14 Best Hotels in Miami and Miami Beach, Florida

After a massive expansion, the original Betsy Ross Hotel (christened the "Colonial" wing) has been joined with what was the neighboring, historic Carlton Hotel to create a retro-chic, art deco treasure that delivers the full-throttle South Beach experience with style, pizzazz, and a big-time cultural bonus: year-round programs include poetry readings, live jazz, and art shows. The front porch and outdoor eating space along Ocean Drive are perfect for quintessential SoBe people-watching. The lobby, which remains in the original Colonial wing, is busy, but not insanely so, and cultivates a social, trendy scene, especially in the evenings. The guest rooms of The Betsy 2.0 embody a color palette of white and ocean-blue tones with pops of green. Enjoy time at the rooftop pool deck, and consider dining at the hotel's excellent surf-and-turf restaurant by chef Laurent Tourondel, LT Steak & Seafood.

Part of Hyatt's Unbound Collection, this hotel in Miami's burgeoning Mid-Beach district is a beachfront classic art deco building reinvented by Martin Brudnizki to channel a colorful, modern incarnation of 1950s Florida glamour, packed with all the trappings one would covet in a Miami beachfront experience. Look forward to two heated swimming pools (one of which is adults-only), cabanas, a full-service beach club, and MiMo chic guest rooms. Throughout the intimate lobby space, the outdoor areas, and the rooms themselves, bold pastels, thick stripes, and funky prints revive a color palate and timeless style of yesteryear. The alfresco spa is located rooftop, accompanied by a spa deck, where complimentary fitness classes are held daily (including kickboxing on weekends).

In the heart of Downtown, Kimpton's pet-friendly, artful EPIC Hotel has 411 guest rooms with spacious balconies (many of them overlook Biscayne Bay) and fabulous modern amenities to match the sophistication of the common areas, which include a supersexy rooftop pool. The lobby is decorated in earth tones—the better to showcase the rotating modern art collection. Seating areas look onto Biscayne and the hotel's marina on the Miami River. Rooms start at the 18th floor of the hotel, so you'll have a sweeping view of the Miami skyline. In general, the hotel caters to business travelers and groups, but its association with the Kimpton brand ensures a steady intake of pleasure-seekers.

The 16th-floor pool area comes to life seven days a week, especially during the complimentary wine hour at 5 pm. Area 31 is an elegant, delicious seafood restaurant also on the 16th floor, flying high with an advanced concept of sustainable cuisine. A second restaurant, Zuma, is Miami's hottest London invasion—just brace yourself for a long wait. The hotel also has a full-service marina and the fabulous Exhale spa.

An oasis in the middle of Coconut Grove, this hotel operated by the Cipriani family delivers stunning views of Biscayne Bay and the nearby skyline. All 98 guestrooms and suites are decorated in a calming blue palette and have oversize bathrooms with high-gloss paneling and leathers meant to imitate a fancy yacht. Bellini, the on-site restaurant, offers both indoor and outdoor dining with a coastal Italian feel and white tablecloth service.

Located along the beach's lesser-known western perimeter and overlooking the bay, this hotel recently underwent a multimillion-dollar transformation; the focal points are a new beach club, a spa, and a happening pool scene. The standout feature, Baia Beach Club, is an open-air living room space where members can drift through to dine or lounge as they please. The pool scene here is always a place to be. Tropical and handmade macramé artwork set the stage for fresh and simple guest rooms, each curated with a sleek kitchen area. The West Avenue location affords picture-perfect sunsets, but it's a 10- to 15-minute trek to the beach.

Royal Palm South Beach Miami, now part of Marriott's individualistic Tribute Portfolio, is a daily celebration of art deco, modernity, and design detail. Laura Rottet of Rottet Studios was charged with reinventing South Beach's original 1939 Royal Palm and Shorecrest buildings alongside the Royal Palm's younger annexes to create a seamless design masterpiece. Rooms assume a classic South Beach identity with blends of whites and pops of tropical colors. Double-door minibars open to a world of local Florida products, while colossal, wood-framed mirrors function as sliding doors for the oversize bathrooms. Beyond design brilliance, Royal Palm is an endless indulgence of the best of South Beach, including plenty of beachside and poolside bliss, excellent eating at its in-house restaurant, Byblos, and fabulous people-watching. The hotel's location at 15th and Collins places Royal Palm in the heart of the South Beach action.

"Dua" meaning love and desire in Albanian, is the theme of this new hotel in the heart of Brickell. All but 11 rooms have balconies, showcasing the Financial District with the ocean peeking through the skyscrapers. The whimsical decor with thousands of mirrors as the focal point give this hotel a confident, young, and vibrant feel. The stunning amenities include two large swimming pools, a hot and cold plunge, an extensive gym with a steam room and sauna, and large changing rooms.

This grand 1950s hotel designed by Morris Lapidus is a lesson in old-school glamour meets modern-day swagger after hundreds of millions in renovations and expansions over the past decade (including the addition of the hotel-within-a-hotel concept Nobu Hotel Miami Beach). Two towers sit alongside the huge pool complex, making this one of the biggest and sleekest hotels in the city. The landmark public areas exude grand elegance, including the monumental rosewood columns that surround the social lobby space, centered by a sunken bar. The lobby holds old-world charm and it's easy to imagine glamorous evenings where the likes of Frank Sinatra strolled the premises. Rooms are decorated in dark-wood tones and white accents that serve to highlight the azure blue of the ocean beyond the balconies if you spring for an ocean view. Relax in the jaw-dropping, 22,000-square-foot, two-story oceanfront spa.

Not to be confused with the budget Bentley Hotel down the street, the Hilton Bentley Miami is a contemporary, design-driven, and artsy boutique hotel in the emerging and trendy SoFi (South of Fifth) District, offering families just the right mix of South Beach flavor and wholesome fun while still providing couples a romantic base without any party madness. Occupying two 10-story buildings with a prime beachfront location, rooms and suites (collectively called "studios") range from snug to colossal, each adorned with a perfect mix of art deco redux and modern bling. They feature Italian-marble flooring, kitchenettes, and balconies facing either the ocean or the Miami skyline. It happens to be one of the area's few kid-friendly boutique hotels, and, as such, for the little ones there are child-size beach chairs and umbrellas as well as a bunch of other kids' amenities on request.

At the sleek Hotel Victor, guest rooms are equipped with Yabu Pushelberg–designed interiors invoking a post-century beach cabana vibe, and a sexy infinity-edge pool overlooks Ocean Drive and the beach. The property first rose to fame thanks to Parisian designer Jacques Garcia; Yabu Pushelberg has since replaced Garcia's jellyfish motif with a newer incarnation of bold modernism. The lobby features a stunning midcentury-modern vibe and is an oasis from Miami Beach's famed Ocean Drive—just outside the door. A large patio overlooks the action from a calmer viewpoint. Rooms face either the pool or the ocean. Many are compact but highly functional and even house oversize bathrooms. Each room comes with a set of foldable beach chairs for guests to take onto the nearby sands.

Golfers and families flock to this 300-acre tropical resort flaunting jumbo-size suites and world-class amenities, including 36 holes of championship golf, prolific tennis courts, an on-site waterpark, the three-story âme Spa & Wellness Collective, and two renowned restaurants—Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak and Corsair kitchen & bar. To compensate for its location in residential Aventura, the resort has a private beach club a five-minute shuttle ride away. The lush resort and club was conceptualized on the back of a cocktail napkin in 1967 by founder and real estate developer Donald Soffer. South Florida's leading shopping destination, Aventura Mall, is right across the street.

The adults-only National Hotel is a glorious time capsule that honors its distinct art deco heritage (the building itself and wood pieces in the lobby date from 1939, and new chocolate- and gold-hue furnishings look period-appropriate) while trying to keep up with SoBe's glossy newcomers (rotating art installations complement the throwback glamour). Safari-chic guest rooms, draped in leopard, zebra, and giraffe prints, are found within the historic art deco tower; the poolside cabana wing has larger suites. The hotel serves as a bastion of calm in the sea of white-on-white mod decor and raucous reveling typical of most other beachfront properties lining this stretch of Collins Avenue. The most spectacular feature is Miami Beach's longest infinity-edge pool (a whopping 203 feet long), which stretches from the tower, past a series of comfy striped cabanas and poolside tables, to a tropical tiki bar and the beach.

The recently renovated Ritz-Carlton is a trendy beachfront bombshell, with a dynamite staff, a snazzy Club Lounge, and a long pool deck that leads right out to the beach. There are all the usual high-level draws the Ritz is known for and more. Expect attentive service, a kids' club, property experiences like a shark-tagging boat excursion with the University of Miami, and high-end food and beverage offerings. The spa has exclusive brands of scrubs and creams. New dining includes a sultry bar, Lapidus, and a bright, airy pool-view restaurant, Fuego Y Mar, serving Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan, and Colombian fusion dishes. The wonderful DiLido Beach Club restaurant is, believe it or not, one of the very few places in Miami where you can get a beachside meal. The ocean is on one side and the pedestrian Lincoln Road begins on the other: the locale is tops. Overall, this landmarked 1953 hotel, designed by Morris Lapidus, has never been hotter.

An extension of André Balazs's trendy and hip—yet budget-conscious—brand, this shabby-chic boutique hotel is a mile from South Beach on an island just over the Venetian Causeway and has among South Florida's most renowned spas, trendiest bars, and hottest pool scenes. The message: we'll do what we please, and the cool kids will follow. The scene attracts trendy 30- and 40-year-olds interested in showing off at the pool and then indulging in the hotel's many "do-it-yourself" spa activities, including mud bathing, scrubbing with sea salts, soaking in hot or arctic-cold waters, and yoga. An 8-foot, 103-degree cascade into a Roman hot tub is typical of the handful of adult pleasures on the pool deck. You can also go kayaking around the island. On the hotel facade you'll see the monumental signage of a bygone occupant, the Lido Spa Hotel, and the much smaller sign of its current occupant, hung, with a wink, upside down. Rooms are small and simple, though they have thoughtful touches like a picnic basket and embroidered fabric covers for the small flat-screen TVs. First-floor rooms have outdoor soaking tubs but very limited privacy, so few take that plunge. The waterfront, alfresco Lido Bayside Grill makes for great people-watching.