Faena Hotel

Miami beach

This hotel may only be two years old, but its five bars, three restaurants and elegant poolside have already established it as one of the best in the city. In its former incarnation, this beguiling Art Deco hotel around ten minutes north of South Beach was a hangout for Frank Sinatra and his Hollywood chums. Today, it’s at the heart of the Faena District, where the arrival of a dynamic arts centre has transformed the neighbourhood.

The cool crowd channel their inner Tennessee Williams while downing cocktails at the Living Room bar amid a riot of red velvet, gold palm trees and tiger print. Meanwhile in Los Fuegos restaurant, Argentine chef Francis Mallmann invokes gaucho-cooking in its purest form, with just fire, grill and meat. You’ll also find local grouper or wild king prawn, wood- oven empanadas, dulce de leche pancakes and a good wine list.

Retire to rooms splashed with rich red and turquoise and ocean-front balconies that blend the style of their deco past with modern comfort. Breakfast on blueberry beignets or a South Beach scramble of avocado, local crab and fresh fruit before the nearby pool and swathe of sandy beach entice you on a stroll past palm trees and Damien Hirst’s gilded woolly mammoth skeleton sculpture. Doubles from £315.