

The National: Great pool area, none of the snooty attitude of the Delano. Rooms may be a bit small, but that's par for the course in these 30s-era hotels.

The Sagamore: All-suites hotel, new renovation, positioning itself as a luxury property (although prices have been unusually reasonable), nice pool.

The Cardozo: On Ocean Drive, a very small, beautifully-renovated property, very Deco on the outside, a little wild on the inside (wrought iron and leopardskin accents in the rooms), sexy vibe. Gloria and Emilio Estefan own it. This is my personal favorite; it's very comfortable and the staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating. Note: no pool.

The Tides: Tallest hotel on Ocean, as I recall. Definitely positioned as a luxury property, with prices to match. Elegant, cool, not "trendy" as much as stylish.

I have toured The Hotel, and I liked it a lot-- Todd Oldham's decorator touches give it lots of offbeat style. Wish, its restaurant, is my favorite eatery in Florida.

All of these are hip and romantic. The Delano, National and Sagamore have direct beachfront access (the Cardozo and Tides are across the street from the beach). I like the Cardozo for its personal touch and its panache, and it has a beautiful honeymoon suite. The National would be my second choice (with the Hotel very close behind).

GoTravel

rjw, how could you possibly leave the Delano's sister hotel off the list, The Shore Club? Much newer and not so worn out (if you can beleive it) as the Delano.

I also love love love The Hotel.

You must take a look at the Island Outpost Hotels in South Beach (Chris Blackwell, the guy who discovered regge music god Bob Marley). Island Outpost has gorgeous boutique hotels all over the world. In South Beach they are The Tides (largest rooms in South Beach), The Marlin, and The Kent.

rjw_lgb_ca

GoTravel, I never got that far up Collins last time I went to visit the Shore Club! Haven't seen it yet, but it's getting good press, so you're right-- put it on the short list!

The Marlin and Kent are definitely nice little hotels, but they're maybe second-tier in this group, wouldn't you say? The Marlin's got a "rocker's hideaway" reputation, for one thing. The Kent was remodeled beautifully, but I'd put it behind The Hotel in the "little Deco hotels on Collins" group.

SusanCS

It's been several years since we were there, but we loved the Tides.

welch

If you'd consider a slightly different location I can highly recommend the Mandarin Oriental. A short drive to the beach and the nicest rooms and service in Miami. The pool is wonderful and there is great attention to detail. I have family who lives in Miami and visit frequently and my opinion is that the Beach has seen better days. The Four Seasons is just opening near the Mandarin but I'd still stay at the Mandarin (and I'm a die hard Four Seasons fan!)

kfame

How would you all rate the Eden Roc when compared with the other beach front hotels you've mentioned? Are there any other beach front hotels (other than the mega hotels) that are worth looking into for a few nights away without the kids?

rjw_lgb_ca

The Eden Roc is a fine property, but realize that it's well north of South Beach, with not a lot of cool things around it. OK, no cool things around it. It's a safe area, but it's kinda quiet for my taste. If you're planning to hit the clubs, you'll be taking cabs nightly down to South Beach. In its favor, it's a Renaissance, so it's a bit upscale, and you can probably get an excellent deal due to its location.

traveling101

Thank you to all that gave advice! I have reserved a room at The Hotel, which is offering very good prices at the moment. The other hotels, The Shore Club was very hip but double the price, is it that much nicer than The Hotel? The Cordozo looked good too but the web site didn't have as many photos to give me an idea of the property. Thank you for any other input you might have. And rjw, a special thanks to you because you gave great input on my last vacation in LA also! Any other cool places that you recommend for our next getaway?

rjw_lgb_ca

traveling101: Aww, shucks! Just glad to be at all helpful...!

Shore Club is beachfront, if the address is any indication-- and it's also an Ian Schrager property. Location and snootiness command the high price you're seeing.

I think you'll be happy at the Hotel. Only a block from the beach, and all that style...! The Cardozo's website is somewhat spotty, you're right. Hopefully they'll improve it one of these days.

Cool places for getaways? Hmmmm-- I'm looking myself. Vancouver keeps coming up as the latest hot spot, but I haven't been yet. Québec City as well (I used to know Montréal well, but it's been over 10 years since I was there...). Anyone else? Help us out!!

Darvy_Kuntz

Oh god, please don't keep your reservation at The Hotel. We HATED it on our last visit.

rjw_lgb_ca is right on. Book The National and you'll have a great time. The overall package is best there. Pool, beach access, close to the hub bub...just make sure to ask for a poolside room...! Lovely!

HEre's my origiunal post re: The Hotel.

Betsyp

Traveling101, will you be in Miami the first week in November? If so, I will probably run into you, since I also have reservations at the Hotel. I've wanted to stay there since I first set eyes on its website, and I've heard so many good things about it.

I just love the fact that the Hotel is full of color and vibrancy, and that it has a spectacular rooftop pool (although I will spend plenty of time at the beach, a pool is still a necessity to me)......

lcfdublin

Is the "Waldorf Towers Hotel, South Beach" a decent hotel? Who has stayed at this hotel? I'd love to hear your comments. Thanks.

rjw_lgb_ca

Hiya Darvy! You know, I remember that you were disappointed with your short stay at the Hotel. I myself took the tour in July (when I was at the Cardozo) after dinner at Wish (yum!); they showed us a suite, and I didn't notice unreasonable HVAC noise, but then again it was so hot outside I would have been happy in a boiler factory if there was A/C. And the hotel wasn't particularly busy, so guest noise wouldn't have been apparent. In November, there should be more guests, so....

I hate to say it-- I don't want to seem like some trendoid-- but I'd probably stay at the Hotel anyway. Sometimes I just want cool design and shrug away the funky french fry smell from the restaurant...!

Graziella5b

Forget about the Waldorf Towers Hotels, ,........

rjw_lgb_ca

lcfdublin: Graziella is right. The Waldorf is one of the old hotels you should avoid-- travel websites show really bad user comments ("dirty", "leaking", "Bates Motel" are the kinds of things they're saying). If you're really on a budget, places like the Winterhaven, the Blue Moon and (a notch below but still OK) the Avalon Majestic are far better choices.

GoTravel

Darvy, I remember your trip and I hate that you hated The Hotel. My husband and I had a very good experience there. I love the pool even though it isn't much bigger than a lap pool.

lcfdublin

Thank you for your comments. expedia.com is very misleading, it rated this hotel a 4 star hotel. Glad I checked.

rjw_lgb_ca

lcfdublin: FOUR-star?! The people at Expedia are on the pipe!! Looking at their ratings of other properties, I'd call them "delusional", frankly. Compare with user comments at Travelocity-- brutally honest in most cases (with obvious "plants" of hotel raves here and there).

GoTravel

rjw, as an interesting peice of trivia, the Waldorf Towers is for sale for $7.7 million dollars.

With the downturn of the economy in South Beach, you would never make your money back.