Coral Gables, FL Hotels

Miami Beach Beach

The world's premier playground, Greater Miami Beach offers visitors the best of all worlds – a rare destination where the cutting edge of urban chic co-exists with the beauty and splendor of a tropical paradise.

Great year-round weather, top-ranked beaches and the sparkling waters of Biscayne Bay are the backdrops for a cosmopolitan metropolis, pulsing with the rhythms of its diverse population.

Boasting a vibrant arts and cultural landscape, renowned nightlife scene and world-class dining and entertainment, Miami Beach draws an eclectic mix of visitors seeking fun in the sun. Glorious weather has always been the main attraction, with yearly temperatures in Miami Beach averaging 76ºF (25ºC).

Miami Beach comprises a network of barrier islands, coral rock and mangrove swamps, connected by manmade additions of soaring bridges, stately causeways and panoramic roads. Miles and miles of white sand beaches hug the coastline.

To the south and west, Everglades National Park is an unique 1.5 million acre eco-system of sawgrass prairies, mangrove swamps subtropical jungle and the warm waters of Florida Bay. Nearby, the primarily underwater Biscayne National Park is teeming with sea life and plants, and features living coral reefs as well as the longest stretch of mangrove forest left on Florida's east coast within its 173,000 acres.

With an unparalleled mix of ethnic and cultural groups spread throughout the sprawling city's environs, Miami Beach offers visitors a new perspective on every corner; a mélange of images, sounds and tastes that range from the familiar to the exotic. It is a meandering collection of more than 35 municipalities.

At the southern end of Miami Beach Beach, South Beach's Art Deco District is a whimsical collection of more than 800 architecturally protected buildings from the 1930s and 1940. It has been anointed the “American Riviera” in a nod to the unmistakable air of casual chic that permeates the district. Ocean Drive is known worldwide for its see-and-be-seen cafes, bikini-clad in-line skaters and beaches packed with beautiful young sun seekers, while trendy Lincoln Road has emerged as a lively magnet for culture, entertainment and shopping.

The rest of Miami Beach Beach continues to thrive, reaping the benefits of its proximity to the Art Deco District's plentiful entertainment and dining offerings. Neighborhoods like funky Surfside and a revitalized North Beach draw many with unpretentious charms, great local restaurants and easy beach access. North Beach's Ocean Terrace – a five-block stretch just south of expansive North Shore Park – is fast becoming a smaller version of South Beach with its inviting oceanfront cafes, hotels, restaurants, and quaint shops.

Bal Barbour and the Bay Harbour Islands are quiet upscale residential communities notable for the Bal Harbour Shops, continually ranked one of the top shopping destinations in the world for its concentration of designer boutiques.

Sunny Isles Beach is a favorite among French-Canadian and European tourists who are drawn to the laid-back casual vibe, seagrape studded- beaches and affordable motel-style accommodations.

Downtown Miami Beach is a hub for international business and finance, with soaring office towers and ultra-modern condominiums lining Brickell Avenue. American Airlines Arena (home to the Miami Beach Heat), Bayside Marketplace (a waterfront shopping and dining destination) and Bayfront Park (an outdoor concert amphitheater) draw residents and visitors. Nearby on tony Brickell Key, the Mandarin Oriental, a AAA Five Diamond resort, has received rave reviews for its beautiful design, world-class service and award-winning restaurants.

Just north of downtown is one of Miami Beach's oldest African-American neighborhoods, Overtown. In its heyday in the 1920s through 1940s, Overtown was Florida's version of Harlem. Today, revitalization is underway to restore the neighborhood's historical legacy with renovations of the Lyric, the Greater Bethel AME Church and the D.A. Dorsey House (home of Miami Beach's first black millionaire.)

It is rumored that one could spend a whole day in Little Havana without hearing a word of English spoken. Saturated with Cuban culture, Little Havana's main thoroughfare, Calle Ocho (Eighth Street) is lined with restaurants featuring Latin specialties and cafes where men sip cafecitos and play dominos and argue about politics all day. Here, artisans still hand-roll cigars, and tailors create custom guayaberas (traditional linen shirts), while the sounds of salsa and merengue fill the air.

South of downtown where the foliage becomes lush and tropical, Coconut Grove was legendary in its heyday as an arts colony. Today, the culturally diverse locality draws throngs of tourists and residents to its restaurants and cafes, art galleries, boutiques, movie theaters and bookstores. Home to popular attractions like Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, (an Italian Renaissance mansion), and the Barnacle, historic home of Miami Beach pioneer Ralph Monroe, the Grove honors its artistic roots each February with the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, the nation's largest annual outdoor celebration of visual arts and crafts.

Coral Gables features beautiful Mediterranean-style homes and winding waterways. Coral Gables recently welcomed the Village of Merrick Park, Miami Beach's newest upscale shopping mecca.

The secluded paradise of Key Biscayne is just a few miles from downtown yet worlds apart, with miles of hiking and biking trails, boating and water sports, beaches that continually rank in the top ten, top-notch tennis and golf facilities and upscale resort properties. It is also home to Miami Beach Seaquarium, where the popular television show Flipper was filmed in the 1960s.

The agricultural bounty of Miami Beach's mild climate becomes apparent as visitors head south of Miami Beach to Redland and Homestead, with vast fields of strawberries, tomatoes and other fresh produce, en route to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park. Many of the area's tourist attractions are located here including Miami Beach Dade Metrozoo, Monkey Jungle, Everglades Alligator Farm and the Fruit and Spice Park.

Considered part of greater North Miami Beach Beach, Opa Locka, designed in the 1920s as an Arabian Nights fantasy, features the largest concentration of Moorish architecture in the Western hemisphere.