Miami Beach Anyone?
Planning a trip to Miami or Miami Beach? Tere Gil, one of my coworkers and I recently inspected some of our fabulous Virtuoso hotels.
The 294 room Miami Beach Edition Hotel on Collins Avenue is part of the Marriott hotel chain. The rooms are bright and airy with wood panelling on the walls, it also has 28 bungalows, bilevel suites with private plunge pools. In addition, the hotel boasts an ice skaing rink, bowling alley and nightclub. There is a fusion Spanish restaurant, Matador bar, a spa and gym with pelliton bikes.
The Faena on Collins is elegantly glamorous with gold paint everywhere. Giant gold pillars line the lobby and a huge woolly mammoth skeleton coated in 24 carat gold guards the pool area. Australian movie director, Baz Luhrmann, designed the two story cabaret show room which is opens on weekends and on Tuesdays there is a comedy show. The 169 rooms and suites are luxuriously decorated.
Also on Collins Avenue is 1 Hotel South Beach, boasting a sustainable life style using recycled materials. Reclaimed beetlekill wood used on the room and suite walls is beautiful. In addition to the hotel rooms, there is a residence section with one, two and three bedroom apartments. The roof sports a pool and lounge area with a retractable roof and has a kids program for ages 3-11. Elevators are controlled using your room key on a pad just outside the elevator doors for more security.
COMO Metropolitan Hotel on Collins Avenue is a modern hotel with 74 rooms and suites. The hotel has a nice restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. There is a spa with a sauna and a couples massage room, plus a rooftop hydrotherapy pool.
We also visited SLS South Beach, which is known as a party hotel, extremely popular with millennials. There is no business center or spa, but guests can use the spa at the Delano Hotel next door. Rooms are very interesting with a rectangular mirror on the ceiling, but no closets (due to Art Deco renovation restrictions in Miami Beach). In addition to the standard rooms, there are 9 regular villas and one penthouse, which do have closets and are great for families. On weekends, the hotel hosts beach parties for guests. There is a Japanese restaurant as well as the fabulous The Bazaar by Jose Andres.
In the Brickell Avenue area of Miami is the SLS Brickell. This hotel does have closets in the 124 rooms and residences plus a fitness center and spa. You can dine well at Fi'lia which has indoor and outdoor seating.
And last but not least, one of our favorites, East Hotel at Brickell Plaza. The hotel has 352 rooms, of which 82 are one, two and three bedroom residences. All units have balconies, are beautifully decorated and have rain and hand held shower heads in the large bathrooms. There are 3 pools and a jacuzzi, gym and several restaurants. For the shopaholics, the hotel is physically connected to Brickell City Center Mall with four levels of shops, restaurants and movie theaters.
We will be happy to make reservations for you at one of these or at any of our other Virtuoso partners all over the globe! Call us 787-722-0660.
Ina Mesh CTC 4 seasons travel inc Virtuoso Specialist in the Art of Travel 18 marseilles st ste 1B San Juan PR 00907 tel. 787-722-0660
