If you haven’t been to Miami Beach for a few years, there’s a good chance you won’t recognize the place. The area that underwent the most radical transformation is Sunny Isles, located on Miami Beach’s northern tip. For over fifty years, this section was commonly referred to as Motel Row because of all the mom and pop motor lodges that lined Collins Avenue.
But just as South Beach was transformed from a neighborhood of dilapidated small apartment buildings and drug dens into one a town full of trendy boutiques and restaurants in the mid 1980s, Sunny Isles is now changing from a motel-dominated beach resort to one consisting of high-rise condos and tall luxury hotels. Recently shuttered motels as the Blue Seas and the Driftwood are being razed to make way for monolithic properties bearing the name of Jamaica Estates native son Donald Trump.
While the days of getting a room for $35 a night in Sunny Isles is quickly becoming a thing of the past, this does not mean that a value vacation is out of the question in this part of Miami Beach. The Ocean Point Resort, located at 173rd Street and Collins Avenue, opened last year and it is the first high-rise hotel in Sunny Isles. Its architecture was inspired by one of Los Angeles’s most famous landmarks, the Capitol Records Building.
The Ocean Point consists of fully furnished apartment suites. The best news for travel consumers, though, is that the cost of lodging is far less than that of a regular hotel room from a major chain in a resort area. One reason that the Ocean Point is not as pricey as one would expect is that it does not have golf courses or tennis courts, so you’re not paying for the upkeep of facilities you may not even use. The Ocean Point does, however, have a gym that should please those who like serious workouts. It is worth staying here, if for nothing else, to be able to enjoy the waterfall Jacuzzi. Contact the Ocean Point at (866) OCEANPT.
Those looking for a full service resort with plenty of tennis courts and a golf course designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones should consider the Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura, located just across the Lehman Causeway from Sunny Isles. The new crown jewel of Turnberry Isle is its brand new $10 million spa and is definitely the place to go for pampering one’s self.
I am not going to kid you; a stay at Turnberry Isle is not easy on most people’s budgets. Turnberry Isle, however, does offer some bargain packages for those who are willing to put up with the heat and humidity of a Miami summer or the threat of hurricanes in early fall.
Another Miami Beach neighborhood undergoing some much needed renovation is North Beach, which runs from 63rd to 88th Streets. The stretch from 73 to 75th Streets along Ocean Terrace has long been an eyesore with its fleabag hotels that once catered to transients.
A turnaround is finally underway thanks to the remodeled art deco-style Days Inn and a new South Beach-style Brazilian restaurant, Baraboo. While the food and service at Baraboo is average at best, the entertainment – which includes musicians playing Antonio Carlos Jobim and Sergio Mendes tunes, as well as feather-clad showgirls and torch-tossing jugglers – is superb.
No trip to Miami Beach would be complete without at least one visit to South Beach. If you want to feel like you’re an episode of the E! Network’s hedonistic “Wild On” series, stop by Mango’s Tropical Café, located on 9th street and Ocean Drive. The atmosphere reminds one of college spring break, and the waitresses dance on top of the bar counters à la New York’s Hogs & Heifers and Coyote Ugly.
If you’re looking for an elegant dining spot in South Beach, try Pearl, a continental restaurant with a futuristic motif located in the Penrod Complex on Ocean Drive and 1st Street, a good five blocks from Ocean Drive. You should also enjoy a meal at Pearl’s sister restaurant, Satine, located in the Diplomat Hotel across the Miami Beach border in Hallandale. Reservations are a must at both.
Miami Beach is served by two airports, Miami International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International. One can generally get a better fare by flying into Fort Lauderdale because USAir, Delta, American, and Continental now face competition from budget-minded upstarts as AirTran, Spirit, and Queens’ own JetBlue, which somehow pulls off the impossible combo of offering low fares and terrific service. Speaking of JetBlue they are about to begin service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. So get on it and start tanning.
For more information on Miami Beach, call the Miami Visitors Bureau at (800) 933-8448.