Faena Hotel
When the couple behind movies like Moulin Rouge! is your decorating team, you know things are going to get theatrical. So this hotel—make that universe—really does make you feel like you’re in a movie, whether it’s sweeping into the grand mosaic-lined entry chamber without a check-in desk in sight, or being swept into the decadent, Miami-of-the-1930s mood of the lounge, where waitresses in red cocktail dresses strut to the beat of a live Cuban band beneath a grand chandelier. The (very expensive) rooms get you access to the gorgeously appointed beach cabanas and pool, two all-star restaurants, artwork by Damien Hirst, and people watching that you never thought possible. (This is the place to be during Art Basel Miami; book way ahead.) While it all feels of the moment—money, art, real estate—it feels like another world. A beautifully art-directed one.
PRO TIP: To miss out on the “shamanic” spa is to miss out on one of the best massages of your life. Even the all-marble hammam is from a dream; before you enter, an attendant carves you a piece of olive-oil soap from a giant column. Surprisingly, it’s not much more expensive than any other hotel spa, so even if you can’t stay here, book a treatment and marvel.
THE DETAILS: Rooms from $398.
