The best places to stay in Miami right now

When the world hears the word Miami, they close their eyes and see South Beach. They see sloshing mojitos and miles of bright neon. They also see dollar signs— a lot of them. And they’re not entirely wrong. Miami’s biggest tourism hub still offers popped-collar nightlife and sandal-friendly sidewalk cafés. But the last decade has seen South Beach diversify in delightful ways. Locals no longer avoid it and tourists aren’t the only people wiggling toes in the sand. Nightlife options have grown plentiful and veered from the velvet rope elitism of the early 2000s. Now, each pocket of the neighborhood holds something new, and you’re as likely to find five-star dining, world-renowned cocktail dens and breathtaking art as you are a bartender wielding a water gun full of tequila. Welcome to the new South Beach.

Eat

Time Out Market Miami

The very first North American location for Time Out Market is here—right in the heart of South Beach. Stop by if you want options. Browse through 21 different kitchens (which have been curated by Time Out’s editorial eaters) featuring some of the best restaurants and chefs in Miami: Pho Mo (of Phuc Yea), Little Liberty (of Sweet Liberty), Crew-Do (by Michelin-starred chef Jeremy Ford) and a lot more. From cocktails to tacos and even ice cream, you’ll find something to satisfy here.

Stubborn Seed

This South of Fifth restaurant (run by Top Chef winner Jeremy Ford) recently earned a Michelin star for its exquisite balance between relaxed comfort and culinary ambition. The menu changes with the seasons and ingredient availability, but expect regionally inspired dishes like crunchy truffle bravas and spring asparagus and blue crab noodles that are best experienced via Ford’s tasting menu. It’s, hands down, the best restaurant in South Beach.

Drink

Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Co.

Sweet Liberty is both a place to start and end your night—stop in early for $0.95 oysters and $5 drinks during happy hour or stumble in late for live music and plenty of dancing. Every cocktail on the menu is a home run, especially what’s usually an overpriced no-no around these parts, the piña colada. Sweet Liberty makes its own blend of spiced rums and coconut cream and finishes it with a special sherry floater.

El Salón

El Salón’s attention to detail and material has a truly transportive effect. Plush booth seating, bespoke ceramic tile, marble counters and wooded ceilings make this hidden-away cocktail bar inside the Esmé Hotel the ideal spot for an intimate date or decadent nightcap. El Salón also creates its own nuanced spirit blends and serves up an extensive list of simple, refined cocktails from the tiny bar.

Do

Wolfsonian-FIU

For a touch of culture, go to the Wolfsonian-FIU. Its myriad exhibits span multiple floors and highlight global art and artifacts from the Industrial Revolution through WWII. On weekends, the place is crawling with creative types stopping in for free programming like live music, art workshops and film screenings.

Lincoln Road Mall

When the world hears the word Miami, they close their eyes and see South Beach. They see sloshing mojitos and miles of bright neon. They also see dollar signs— a lot of them. And they’re not entirely wrong. Miami’s biggest tourism hub still offers popped-collar nightlife and sandal-friendly sidewalk cafés. But the last decade has seen South Beach diversify in delightful ways. Locals no longer avoid it and tourists aren’t the only people wiggling toes in the sand. Nightlife options have grown plentiful and veered from the velvet rope elitism of the early 2000s. Now, each pocket of the neighborhood holds something new, and you’re as likely to find five-star dining, world-renowned cocktail dens and breathtaking art as you are a bartender wielding a water gun full of tequila. Welcome to the new South Beach.

Stay

The Betsy Hotel

You could go big with a hotel but with so many boutique properties to choose from, The Betsy is our pick in South Beach. Situated on the quieter north end of the oceanfront Lummus Park, The Betsy boasts live jazz in its stylish lobby bar, plus cool art installations and a rooftop pool. There’s something about the conviviality of a good boutique that blends so well with the Art Deco vibes of SoBe. No 20-story elevator rides or doormen—just a few quick steps and you’re out in the salty air where you belong.

If you do just one thing…

Stay out until 5am. Nightlife is what made South Beach what it is today, so it’s only right that you go see it for yourself. You might as well go to a club if you’re planning on pulling an all-nighter since most don’t get going until 3am anyway. Try Story for a packed roster of famous DJs year-round or, for a truly interesting evening, Mac’s Club Deuce, the neighborhood’s oldest dive bar.

You can thank the party animals for Downtown Miami. Before they moved into the neighborhood, Club Space being the first to do so in 2000, the area was really quite depleted—a bunch of empty warehouses and not much else. But the momentum built on the backs of Downtown’s nightlife has snowballed into so much more.

These days, Downtown is experiencing a boom marked by a number of coming condos, restaurants and more. An arena, outdoor amphitheater and two giant museums also make it the home of many of Miami’s hottest events, concerts and music festivals. An added bonus: the Metromover and trolley system (both free) make the area perhaps the easiest to get around in the whole city. Downtown Miami is still on its way up, sure, but each month is bringing something new and exciting for you to taste, watch and experience.

Eat

All Day

At All Day, you’ll find Miami’s best coffee and a menu of breakfast dishes that’ll make you want to get up early on a Saturday. Feeling adventurous? Order the cold brew/rosemary limeade blend. Feeling hungry? Scarf down the Runny & Everything: a fried egg, bacon, sharp cheddar, lettuce, tomato and garlic aioli on an everything brioche bun. (Honestly, we could eat three and still beg for more.)

NIU Wine

Tiny, dark and entirely without frills, NIU Wine is the charming sister spot to Downtown’s longtime foodie destination, NIU Kitchen. Whether you’re stopping in while you wait for your table next door or noshing before a night out, sipping natural and biodynamic wines over excellent small plates like shrimp aguachile or braised pork cheek will send you off feeling perfectly content and casually European.

Drink

The Corner

Downtown Miami’s drinking culture runs deep, whether it’s the 5pm post-work crowd or the 5am post-club crowd. You’ll find both at the Corner, a dim cocktail bar right on the edge of all the nightlife action. Though the space is small, sidewalk seating helps ease the crowding and you can order drinks from a little cafecito window outside. The beer is good, the happy hour snacks are on point and the cocktails are much better than one might assume when taking in the bar from across the street.

Jaguar Sun

A basically perfect bar that also stands on its own as a fantastic restaurant, Jaguar Sun is a small but lively offering curtained off on the ground floor of the X Miami. Expect serious, well-balanced cocktails served up in fun tiki vessels and vintage glassware, along with always friendly service and a reliably non-cheesy playlist. Even if you’re not particularly hungry, an order of the Parker House Rolls or spicy rigatoni is never a bad idea, especially after two or three Green Ghoul cocktails.

Do

Pérez Art Museum Miami

Two of Downtown’s newest and most popular attractions are right next to each other: the Pérez Art Museum Miami (better known as PAMM) and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (better known as Frost Science). Over at PAMM, you can stroll through a stunning collection of modern and contemporary art, then chill out on the steps outback—which provides one of Miami’s best Biscayne Bay views.

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

Next door to PAMM is Frost Science, a family-friendly museum with enough to keep adults entertained as well. Pet a stingray, learn about space or catch a laser light show in the planetarium.

Stay

Eurostars Langford

Back in 1925, it was the Miami National Bank Building. Today, it’s the 126-room Langford. And though the front desk is still designed to look like a bank teller window, everything else in the hotel is new—down to the gold bathroom fixtures, mid-century-style furniture and converted trunks—but certainly designed with nostalgia in mind.

If you do just one thing…

If there’s a play, musician or comedian in town performing at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, grab a ticket. The performing arts center, home to the Florida Grand Opera and Miami City Ballet, is one of Miami’s grandest architectural landmarks and proves to be just as beautiful inside as it is on the outside.

For quite some time, folks didn’t see much reason for going north of Lincoln Road on Miami Beach. There was South Beach and then that was it, right? Today, not so much. Miami Beach, and Mid-Beach specifically, holds some of Miami’s most celebrated hotels and boasts a growing roster of killer restaurants. Locals love it too, and they know that during some of Miami’s biggest events (like the glitzy Art Basel), it’s Mid-Beach—not South Beach—where you’ll find the city’s hottest parties. And with the development of the new Faena District, that’s sure to be true for years to come.

Eat

27 Restaurant and Bar

Located on the same property as the Freehand Hotel and Broken Shaker bar, 27 has the dining room of your dreams, a cozy space that truly feels more like a house than a restaurant. Its menu uses local flavors and shifts accordingly based on what’s fresh and available. Expect straightforward simplicity, like the variety of baked and roasted vegetables on the menu (the oyster mushrooms arre a must) and novel surprises, like the kimchi fried rice and make-your-own arepas.

Drink

Broken Shaker

Part of the Freehand trinity, the Shaker is behind the city’s full embrace of craft cocktails. The bartenders put themselves on the map with creative concoctions and shareable punch bowls (which change seasonally) that taste even better when enjoyed in the bar’s lush backyard on a bright Miami afternoon—perhaps poolside, if you’re lucky enough to snag a seat. These days, there are many imitators, but to get a taste of authentic Miami cocktail culture, the Broken Shaker remains your best bet.

Do

LIV

The Miami Beach nightclub is an experience everyone should undergo at least once in their life. LIV is for the velvet rope stargazer. On any given night, celebs pack the recently renovated club and dance under the hundreds of moving LED panels that line the ceiling. Each night brings something different at LIV, though its most popular evening remains Sunday’s popping hip-hop party during which anything is possible.

Stay

Fontainebleau Miami Beach

Two worlds collide at the Fontainebleau. Of course, you have the hotel’s old Miami charm and wonderful history. It’s where Frank Sinatra and his crew used to hang while in town. But it’s also on the cutting edge, home to Miami’s most powerful nightclub, LIV, and some truly stunning restaurants: the Chinese powerhouse Hakkasan, the Italian eatery Scarpetta and Michael Mina’s Stripsteak. And don’t even get us started on the pools (there are 11 of them).

Faena Hotel Miami Beach

The Faena Hotel Miami Beach is the new kid on the block and the centerpiece of Alan Faena’s new Faena District, a three-block strip of hotels, restaurants and performance venues. The gilded woolly-mammoth housed in the Faena’s courtyard should tell you everything you need to know about the hotel’s unapologetic elegance—crimson, velvet and animal prints are everywhere.

If you do just one thing…

Go to the beach. Really—did you think we were going to forget about the one thing that has been driving people across Biscayne Bay for decades? The sands of Miami Beach—and Mid-Beach specifically—are wide, gorgeous and open for business 365 days a year (for free, of course). The pedestrian boardwalk runs from 23rd Street to 46th Street. Hope on, walk until you find a patch of sand that looks perfect and chill the eff out.

We'd be doing a poor job indeed if we failed to mention Miami's Cuban connections. Little Havana is probably the best-known Cuban-American neighborhood in the country, boasting all that is vibrant and wonderful (and tasty) about the culture. This Latin area formed in the 1960s with the arrival of Cuban refugees escaping Castro's regime, some of whom set up businesses that are still there today. Plus, thanks to campaigning by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, much of Little Havana's original architecture – historic bungalows, Mission Revival blocks and oolitic limestone facades—is being preserved. Marvel at the colourful buildings while you're there and look out for street parties, sweet cafecitos and crispy tostones.

Eat

Versailles

Consult any travel guide, online list or hungry local about where to grab some Cuban food down in Little Havana and one name will always pop up: Versailles. It’s not hype. The food at Versailles is done with tradition in mind, and the result is classics such as croquetas, Cuban sandwiches and cafecito that have even the most hard-to-please viejos nodding in agreement.

Lung Yai Thai Tapas

Little Havana has some culinary surprises waiting, like this cozy Thai joint that serves small Thai bites, noodle and rice dishes until 1am on the weekends. Sign your name on a list by the door and prepare for an unconventional delicious dining experience.

Azucar Ice Cream Company

Little Havana’s famous ice cream shop is very worth the trip. With only-in-Miami flavors that are unique, creative and—above all else—delicious, this place does not disappoint. Don’t forget to pose with the huge ice cream cone sculpture outside.

Drink

Ball & Chain

Day, night, weekday or weekend—you’re going to Ball & Chain. Originally opened in 1935, the bar and music venue was renovated and restored in 2014 with its rich musical history in mind (Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Chet Baker have performed there). Equally as impressive is the drink menu, which features a pitch-perfect mojito and a Calle Ocho old-fashioned made with rum and garnished with a tobacco leaf.

Union Beer Store

If you’re a beer person, Union Beer Store provides a tasty dive into South Florida’s rich brewing culture. The small bar has world-class beer on tap and a couple of free arcade games to help pass the time. Depending on the day of the week, some of Miami’s best food pop-ups feature here too, including Haochi (dim sum), Panolo’s (Cuban with vegan options) and Peacock Ramen.

Do

CubaOcho Museum & Performing Arts Center

Don’t leave Little Havana without catching some live Cuban music. There’s no better place to do just that than at CubaOcho, a Cuban-owned art gallery, cafe, performing arts space and bar that showcases, among many other things, live salsa in an intimate setting. Dancing is encouraged. Rum is essential.

Stay

Life House, Little Havana

This new boutique hotel is a first of its kind in Little Havana, which has only recently become a massive tourist destination. Life House is perfect for those looking for something a little more hip and curated. There’s live music programming and a popular rooftop bar, Terras, that boasts some of the best skyline views of the city at sunset.

If you do just one thing…

Book your stay during Viernes Culturales, which takes place on the last Friday of the month. This monthly block party has grown in popularity along with the neighborhood. All night long, local vendors and live musicians fill the area while hundreds of people flow up and down Calle Ocho. There are food and dancing as far as the eye can see.

Turn around for five minutes and there’s another skyscraper standing tall in Brickell— construction cranes dot the skyline and there’s always a jackhammer echoing through the wind. On certain blocks, it feels more like Manhattan than Miami. Such is life in Brickell, the city’s financial district and one of Miami’s fastest-growing areas. Just about everything in the neighborhood is brand-spanking-new, which makes it a great place to take the pulse of Miami’s vibrant future. And it’s not just towering condos and office buildings going up either; restaurants, hotels, bars and retail meccas are all pouring into Brickell with remarkable speed, making it an essential destination for anyone visiting the city.

Eat

La Mar

It’s hard to decide what’s cooler about La Mar. Is it the view of Biscayne Bay and the Downtown skyline—which is just dazzling, by the way. Or is the upscale Peruvian food from chef Gastón Acurio—which is equally as dazzling. Thankfully, you don’t have to choose and can enjoy both at one of Brickell’s best restaurants.

River Oyster Seafood Bar

River Seafood Oyster Bar has been around since 2003, which is practically a lifetime in the ever-changing neighborhood. Order a pot of mussels and be sweet to your server because you’ll be asking for a ton of extra bread to sop up the delicious stew left behind after the mussels are gone. And if its name didn’t tip you off, the River is where you’ll find the freshest oysters in Miami. Stop by during happy hour (daily 4:30-7pm) and get them half-price.

Drink

Sugar

This elegant (if a bit pricey) lounge 40 floors up on the scalp of East, Miami combines the neighborhood’s penchant for elaborate cocktails and seductive views. Lines form quickly on the weekend, so an early happy hour might be your best bet here.

Better Days

Down on the ground, you’ll find Better Days, where you can hang with the young professionals of Brickell opting for a more accessible drinking option. Play some pool, sit and sip in a booth or challenge someone to a board game or Jenga in the kitschy, basement-like space.

Do

El Tucán

This gorgeous, jungle-themed Miami venue is now home to one of Miami’s most festive supper clubs. Asian-inspired plates are paired alongside acrobatics, cabaret and loud music that’ll have you wondering whether you’re in a restaurant or nightclub. The answer? A little of both.

Stay

EAST, Miami

The first Miami hotel from Hong Kong’s Swire Properties, East is a faithful reflection of the small urban neighborhood: state-of-the-art and shiny with breathtaking views at every bend, plus food and drink options aplenty.

If you do just one thing…

You must walk through the Brickell City Centre, even if only to window shop. The one-year-old megamall/entertainment complex holds five million square feet of stores and a $30 million roof designed to manipulate Miami’s brutal heat. Simply put, the City Centre is really neat.

A verdant and upscale waterfront swath fighting to hang on to its bohemian roots, Miami’s historic Coconut Grove neighborhood has undergone a transformation over the last couple of decades, swapping out many of its colorful cottages and quaint bungalows for sleek highrise condos and boxy “sugar cube” houses. Still, increased development along the bay including a completely reimagined CocoWalk open-air mall and a couple of modern hotels has invigorated this once-sleepy enclave for families and University of Miami students. Roam the east end of the neighborhood’s leafy, brick-paved sidewalks to find an eclectic mix of shopping, dining and green spaces, along with a few tried-and-true dives and a lively Saturday farmers’ market.

Eat

Krüs Kitchen

Located in the same narrow two-story space, Krüs Kitchen and Los Felix both earned nods from the Michelin Guide in 2022. Boasting a relaxed, minimalist design and vinyl DJs on the weekends, each concept is pretty swoonworthy, but Krüs offers a bit more bang for your buck. Stop by for elevated handhelds like a prosciutto sandwich made with truffle stracciatella and confit eggplant. Make it a picnic at nearby Peacock Park by pairing your meal with a bottle of natural wine to-go. Or dine-in to explore a variety of proper entrees and the funky artisanal market upstairs.

Ariete

Much fanfare has been made over the pressed duck at chef Michael Beltran’s Coconut Grove gem, Ariete. The tableside show that involves the churning and reducing of innards into a decadent sauce to accompany a series of otherworldly duck dishes isn’t just a novelty—it’s an art form. But there are more surprising dishes to explore at this daring New-American spot with classic cocktails, warm service and an understated ambiance.

Drink

Monty’s Raw Bar

Overlooking the marina, this popular Grove hangout is a sweet spot for cold beers, stiff drinks and casual seafood. On Friday afternoons find a rowdy happy hour crowd (heavy with thirsty UM kids) eagerly slurping up strong frozen drinks. For a more family-friendly vibe, come on the weekends, order a basket of fried seafood and a pitcher of beer for yourself and send the kids off to dance to the live music.

The Taurus

In a sea of college dives and upscale gastrobars, the Taurus stands out. This cool little whiskey joint serves an extensive selection of scotches, bourbons and all sorts of caramel-colored spirits—ranging in flavor from smooth to put-hair-on-your-chest strong. They also have a wide selection of beers on tap and bottled, plus a large outdoor patio and one of the best burgers in town.

Do

Coconut Grove Organic Market

This long-running open-air farmers’ market sets up shop every Saturday, bringing in tons of fresh produce from Homestead along with dozens of stands proferring everything from prepared foods and cold-pressed juices to locally harvested honey, homemade soaps, vegan treats and vintage wares. Plenty of shaded picnic tables offer a respite for enjoying your loot.

Stay

Mr. C Miami - Coconut Grove

A popular choice both for couples and families, Mr. C is a new boutique hotel with 100 guest rooms and suites boasting updated amenities and breezy outdoor terraces. Ultra-modern without lacking personality, the building was designed by famed Miami firm Arquitectonica and is ideally positioned for walkability to all the neighborhood’s best spots. On the rooftop, Bellini Restaurant and Bar is an incredible perch for enjoying classic Italian fare with sweeping bay and city views.

If you do just one thing…

Support local. As more and more chains move in, some of the neighborhood’s most iconic institutions are at risk of being pushed out. But it’s the Grove’s locally owned small businesses that continue to give the neighborhood its identity and appeal. Instead of Starbucks, grab a potent cold brew and almond croissant from Panther Coffee, then pop in next door to browse the offerings at homegrown literary hub Books & Books.

This funky neighborhood technically runs up Biscayne Boulevard starting from the Julia Tuttle Causeway and ending somewhere around 86th Street. Encompassing some of the city’s best examples of Miami Modern (MiMo) architecture, the Upper East Side is characterized by playful mid-century hotels and condos, along with a smattering of bars, restaurants, shops and plenty of beautiful historic homes. Upper East Side also touches several more of Miami’s up-and-coming neighborhoods, like the Design District, Little Haiti and Little River. All within a short drive or walk of each other, these pockets are increasingly becoming coveted destinations for visitors and locals alike.

Eat

Mandolin Aegean Bistro

Everyone’s go-to restaurant for a casually upscale al fresco lunch or dinner, Mandolin continues to charm with its simply prepared, fresh ingredients and incomparable atmosphere that calls to mind summers on the windswept Aegean coast. Traditional mezzes, whole fried fish and freshly batched sangria invite guests to come as they are in their crisp linens and flowy caftans to sit, unwind and enjoy.

Boia De

This retro-designed spot in a Little Haiti shopping plaza only has 24 seats, so reservations are a must. At the black-and-white terrazzo counter, you can spy Michelin-trained chefs Luciana Giangrandi and Alex Meyer doing their thing as Neil Young and Paul McCartney songs play on the speakers. The seasonal, ingredient-driven menu is meant for sharing—among our favorites, the beef tartare topped with a crunchy garlic-shallot crumble and crispy capers.

Drink

The Anderson

The Anderson is a neighborhood stalwart with multiple themed spots to hang both indoors and out, live jazz and DJ nights and an incomparable Brooklyn-meets-Vegas aesthetic in full effect. For a little Mexican flair, the El Toro Taco truck out back is ready to take your order, and the daily, 5pm to 8pm happy hour boasts half-off all drinks. Sounds like the ideal dinner to us.

Center for Subtropical Affairs

Non-profit plant nursery and ecological education center by day, twinkling hipster jungle by night, this unassuming, DIY-driven spot in Little Haiti has been steadily ramping up its programming to include live music, art shows, dance parties and more. Check Instagram, where the Center posts its ever-changing lineup, from daytime flea markets where DJs spin vinyl, to chill jazz nights, poetry readings, pottery classes and serious raves.

Do

Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami

A free contemporary art museum in the heart of one of the city’s most affluent shopping hubs? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it also doesn’t need to. Since its opening, the privately owned ICA museum has hosted countless heavy-hitters like Yayoi Kusama, Dan Flavin, Judy Chicago and Betye Saar. What it lacks in size, the petite museum more than makes up for in community-driven parties and programming throughout the year.

Sweat Records

This beloved local indie record shop and cafe is a longstanding hub where music fans come together to discover new sounds, exchange ideas and support the local arts community. Expect assorted indie, electronic, local gems, underground and undiscovered kitsch, available in cassette, CD or LP. Around the corner, stop in at Primaried Studio to browse a tightly curated selection of vintage furniture and homewares with a postmodern bent.

Stay

The Vagabond Hotel

A pioneer in the revitalization of the Upper East Side’s previously neglected MiMo motels, Vagabond nails the irreverent 1950s tropical aesthetic without going over the top, or skipping out on the modern amenities. At the center of the bi-level property is a pristine mosaic pool, whose iconic tile mermaid was restored from the original. Most of the rooms are small, fitting only an armoire rather than a full closet, but comfortable and contemporary. On property, enjoy laidback Mediterranean fare from Mr. Mandolin, a sibling restaurant to the coveted Mandolin Aegean Bistro.

If you do just one thing…

Browse the impressive public art and high-end shops around the Design District. The pristine, tree-shaded sidewalks are activated year-round with cool interactive installations, including pieces by Studio Proba, Buckminster Fuller and the late Virgil Abloh. Enjoy an iced matcha from OTL as you window shop, or stop in for liquid courage in the form of a Michael’s Genuine dirty martini before pulling the trigger on some vacation splurges.