You might have seen my flight review from London to Miami (Link here). While in Miami, we chose to stay in the South/Miami Beach area because I hadn’t done that before, even though I have flown into Miami quite a few times.
In this post:
The Hotel
Nautilus Sonesta is a 250 room boutique hotel caped in the familiar 1950’s Art Deco style South Beach Miami has become famous for.
Soon to undergo a $25m renovation in order to keep up with their neighbouring hotels (I go into further detail below).
The development of the two hotels on either side are super prime properties whereas Nautilus Sonesta wants to keep and place themselves as ‘boutique luxury’ and from staying here I think that is a great idea!
Housing a restaurant, two bars, a saltwater pool and a private beach it really does have everything you need to enjoy Miami Beach to the maximum.
Also rated an impressive 16/212 hotels on Tripadvisor.
Arrival & Check-in
Our flight from London landed just before 5 pm so by the time we got our bags, an Uber and got to the hotel it was already 6:30 pm.
Upon pulling in and walking into the hotel it had a very cool “Miami” vibe.
Check in was as quick and smooth as you would expect at this time of the day and the team member explained where everything was and how everything worked. To our surprise, they also offered us $150 hotel credit each to use during our stay which was very welcomed and unexpected.
The Room
I booked a King Balcony Oceanfront room. The hotel offers plenty of rooms that do not have a sea view, but I am a sucker for one and it’s really not a beach holiday for me if the sea isn’t the first thing I see when I wake up. I think they call that a water baby!
As soon as you walk in you will spot a very handy desk which is located on the back of the bed. The hotel had left a lovely welcome gift for me. The room also has a nice balcony with a fantastic view.
The bed was big and comfortable but why do hotels insist on not using proper duvet covers? Instead, they wrap the duvet in two sheets. Within an hour or two you are then snuggled directly up to an unprotected duvet, which cannot be the most hygienic thing.
The room was a little on the small and dated side but the upcoming renovation will resolve that. They definitely put a lot of emphasis on the fact your eyes are drawn out of the large doors to the view!
Whilst it was small, it didn’t feel too small as it had large floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and it did everything I needed. Had I had Katrina or a child with me it would probably have felt a lot smaller.
I am super thankful I booked this room though, because when I was wide awake at 4 am with jetlag I could open the curtains, sit in bed, do some work and watch the amazing sunrises. This truly was a highlight for me. I paid for the early mornings in the evenings though.
The room has a really cool mini bar that was fitted into a retro suitcase that contained a variety of items such as snacks, beers, soft drinks and other alcohol items. It also houses the coffee machine.
The bathroom was also on the small and slightly dated side but again it had clearly been designed with function over style as it served its purpose. A disappointment all 3 of my party shared was the inconsistency with the shower pressure and temperature. I would say that you have a 50/50 chance of it being cold for 10 minutes or working straight away.
Outside of the bathroom was a small corridor with the wardrobe which consisted of an ironing board and iron, a safe, robe and slippers.
Pool
There is one main pool which is saltwater and a splash pool for kids. They have a long row of cabanas that you can hire, and you can even arrange a poolside spa treatment should you wish.
The hotel seemed busy, but we never struggled to get sun loungers at any point throughout our stay and there were NO sunbed hoggers!! I think this is the first hotel I have ever been to where this practice hasn’t taken place. Well done to the staff.
At the back of the main pool is a pool bar with some high tables. There is also a fun little garden section where you can play a variety of games set up by the hotel which was really cool.
There is even some resident wildlife!
I have to say that the service by the pool was fantastic. The entire team of pool staff and bar servers were top quality at what they do.
Beach
There is a fun bamboo walkway from the back of the hotel, all the way past the pool area that takes you to a gate. Through the gate and over the boardwalk and you have direct access to the famous Miami Beach.
Nautilus Sonesta has a large private section of beach which has everything you need (apart from a toilet, but it is a beach after all).
There is a full beach club team here where you can order food and drink. I highly recommend the frozen strawberry daiquiri. There is also a friendly team who help find you sun loungers and lay out your towels but if you want an umbrella stuck in the sand, it’ll cost you $25 for the pleasure.
We did find it frustrating on two days in a row when they had run out of towels by 2 pm and when challenged offered zero help and instead just said they didn’t know when there would be more with no follow-up. Between 3 and 4 pm they start clearing up which involves removing all towels and stacking the sun loungers. The cynic in me thinks they don’t hand towels out later on in the hope that we won’t stay.
People were going to the pool to get towels which wasn’t a problem so I’m not sure why the staff couldn’t do that…
One afternoon we had a front-row cabana which was great. It was super comfortable and pretty private. It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and my friend found it so comfortable that he ended up sleeping until 7 pm and missing dinner.
Restaurant
They have their main restaurant located towards the back of the hotel and the lounge bar where you can order food too.
We ate at the restaurant a few times, mostly for lunch but dinner on the last night too.
I tried a few items, but my favourite was the Philly cheesesteak. It was easily the best one I have had. Their burger and quesadilla were also very tasty. Tell me you’re in America without telling me you’re in America.
They have a large outside and very comfortable seating area where you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We enjoyed lunch here every day and it was a great setting.
Bar & Entertainment
Located near reception is the lovely bar area. We had a few pre-dinner drinks here and tried a few different cocktails, all of which were great, and it was clear the bartender was very passionate about what he did.
On a couple of nights, there was a band playing that created a brilliant vibe.
The Location
When looking for hotels it was a bit of a minefield. Our criteria was quite specific in that we wanted a hotel right on the beach, which this is. We also wanted a slightly smaller, boutique hotel as I feel you get much better service, which we did, and we wanted to be within walking distance of shops, restaurants and bars. Oh, and we didn’t want it to break the bank.
I think we nailed it as the location of this hotel ticked all of our boxes. Located on Collins Avenue, very near Ocean Drive and only a 5-minute walk from the famous Lincoln Road which is a long pedestrianised road with dozens of restaurants with outside seating and it’s great for shopping too.
Mila was our stand-out favourite restaurant whilst we were here and that was located on Lincoln Road with amazing sushi and fire dancers.
We were also only 20 minutes away from the Everglades, so we hired a private airboat to find alligators. I would highly recommend this if you are ever in Miami.
Redevelopment
What took me by surprise was the sheer amount of money being spent by hotels in the immediate area on development. Everywhere we walked there were multiple protected Art Deco facades being propped up whilst the insides were being gutted.
At the time of visiting, Nautilus Sonesta is the filling in a redevelopment sandwich as both properties on either side are undergoing extensive remodelling.
To the right, they have the famous “The Shore Club” which is going to be managed by Auberge. This development is going to consist of 73 guest rooms and 49 residences, costing well in excess of $500m, and is aimed to open in 2027.
To the left is the Shelborne by Proper. This is expected to open this year after undergoing a complete renovation of $85m.
Then just down the road is going to be The Raleigh by Rosewood which looks like it will be spectacular. Another mixed-use development costing over $500m.
You can see the kind of investment going into the area is crazy. Give it 5 years and it will be a hot spot for super luxury hotels and residences.
Other Facilities
Being a boutique hotel it doesn’t really have the space to have much more than I have already described in the review however it does have a very small gym. I was surprised the hotel didn’t have a bigger one in a better location but maybe that’s something they will consider during the works.
In reception, they have a fantastic little coffee shop where you can buy croissants and snacks plus hot and cold drinks.
They also have a small boutique clothing shop, a cash machine and a workstation area.
They do have an amazing rooftop that has the best views up and down Miami Beach but they only use this for functions. I cannot help but feel this is such a waste. If they had a hotel bar and restaurant up there it would be full every single night!
Summary
We really enjoyed our stay here. The staff we encountered were all very friendly and the hotel was exactly what we wanted and expected.
Sure, the rooms need some love and the issue on the beach with the towels wasn’t great but in the grand scheme of things, they were minor. We just loved immersing ourselves in the very relaxed Miami vibe.
