If you are looking for a luxury hotel in Miami, you can choose from many hotels in Coral Gables, South Beach, Key Biscayne, Sunny Isles Beach, Brickell Key and Coconut Grove. Luxury Miami hotels range from five-star downtown hotels and ocean-side resorts to boutique hotels and historic landmarks.
Four Seasons Hotel Miami
Located at 1435 Brickell Avenue, this Four Seasons Hotel is the only AAA Five Diamond hotel in downtown Miami. The 221-room hotel has suites, condominium and hotel/condo units.
A two-acre pool terrace, with three pools, features palm trees and views of Biscayne Bay and Miami. At poolside cabanas, around the main pool, attendants offer guests Evian spritzes, frozen fruit brochettes and cool towelettes. Guests can also request Kindles (electronic e-readers).
Four Seasons Hotel Miami guests have free access to The Sports Club/LA health club, with cardio and weight equipment, a Pilates studio and fitness classes. The full-service Splash Spa offers a Vichy shower and treatments, such as a Miami Mojito massage.
The signature restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Miami is Acqua, which serves gourmet world cuisine. Bahia is a rooftop bar and lounge, while 14Thirty-Five is a martini bar.
A highlight of the Four Seasons Hotel Miami is its $3.3 million art collection. Nearly three dozen Miami and Latin American artists created the paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs. If hotel guests want to commission works of art, the Four Seasons art curator will introduce them to the artists.
Biltmore Hotel Coral Gables
A National Historic Landmark, the 276-room and suite Biltmore Hotel is located at 1200 Anastasia Avenue, in Coral Gables, eight miles (13 kilometers) from Miami International Airport.
Biltmore Hotel dining options include the award-winning Palme d'Or restaurant, the champagne Sunday brunch and Italian cuisine at Fontana, casual meals at the golf course clubhouse and poolside dining at Cascade. A traditional English afternoon tea is served on weekdays, by the fireplace, with classical guitar music for entertainment.
The seventh floor Biltmore Spa offers a hair and nail salon, Chardonnay massages and a full menu of facial and body treatments, including terme spa baths. The Fitness Center features weekly exercise classes, in addition to cardio, weight and resistance equipment. Aquatic classes are held in the largest hotel pool in continental America. Guests can have spa treatments in private poolside cabanas.
Golfers can book individual sessions, player performance evaluations and short term Total Performance Golf at the Biltmore Hotel 6,700-yard, 18-hole, par-71 championship golf course. The Biltmore Culinary Academy offers hands-on cooking classes for beginners, experienced cooks, kids and teens. On Tuesdays, learn-to-tango classes are followed by tango shows and exhibitions, with tango orchestras, in the Biltmore Hotel Danielson Gallery.
Ritz Carlton hotels
The three Ritz-Carlton hotels in Miami are all located within a ten-minute drive from downtown Miami.
Ritz-Carlton, South Beach, is located in the Art Deco District. The oceanfront pet-friendly resort has 375 Art Moderne rooms and suites, black terrazzo floors designed by Morris Lapidus and a $10 million art collection.
The DiLido Beach Club, the only oceanfront restaurant and lounge on South Beach, has fire pits, tiki torches, plush lounge chairs and cabanas. Every month, DiLido Beach Club restaurant hosts full moon parties, where guests can look through telescopes to view the moon rise over the Atlantic Ocean.
At The Ritz-Carlton South Beach pool, guests enjoy infinity views of the Atlantic and the services of a Tanning Butler. The largest Mobil Four-Star Spa in Miami Beach and the only La Maison de Beauté Carita spa, outside Paris, offers many treatments, including a rain massage.
Ritz-Carlton South Beach is the Art Basel headquarters hotel. An Art Basel Ambassador helps hotel guests coordinate Art Basel parties and exhibits with free itineraries, tailored to their interests.
Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne
The island of Key Biscayne was home to Ponce de Leon and the pirate Black Caesar. Key Biscayne had the largest coconut plantation in America, the first zoo in Miami and the only Florida lighthouse attacked during the Seminole Indian wars.
Located 15 minutes from downtown Miami, The AAA Five Diamond Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne has 402 rooms and suites. The ocean view spa, the largest spa complex of any Ritz-Carlton hotel in Miami, features more than 60 treatments, wellness classes, Pilates, yoga and aqua-aerobics.
Cliff Drysdale Tennis Center, the largest tennis facility of any Ritz-Carlton hotel in the world, offers daily tennis clinics and game-matching services for singles. Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne is tennis headquarters for the Sony-Ericsson Open, held every spring.
Four restaurants at Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne serve Tuscany, Coastal Mexico, Southern France and Havana cuisine. A sommelier, tequilier and rummier help guests select wines, tequilas and rums. At Moonrise Dinners, in Cioppino restaurant, diners enjoy four-course meals, paired with wines, while viewing the full moon and stars from tabletop telescopes on the outdoor terrace.
A Ritz Kids program entertains children with beach treasure hunts, fishing, sports and activities at the kids' pool and beach playground.
Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami
Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami, is a boutique hotel, decorated like an Italian Villa. The AAA Five Diamond hotel has 115 rooms and suites, with large flat panel TVs and views of Biscayne Bay, Coconut Grove and the Miami skyline. "Bath Butlers" draw baths, selected from a bath menu. "Bow Wow Butlers" feed, exercise and entertain pets.
"Fitness Butlers" arrange in-room yoga and delivery of exercise equipment from the fitness center and spa. The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove Boutique Spa offers Payot and Phytomer treatments, including a tandem facial and pedicure.
Bizcaya restaurant serves Italian cuisine, indoors and on the patio, as well as Sunday brunch and special menus. Live music is performed on Thursday through Saturday evenings.
Mandarin Oriental
Located on Brickell Key, a 44-acre island in Biscayne Bay, Mandarin Oriental, Miami, overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay and Miami skyline. The AAA Five-Diamond hotel has 295 spacious rooms and suites, with dual phone lines, cordless phones, WiFi Internet access, Bose sound systems, flat screen televisions, DVD players and iPod Sound Dock Music Systems.
In Azul restaurant, diners enjoy a raw bar and Latin, Asian and French cuisine, while looking through floor-to-ceiling windows at Biscayne Bay. The casual Café Sambal offers all-day dining on a waterfront terrace and indoors. M-Bar serves martinis and champagne by the glass. The Lobby Lounge also overlooks Biscayne Bay.
The three-level holistic spa at Mandarin Oriental, Miami, is the only five-star spa in Florida. In treatment rooms, private suites and couples' suites, therapists offer Chinese, Ayurvedic, European, Balinese and Thai-influenced treatments.
Beside the spa, are the fitness center and Oasis Beach Club, which has private cabanas, with flat screen TVs, an infinity-edge swimming pool and a sushi pool bar. Beach butlers offer cool towels and mists.
Instructors teach paddle surfing lessons on South Beach. Packages include guys' and girls' getaways and a unique voluntourism opportunity at Everglades National Park, located one hour from the Mandarin Oriental, Miami.
Participants drive a hybrid vehicle to Everglades National Park. After a morning of volunteer work, they enjoy lunch prepared by the hotel and an afternoon tour led by a park ranger.
Miami Hilton Hotels
Four of the Hilton Hotels in Miami are in the luxury category.
Located in the exclusive "SoFi" or "South of Fifth" district, at 101 Ocean Drive, the Hilton Bentley South Beach is an all-suite hotel. Standard luxury studio suites have modern kitchenettes, extra-large marble bathrooms and private terraces overlooking the Miami skyline and Intracoastal Waterways.
Spa 101 offers Asian-style treatments. Beach butlers serve drinks and meals to guests relaxing in cabanas and on chaise lounges and beach beds at The Bentley Beach Club. Guests can also dine at VIVI Ristorante and enjoy cocktails at Jack's.
Conrad Miami
Conrad Miami, located at 1395 Brickell Avenue, is a 36-story tower with 103 residence suites and 203 rooms. Each room has a flat screen television, CD/DVD player, a Bose SoundDock® Ipod music system and Bose Wave music system, and high-speed WiFi Internet access.
Stylish comfort food is served at Atrio Restaurant & Wine Room. Also on the 25th floor, is The Bar at Conrad Miami, which hosts a daily happy hour. A pool, hot tub, two floodlit tennis courts and the Soleil bar & grill are on the Rooftop. A 24-hour fitness center and a sauna are beside The Spa at Conrad Miami.
Hilton Miami Downtown
The Hilton Miami Downtown is located at 1601 Biscayne Blvd. The hotel has 527 rooms and 58 suites, with Serenity Beds and high-speed Internet. Some rooms have views of downtown Miami, Biscayne Bay and the Port of Miami from floor-to-ceiling windows.
A free light rail service, The Metro Mover, offers transportation to downtown shops and restaurants. The Hilton Miami Downtown is only a five-minute drive from the Port of Miami.
Hilton Miami Airport
To get to The Hilton Miami Airport, guests take a free 10-minute airport shuttle ride from Miami International Airport. Hotel shuttles run every 20 minutes between 5 am and 1 am.
The AAA Four-Diamond hotel is located on a private peninsula by Blue Lagoon, which shelters manatees, iguanas, and tropical birds and other wildlife. Guests occupying the 500 rooms and suites have access to a heated pool, whirlpool, sauna, fitness center, jogging trail, tennis and basketball courts.
Sunny Isles Beach Miami
Sunny Isles Beach condos and luxury hotels have replaced the low-rise motels from the 1950s and 60s. The AAA Five Diamond Acqualina Resort has 97 rooms and 188 residences. Located at 17875 Collins Avenue, on Atlantic beachfront, Acqualina Resort has the first ESPA branded spa in America.
The pet-friendly 51-story property also features three pools, tropical gardens, a private beach club, an AcquaMarine children's program, focusing on marine biology, and the Il Mulino New York restaurant.
Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club is a 395-room resort hotel at 19999 West Country Club Drive, in Aventura. The 300-acre pet-friendly resort includes two 18-hole Raymond Floyd designed championship golf courses, 19 tennis courts, a marina, two swimming pools, a private ocean club and the Willow Stream Spa and fitness center.
Trump International Resort, located at 18001 Collins Avenue, has 390 rooms and suites, with views of the Atlantic and Intracoastal waterways. Guests can relax at the oceanfront grotto pool and private beach cabanas, Aquanox Spa and fitness center. Neomi's restaurant serves modern American cuisine.
More luxury hotels in Miami
There are many more luxury Miami hotels. The Regent Bal Harbour Hotel has a Guerlain Spa. Canyon Ranch Miami Beach features a comprehensive wellness center. Grove Isle Hotel & Spa is located on a garden-covered private island near Coconut Grove.
South Beach luxury hotels include The Delano, with its posh Blue Door restaurant and The Shore Club, home to Nobu restaurant. Sagamore Hotel showcases its art collection in guest's rooms and public areas.
Hotel Victor is located in the Art Deco district, next to the Versace Mansion. The Z Ocean Hotel South Beach, an Art Deco hotel, has extra-large balconies and rooftop terrace suites. The Setai incorporates Shanghai Art Deco.
Fontainebleau Miami Beach is a landmark hotel, where Elvis and Frank Sinatra once performed. Other old favorites are the renovated Eden Roc and Doral Golf Resort and Spa, which offers world-class golf and tennis, as well as family vacations.
New Miami luxury hotels include Dream South Beach, located at 11th Street and Collins Avenue, as well as Hotel Beaux Arts Miami and JW Marriott Marquis, both located in The Met. Besides a 3-D media room and a virtual bowling alley, the hotel houses DB Bistro, which serves French and American cuisine by Daniel Boulud.
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau website provides more information on luxury hotels in Miami.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau: www.MiamiAndBeaches.com
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