Rankings
The Best Hotel Beach Clubs, from the Riviera to St Barths
The beach club is where a great resort shows its hand. These are the hotel-run clubs that define the form — and what separates them from the velvet-rope pretenders.
7 min read
United States
Miami
Miami runs on sunshine and reinvention. The pastel Deco district that made South Beach famous now shares the stage with a world-class art scene anchored by Art Basel, a skyline of ambitious towers and neighbourhoods — Wynwood, the Design District, Little Havana — that each broadcast on their own frequency. Latin America's energy gives the city its pulse.
Luxury here is oceanfront and social: resort towers with beach-club service, spa floors above the Atlantic and pool scenes that qualify as destinations in themselves. Between stone-crab dinners, gallery nights and days that end in warm sea water, Miami makes hedonism feel effortless.
Best areas to stay
South Beach
The Deco heart of the city delivers Ocean Drive's theatre, beachfront hotels and a walkable mix of dining and nightlife.
Mid-Beach & Bal Harbour
North of the bustle, oceanfront resorts and the Bal Harbour Shops offer a calmer, more polished register of beach luxury.
Brickell & Downtown
The financial district's tower hotels suit travellers who want skyline views, rooftop pools and proximity to the arts venues.
Dining & nightlife
Miami's dining has grown into one of America's most exciting scenes, from Cuban lunch counters and stone-crab institutions to celebrity-chef dining rooms and omakase counters. Nightlife spans rooftop lounges, beach clubs and dance floors that run until dawn — this is a city that dresses for the evening.
Travelling as a family
Families get calm, warm ocean water, resort pools with slides and easy outings to Jungle Island, the Frost Science museum and the Everglades' airboats. Mid-Beach and Key Biscayne resorts offer a gentler pace than the South Beach scene.
Travelling as a couple
Couples can pace days between private cabanas, spa afternoons and sunset cocktails over Biscayne Bay, then dress up for a late dinner and dancing. A boat day through the bay's islands adds the city's best perspective on its own skyline.
Cultural highlights
- The Art Deco Historic District of South Beach
- Wynwood Walls and the Design District's galleries
- Little Havana's Calle Ocho
- Vizcaya Museum and Gardens on Biscayne Bay
The Browntravels Edit
Exceptional hotels, delivered beautifully.
Exceptional hotels, new openings and destination inspiration, delivered beautifully. Once a week, never more.