Hotel Continental Miami Beach

A Hilton hotel with a playful personality, a good-energy staff, and a prime location in Miami’s upscale Mid-Beach neighborhood, this place is purposefully designed to feel like you’ve stepped inside an old-Florida postcard. And the nostalgia tracks, as the 100-room hotel dates back to 1948 but was rebranded and renovated in 2025.

While budget-friendly hotels can sometimes feel lifeless, the Hotel Continental is bright and happy, with midcentury-inspired furnishings and cheerful commissioned artwork depicting bathing beauties and sunny scenes. The lobby plays into the throwback theme with a large painting titled “The Summer of 1948” that’s bursting with midcentury Americana vacation scenes. (See if you can spot Marilyn Monroe hidden in the painting while you’re waiting at check-in.)

Located directly across the street from the ocean, the hotel is as close to the beachfront as you can get without paying beachfront money. Grab a pair of pink-and-white-striped beach chairs (included in the amenity fee) from the front desk, and settle in for a chill on the sand.

What are the rooms like at the Hotel Continental Miami Beach?

My king room felt like a beachy crash pad, complete with a mural of a sunbathing woman in a pool splashed behind the bed (which was comfy). The rooms are small but retro-cool, with pastel-blue custom furniture and vacation-inspiring murals covering the walls. You can choose a king or two queen beds, and some rooms have a partial beach view. 

Oh, and they’re clean—so clean that the smell of bleach lingered throughout my one-night stay. Adding to the retro feel, rooms are fitted with an air-conditioning wall unit, but it did a surprisingly good job of cooling the room. 

What are the best restaurants at the Hotel Continental Miami Beach?

Conveniently located on the hotel’s first floor, Piola Famosi Per La Pizza delivers a solid meal at an affordable price by Miami Beach standards. The salads and the thin-crust, scratch-made pizzas—light enough that you won’t feel too guilty about sliding on a bathing suit—are the way to go. There are more than 15 different pies topped with everything from prosciutto and burrata to the one I chose, loaded with Italian sausage, spicy salami and hot honey. My friendly server checked numerous times to make sure all was to my liking, since I had asked for some modifications.

If you want to spend some of that money you saved, have a cocktail or meal at one of the area’s top restaurants like Motek Miami Beach, which is Mediterranean, or Matador Room by lauded chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

What is the pool and gym like at the Hotel Continental Miami Beach?

Echoing the hotel’s MiMo (Miami Modern) mood and boutique size, the oval-shaped pool is small and framed with a few scalloped umbrellas and loungers, plus a few playful pool floats. Sunbathers will also spot part of the hotel’s history, a restored 1948 Continental sign, and another nostalgic mural that depicts a woman holding a tropical cocktail.

The gym is located in the hotel’s dreary basement, and although it had a couple of treadmills and a Peloton bike, it could have used a good cleaning and a dose of the hotel’s overall cheeriness. 

What’s the area like around the Hotel Continental Miami Beach?

While the hotel is budget-friendly, it’s located in Mid-Beach where other high-end hotels like the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Soho Beach House and Faena Miami Beach draw a swanky crowd. The Continental’s biggest flex is its easy access to the beach across the street, where you can plop down in one of their borrowed chairs for the day, or get some exercise on the Miami Beach Boardwalk. Grab one of the hotel bikes and zip off on a scenic ride to South Beach, about a 15 to 20-minute ride. Another plus: If you forgot your toothbrush or need some sunscreen, a CVS drugstore is located next door to the hotel.

DETAILS

Address: 4000 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33140

Price per night: Starting at $199 between the end of July and the end of September

Closest transport: Miami International Airport is roughly 11 miles away, about 30 minutes in traffic.

Book: via Booking.com

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