Help Save My Job! Need HOT Hotel In SoBe for Boss
 

Please lend a hand, fodorites! Boss-man is looking for a great hotel in South Beach, FL. (preferably with a balcony). Price is no object; in fact, the pricier the better. He's going with his beautiful wife mid-September. Help, help, help: bonus time is around the corner!

The Delano!

babette:
Thank you for your response - his only reservation (pun intended) about The Delano was that there were no balconies. Any one else?
Thanks!

The National has some oceanfront rooms, and I think they have balconies as well. The Tides is very luxurious, but I'm not sure the rooms have balconies. The Sagamore is a new renovation, positioning itself as a super-deluxe property; I don't know if the oceanfront rooms have balconies, but I seem to recall it's an all-suites hotel.

You might look at the Shore Club, which is a bit north of the "Main Action" on Collins in South Beach-- but is high-end, with its own Sky Bar (if I'm not mistaken). Don't know about the balcony situation.

I stayed at the Tides and was disappointed. No balconies either. But you may check the other Island Outpost properties. It seems that some had top floor suites with balconies. Maybe the Loews? And is the new Ritz Carlton done yet? And just what does he plan to do on the balcony? (just kidding) Good luck.

Check out Chris Rockwell's hotel group. I think it is IslandOutpost.com and they have 7 or 8 hotels in South Beach (Tides, Casa). All super lux hotels, great locations, and very cool.

CoCo...without a doubt, the Loews.Get a Premium,OceanFront room, guaranteed to have a balcony.The LW can get a private poolside cabana for the day, complete with butler to peel her grapes.And the Gaucho Room for dindin.

The address is IslandOutpost.com but it looks like they have sold a few of the hotels they used to own. They now only have The Tides, The Marlin, and The Kent. Good luck with your search and I also love The Delano!

The ocean front rooms at The National do not have balconies. The cabana pool rooms have balconies, but no view of the ocean.

Some (not all) rooms at The Sagamore have balconies.

Someone asked about the Ritz-Carlton DiLido. It is NOT done yet. Late this year, my guess.

RE: The Loews. It's a BIG hotel, but pretty luxurious. I'm a fan of the smaller Deco-era hotels, so I wouldn't consider it myself, but it tends to rate highly on the travel websites. I think the Gaucho Room may be closed-- Emeril Lagasse might be opening his South Beach eatery in that space.

As you will have noted, not a lot of the South Beach hotels have balconies. These 30s-era buildings just don't tend to have them. Even the Delano, from 1947, doesn't. I know that the new buildings do (Loews main tower, the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza), but they tend to be small....

I should add that some of the Lofts and Suites at the Delano DO have balconies since there seems to be some confusion on the issue.

Thanks for correcting me, GoTravel. I've never seen the beach side of the Delano close-up, so never saw balconies.

For what it's worth, I thought the rooms at the Loews were a little bit too typical.

rjw, since the Delano sits so far back from the beach, it is very difficult to see anything about the rooms.

You should try to talk him into Bal Harbour...lots more "luxury" up there!

In south beach, check out the Savoy.

www.savoymiami.com

Hey clark, I never got a chance to check out the Savoy on my last visit (July 4 weekend). You've seen it? It looks great-- any observations?

Bal Harbour is luxurious, but wouldn't they just end up running back & forth to South Beach for nightlife choices? On the other hand, the hotels up there are all post-40s resorts with the desired balconies.

While I'm always willing to help another traveler ... it would seem "Boss-man" could afford a good travel agent, rather than waiting for hand-outs from Fodorites. What's *OUR* bonus in this deal? Also, Would the requirements be different if his beautiful wife was a "dog"? (darn, I'm grouchy when I work late)

Thanks to all for your help..most of your responses were very helpful...I really appreciate your time & effort. And to the last lovely poster, I only added the adjective about the spouse because she is - both externally and much more importantly - internally.