The Tides South Beach

Hotel description

The Tides towers over South Beach, a 12-story monolith in gleaming white, vaguely nautical, like a moored cruise ship, complete with telescopes in the guest rooms for scanning the high seas (surely nobody uses them just for watching the girls on the beach). Distinctly un-ship-like in their spaciousness are the cabins: the hotel’s 1936-vintage floor plan have since lost many an interior wall, leaving just 45 very large suites.

All of the suites face the ocean, and all are filled with streaming sunlight, making some of South Beach’s lesser hotels feel almost dank by comparison. And the by-now boutique all-white color scheme, which can look perverse in a Manhattan skyscraper or under London’s drizzly skies, seems perfectly sensible in this sun-drenched locale. King beds and 42-inch plasma TVs are standard, and in fact look barely big enough in these vast spaces.

The suites on the topmost floors are above the rooftops of Ocean Drive, and have dramatic views of this architecturally rich district—and yes, they have telescopes too, if you must know. The Goldeneye suite is an homage to Ian Fleming’s Jamaican estate (the two properties were once related, but have since divorced) and the Terra Nova penthouse, above, spans the entire tenth floor, for a 360-degree view.

Public spaces are no less impressive, whether the mezzanine deck with its fifty-foot pool, or the baby-blue rooftop patio, which feels a bit like the top of the world. The restaurant and bar are elegant as well as eclectic, and you never know who you’ll see, given Miami’s current status as the center of all things hip in America. The staff does a fine job maintaining a discreet atmosphere, so even if that is Bono at the next table, don’t expect a mad rush of autograph seekers.