DISTANCE: 1.5 miles (2.4km)
TIME: 2−3 hours with stops
START: Art Deco Welcome Center
END: Miami Beach Visitors Center
POINTS TO NOTE: Don’t be nervous about walking into the hotels mentioned here, and having a good look round. These are also historic buildings and the hotels are quite used to visitors wandering in and taking photos. A good time to do the walk is in the early afternoon, when hotel guests will have checked out of their rooms but new ones won’t yet be checking in. It means the staff will have more time to answer any questions you might have.
Miami Beach has over 500 Art Deco buildings, most of them in the South Beach part of the city, and many of them hotels. They make fabulous places to stay, of course, but you can’t stay in all of them so don’t miss the chance to see as many of them as you can − inside and outside. This walk is just a taster of some of the more interesting hotels that are reasonably close together, but there are many more dotted around the city.
The best of the hotels date back to the 1930s and 40s, when the city of Miami experienced a financial boom in various industries including tourism. People had money to invest in building the best hotels − although not always from legal businesses! They recruited the best architects from all over the country to design those hotels. Fortunately for us, the favoured architectural style of the time was Art Deco, one of the more aesthetically pleasing periods of American architecture, though you don’t need to know anything about architecture to enjoy this walk.
The iconic Essex House Hotel
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Welcome Center
Begin the tour at the Art Deco Welcome Center 1 [map] (tel: 305-672-2014; www.mdpl.org/welcome-center/visitors-center; daily 9.30am−7pm), run by the Miami Design Protection League. This is where you’ll find anything you need to know about Art Deco, and it’s also a visitor center for the overall Art Deco district. The Art Deco Museum inside displays scale models of some of the more significant buildings. You’ll also learn about other architectural styles featured in the city − yes, it doesn’t stop at Art Deco − notably Mediterranean Revival and Miami Modern, or MiMo.
The Clevelander’s outdoor bar is party central
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The Essex House Hotel
One of the closest Art Deco hotels is the impressive Essex House Hotel (tel: 305-534-2700; www.clevelander.com) whose full name is now Essex House by Clevelander. To get there from the Welcome Center, cross over Ocean Drive and walk down 10th Street, almost opposite you. The Essex House is at the junction with Collins Avenue. The name Essex House features prominently on the facade, and the local architectural rules dictate that the name has to stay there, even if the hotel is bought by someone else. It can be confusing, and on some hotels you’ll see two names. There will be the original name, which has to remain, and the new name, which can be added, though rules are strict about how that is done.
Built in 1938, the Essex was designed by Henry Hohauser, who is regarded as one of the very best Art Deco architects. The lobby is a sight to behold. Over the fireplace is an Everglades mural. These were popular in Art Deco hotels but not many survive. The bar here used to be a casino, and one notable regular there was Al Capone.
Ocean Drive
Return to Ocean Drive and turn left to head north along Miami Beach’s famous oceanfront thoroughfare. Almost immediately on the left is The Clevelander (tel: 305-532-4006; www.clevelander.com). Built in 1938, the hotel got its name from the original owners, who hailed from Cleveland. The exterior is stylishly simple and couldn’t be more of a contrast to the Essex House, a clear example that not all Art Deco hotels are the same. This one is more of a party hotel for over 21s, and it’s known for its bar as much as anything. Its Rock Star Suites are at the luxury end of the Miami Beach scale.
Walk north along Ocean Drive and if you’re feeling hungry turn left on 11th Street and a short way along on your left is Mom’s New York Pizza, see 1. Otherwise keep going north on Ocean Drive and just before the junction with 12th Street is one of the city’s finest hotels, Hotel Victor 2 [map] (tel: 305-779-8700; http://hotelvictorsouthbeach.com). The Victor was built in 1937 under the direction of architect L. Murray Dixon, who designed so many classic Art Deco hotels he became known as the Dean of Deco. The exterior is quite simple but inside many of the original Art Deco features have been preserved, including the original terrazzo flooring, and another example of an Everglades mural. Outside the pool area also reflects its 1930s heyday, and the hotel has featured in many episodes of the famous 1980s TV series, Miami Vice.
The Cardozo, another Henry Hohauser gem
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The Diva of Ocean Drive
Beyond 12th Street is The Tides South Beach (tel: 305-604-5070; www.tidessouthbeach.com). When The Tides was built in 1936 it was the tallest building in the city, and one of the highest in the whole of Florida. The lobby has incredibly high ceilings, supported by soaring columns. This was the first Art Deco building in Miami to be designed by L. Murray Dixon. Nicknamed the Diva of Ocean Drive, it earned the architect many more commissions including The Ritz, The Tudor, The Tiffany, and Hotel Victor.
Continue walking north and the last building on this block, at the junction with 13th Street, is The Carlyle 3 [map] (tel: 305-531-3238; www.carlyleoceandrive.com). Built in 1939, the Carlyle’s exterior has been virtually untouched ever since and its neon sign has featured in myriad fashion shoots, TV shows and movies, including Brian de Palma’s Scarface. Unfortunately the interior retains few Art Deco features.
The Tides’ elegant lobby
The Tides South Beach
Art Deco Cuban-style
On the other side of 13th Street is The Cardozo 4 [map] (tel: 305-535-6500; www.cardozohotel.com), owned by the Cuban-born singer Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio. The interior has a strong Cuban/Caribbean look to it, while the outside retains its Art Deco features. Built in 1939, it was designed by Art Deco maestro Henry Hohauser, also behind the Essex House, The Colony Hotel and Park Central Miami Beach. The Cardozo featured in the 1959 Frank Capra comedy, A Hole in the Head, and this is where Ben Stiller stayed in There’s Something About Mary.
Next to The Cardozo is another Art Deco classic, The Cavalier 5 [map] (tel: 305-673-1199; www.cavaliersouthbeach.com), designed by Roy France. Apart from regular maintenance it appears just as it was when it was built in 1936, and for this reason it has also featured in countless movies and TV shows. Inside it has the original terrazzo floor and a striking black and gold décor, along with typical Art Deco stained glass and lamps. Some of the guest rooms have these features too, but you’ll have to stay there to see them for yourself.
What Is Art Deco?
After a few hours in Miami Beach you’ll certainly know what Art Deco looks like, but where did the style come from? It doesn’t just apply to architecture but to art, jewelry, furniture, fashions, and even trains and cars. It came out of an exhibition in Paris in 1925 called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts), whose artists combined a futuristic style with many artistic influences from the past, such as Cubism. They also believed in employing the best craftsmanship and using the best materials, and the style caught on in Europe and then spread to New York, especially in its skyscraper designs. From there it was a natural hop to Miami, a popular vacation spot with New Yorkers. The fact that it coincided with an economic boom in the city helped enormously, and Miami’s Art Deco hotels were born.
The Carlyle Hotel, a fashion shoot favorite
iStock
Collins Avenue
At the next junction you can grab a bite to eat at Il Bolognese, see 2, on the far side of 14th Street. If you’re not hungry then walk west along 14th Street and take the second right to walk north along Collins Avenue, another major Miami Beach thoroughfare which parallels Ocean Drive. A short way along on the right is The President (tel: 305-534-9334; www.presidentsouthbeach.com), one of the smaller Art Deco hotels, built in 1936 and designed by L. Murray Dixon. Because of its size there isn’t a lot to see inside, though the reception area does have a crystal chandelier, as do the guest rooms. It was converted into an apartment building for about fifty years, then turned back into a hotel; many original features were retained, being covered over rather than ripped out and destroyed.
If you want a break from all the Art Deco, or even just a coffee, continue north on Collins Avenue through the Crowne Plaza Hotel to its Front Porch Café, see 3. Otherwise stay on Collins and on the right after the junction with Lincoln Road are several more Art Deco masterpieces. First is the Sagamore Miami Beach (tel: 305-535-8088; www.sagamorehotel.com) which also houses an art gallery. It’s rather dwarfed by the next building along, The National (tel: 305-532-2311; http://nationalhotel.com). Designed by Roy France and opened in 1940, for many years The national was the place to stay in Miami Beach, and boasted the longest (203ft/62m) swimming pool in Florida. It’s still the longest infinity pool in Miami, and worth walking through to the back of the hotel to take a look at.
Right next door is The Delano South Beach 6 [map] (tel: 305-672-2000; www.morganshotelgroup.com/delano/delano-south-beach). Built in 1947, the hotel was named after US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had passed away two years earlier and was that unusual thing, a popular politician. It was renovated in 1994 under designer Philippe Starck’s meticulous eye. The result is a remarkable interior, adorned by many original artworks, notably by Man Ray and Salvador Dalí. The Delano is where celebrities either stay or come to have drinks so you may well bump into Madonna, Justin Timberlake, J-Lo, Beyoncé, or George Clooney.
Further north on Collins Avenue, on the far side of 17th Street is SLS South Beach (tel: 305-674-1701; http://slshotels.com/southbeach), the tallest Art Deco building in South Beach at 12 floors high. When it was built in 1949 it was the first hotel in the city to have air-conditioning. It was originally designed by L. Murray Dixon, and later received a makeover courtesy of Philippe Starck, with the help of the musician Lenny Kravitz. It’s a perfect example of what can be done with the interior of an Art Deco hotel, while maintaining the original exterior. Inside is all Starck-style while outside, if you look up to the top of the building, you’ll see the inscription Ritz Plaza, the name of the hotel from 1946 until 2004, and even though it then acquired a new name, the original has to be kept on the outside.
The Delano and the National, side-by-side on Collins Avenue
Getty Images
Continuing north along Collins Avenue and the last building on this block, at the junction with 18th Street, is The Raleigh (tel: 305-534-6300; http://raleighhotel.com). Built in 1940, this is another L. Murray Dixon At Deco creation. But the inauguration glitz was short-lived: no sooner than it had opened, it had to close as a hotel so it could be used to house troops serve as the US Government’s administrative headquarters during World War II. This happened to a lot of Miami’s buildings, including other hotels, as the city was an important port for getting US troops to Europe. After the war it reopened as a kosher hotel, to cater to the city’s many Jewish visitors. The ballroom even became a synagogue, though it’s now a ballroom again. If you walk through the hotel to the swimming pool you’ll see it still has its graceful Art Deco look – no wonder Life Magazine called it ‘the most beautiful pool in America’.
Opposite the Raleigh on Collins Avenue is the small Redbury Hotel, whose Cleo South Beach restaurant, see 4, is a great place to rest your feet and enjoy dinner.
The fabulously curvy 1940s pool at The Raleigh
Leonardo
Miami Beach Convention Center
A diversion from the Art Deco tour, walking west along 18th Street (away from the Raleigh), is the Miami Beach Convention Center (tel: 786-276-2600; www.miamibeachconvention.com). Not Art Deco it still is an interesting building in its own right, having hosted such illustrious figures as Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, who delivered a speech here, and Muhammad Ali, who, as Cassius Clay, beat Sonny Liston here to become World Heavyweight Champion at the age of 22. It’s also hosted the Republican National Convention in 1968, and then in 1971 it hosted both the Republican and the Democrat National Conventions. The Convention Center is set to get even bigger as it’s undergoing a major $515 million renovation, though it’s still operational and is expected to reopen fully in 2018.
Food and Drink
1 Mom’s New York Pizza
1059 Collins Ave # 106, tel: 305-397-8844; www.momsnypizza.com; daily L and D; $$
New York pizza in Miami? Yes, when it’s as good as Mom’s, which stays open till 6am on Friday and Saturday. Mom’s Supreme Pizza is pricey but would feed an army, so bring a hearty appetite.
2 il Bolognese
1400 Ocean Drive; tel: 305-455-0399; www.ilbolognese.com; daily B, L and D; $$
This smart but friendly restaurant takes a sophisticated take on the hearty food of northern Italy, with chef Manuel Mattei hailing from Bergamo. There’s a risotto of the day and dishes such as lamb osso bucco, but American dishes too like steaks and Maine lobster.
3 The Front Porch Café
1458 Ocean Drive; tel: 305-531-8300; www.frontporchoceandrive.com; daily B, L and D; $$
This relaxed place offers all-day dining, whether you want a full meal or simply a coffee or a classy cocktail in the Breezeway Bar. Organic ingredients are used wherever possible in dishes ranging from a salmon sandwich to New York strip or their specialty meatloaf.
4 Cleo South Beach
The Redbury South Beach, 1776 Collins Avenue; tel: 305-534-2536; http://theredbury.com/southbeach/eat_drink/cleo; daily B, L and D; $$$
Israeli chef Danny Elmaleh brings Middle Eastern/Mediterranean flair to this hip hotel’s highly-rated smart-casual restaurant, serving starters such as baba ganoush or dolmades, and spicy main courses including couscous or spicy Moroccan fish tagine.