Faena Hotel Miami Beach
Daily price line
Upcoming nightly rates
Review
Character and identity
Faena anchors its own arts district on Collins Avenue, a few blocks north of the South Beach fray, in a 1947 building reimagined by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin as a Technicolor stage set. The 179 rooms sit askew to the ocean, spread across twenty one configurations, and the public spaces are pure theatre: the gold-leafed Cathedral with its Juan Gatti murals, a 24-karat-gilded woolly mammoth by Damien Hirst, a Belle Époque cabaret theatre. Dining runs from Francis Mallmann's open-fire Los Fuegos to Paul Qui's Pao and the six-seat El Secreto omakase. Service leans formal, with floor butlers and Experience Managers on call.
Who's it for
Best for:
Design-literate couples and well-heeled travellers who want Miami glamour without Ocean Drive's noise, and who'll genuinely engage with the art, the cabaret, the Mallmann asado and the 22,000-square-foot Tierra Santa spa with its hammam and Ice Parlor. Bring an appetite for theatricality and a generous budget.
Should look elsewhere:
Families with young children will struggle: the art collection skews adult, kid-friendly dining largely begins and ends at the poolside Tree of Life, and the whole register is grown-up. Anyone wanting minimalist calm or a walkable South Beach club scene at the doorstep should book elsewhere.
Bottom line
What you're paying for here is total immersion in a Luhrmann-directed fantasy, executed with serious art, serious cooking and serious service. Book a Premier Oceanfront Room at minimum, a curvy corner suite if you can stretch, and reserve El Secreto well ahead for Thursday through Saturday. Shoulder season rates soften the sting considerably.