Why book?
Along with its location on an immaculate and private white-sand beach, book at the 1 Hotel South Beach for the sexiest, trendiest, and most glamorous of stays in Miami Beach. The property boasts four pools and a trendy scene, balanced with eco-inspired and sustainable design complimentary of nature’s heavenly shades of turquoise (thanks to floor-to-ceiling oceanfront windows throughout). While it’s a more expensive lodging option in Miami Beach, it’s certainly worth every penny.
Set the scene
Conveniently located in South Beach along the buzzy Collins Avenue, the chic and surprisingly zen-like hotel sits on a private beachfront (a rare amenity for a property in South Beach). The airy, sunlight-filled interiors are complimented with bleached driftwood, oak, and teak furniture as well as lush green plants and terrariums. It’s a refreshing welcome in South Beach, where more often than not, the hotels are dressed up with an urbanite, art deco feel.
The third floor is pretty much the outdoor hub of the 1 Hotel South Beach (and particularly great for guests with children). Here, you’ll access the beach club and three of the four hotel pools along with myriad cabanas, daybeds (which are also purposed as diving boards for the kids when not occupied!), and lounge chairs. Also, 18 stories above the water is Watr 1 at the Rooftop—a bustling pool deck and bar where all sorts of hip and ready-to-chill (or party) hotel guests hang out and listen to music. Booking a cabana or table here is absolutely an amenity worth taking advantage of. Even when you check out, you’ll have access to the pool area and beach seats for the rest of that day—it was in this period of time that I made a friend in the girls’ room. We both checked out earlier that day and agreed that if we had it our way, we would never leave.
The backstory
The property opened in March 2015 as the first hotel of the 1 Hotels brand founded by Barry Sternlight, and resides in the former Gansevoort Hotel. With a sustainability concept top of mind, the hotel’s thoughtful and innovative design cost around $500 million.
The rooms
There are 425 rooms and suites (along with 155 residential rooms) here, which carry over the same aesthetic from the lobby, featuring driftwood walls, recycled pine headboards, hemp blend-filled mattresses, 100% organic cotton sheets, clothes hangers made from recycled paper, and even your very own glass terrarium to bring the outdoors in. And like the rest of the furniture, the beds offer an ideal mix of comfort and eco-consciousness: The mattresses, by Keetsa, are made of custom organic cotton. My huge Miami bed was lifted up on a wooden platform with a golden light surrounding its bottom edge. When the sun set, the light (with adjustable hues, connected to a dimmer switch) that traced the bed set the perfect dimly-lit and moody vibe for a brain-massaging, rejuvenating stay.
Though my room was a street view, I’d recommend splurging for an ocean view. The natural blues painted by the sky and the sea compliment the light oak furnishings in the most heavenly way. But if you happen to book the street view, rest easy knowing ocean views are not hard to come by—the beach is just a few steps away, privately accessible down the stairs from the third floor pool area.
While the showers’ water filters were installed for optimal conservation, the hotel didn't skimp on the size of the shower and bathtub. Most of the walk-in marble showers have an all-glass wall on one side, so you can lather up with an ocean or front view if you so choose (there are curtains for the more modest). Bath products are custom designed for the hotel itself, and made with a range of natural ingredients, while the towels and robes are both made from natural cotton knits—as are the socks left in your room to forgo the waste pairs of slippers can bring.
Food and drink
While in-room dining is always tempting (and ideal for breakfast in bed, of course), there’s no shortage of dining options at this location. The hotel recently welcomed Aviv Restaurant by James Beard Award–winning chef Michael Solomonov and restaurateur Steve Cook (best known for Philadelphia’s iconic Zahav and Brooklyn’s trendy Laser Wolf); open as of March 2025, with reservations available here). Aviv, which means “Spring” in Hebrew, is said to blend ancient cooking techniques with the modern and vibrant atmospheres of Miami, itself, as well as Tel Aviv.
Up on the 18th floor, you'll find the bright and breezy Watr 1 at the Rooftop, a scene-y pool deck and bar serving Japanese-influenced cuisine, visited by both hotel guests and hip Miami locals alike. Adjacent to the beach with a Tulum-like essence is Tala Beach Restaurant. With sprawling daybeds and overstuffed pillows, the space offers Spanish-inspired shared plates and craft cocktails. Not to mention, there’s often a live DJ and chic consignment stand with trendy bathing suits and coverups for sale.
On the third floor, alongside the hotel's Center Pool, is The Sandbox, a refined poolside restaurant with American coastal dishes that will satisfy any of your poolside cravings. For quick bites and coffee on the go, the hotel also offers two cafés, Plnthouse, on the second floor, and Neighbors, in the lobby (as well as a lobby bar, Drift, with bites and libations available until eleven o’clock at night). A huge plus: the hotel’s beachside dining, with a food truck and beverage menu open daily until 5:30 p.m. Of indulgence: I shared the most refreshing watermelon slices and enjoyed a fabulous local mahi-mahi sandwich at peak sun-soaking and ocean-dipping hours.
The spa
The dreamscape that is the Bamford Wellness Spa is on the second floor of the hotel (and is the first US Bamford Wellness Spa, created by Carole Bamford in the English countryside). Along with saunas and de-stress rooms with lemon-infused water and light sweet treats, the spa offers an extensive menu of massage treatments (including, but not limited to, Himalayan salt stone massages, Swedish massages with a cleansing footbath, and couples massages), body therapy services (from aftersun body treatments to gentle exfoliating sugar scrubs), facials (like the 24K nanogold-infused collagen facial and a corrective anti aging option), and wellness packages for two-and-a-half to four-hour services (geared toward specific groups, from men’s recovery to mothers-to-be). It also won Florida’s Best Hotel Spa in the 2024 World Spa Awards.
The neighborhood/area
Specifically located in “Mid-beach” (the northern edge of the glamorous South Beach district), the hotel occupies an entire city block on the beachside and buzzy Collins Avenue. It’s the perfect base for any Miami trip—just a five minute drive to Miami’s top tier shopping outlets on Lincoln Road, Ocean Drive, as well as the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Bass Museum of Art, and New World Center. Especially for first timers, it’s an area you’ll want to be in. It’s just over a 20 minute drive to Wynwood, so if you’re headed there for dinner, be weary of the traffic over the bridge. (With heavy traffic, the drive can sometimes take as long as 45 minutes.) For those looking for activities to add to your agenda, the hotel also offers a neighborhood guide with heaps to do, whether you're interested in nature or art.
The service
All staff, from the lobby floor at check-in to the spa massage experts, genuinely want you and your fellow guests to have the most optimal stay—it’s evident in their attentiveness and willingness to help. And if you plan to keep active, there’s a SoulCycle onsite (just be sure to sign up for your class ASAP, as it’s open to the public, too). In terms of beach dining, there's a dedicated team of sandy-footed helpers who can fetch you everything from a lounge chair to a cocktail. As a buzzy beachfront hub, the seaside service certainly gets crowded, so expect longer wait times for food and drinks.
Eco effort
Environmentalism never looked so sexy. The 1 Hotel South Beach wears its eco-consciousness on its sleeve—and understands that it takes more than asking guests to reuse a bath towel to truly effect change. The entire hotel is built around a fierce commitment to sustainability, which is apparent as soon as you pull up to the front door (the giant “1” that marks the spot was constructed out of 7,500 pounds of local, recovered, and sustainably harvested Florida coral; a nearby hanging sculpture is crafted entirely of recovered beach plastics including bait bags, bottle caps, and tugboat lines). Inside, floor-to-ceiling windows offer picturesque beach views, but also reduce the building’s energy footprint. You’ll spot lots of reclaimed wood on the walls and gorgeous pieces of driftwood furniture, not to mention a farm stand in the lobby selling imperfect-looking but fresh seasonal fruits that would otherwise be discarded from producers or grocers. The room keys are made of various kinds of recycled wood, and all of the hotel’s taps, sinks, and showers are equipped with Triple Clear Water filters, so you can drink right from them. Even the glasses in your room are made from recycled glass.
Accessibility
The hotel has many ADA-compliant spaces, including the public entrance, guest rooms (options include a king room with a balcony, two queens, two kings with a balcony, an ocean view king with balcony, and a studio suite), registration desk, and concierge desk. Accessibility features in the common guest spaces include valet parking, a ground-floor hotel entrance, braille signage throughout the hotel, accessible entrance doors with portable wheelchair ramps to the restaurant spaces and gym, an ADA lift for all of the pools as well as an ADA lift for private beach access. As for the guest rooms, accessibility features include an audio-visual door alert for hearing-impaired doorbell; roll-in showers (with grab bars in both the showers and next to the toilet seats); a low-level sink, peephole, and thermostat control; and balconies that are wheelchair accessible.
More accessibility features and rooms can be found on their website—and you can also call or specify your requests on their “Special Requests” field when booking.
Anything left to mention?
Lean into the scene-y aspect of Miami here—if you didn’t pack your best or loudest outfits to rock at any of the several dining experiences, pool, or beach, you can shop at a handful of trendy onsite stores that sell glamorous outfits and accessories, from floppy beach hats to fabulous sunglasses..
2341 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, Florida 33139
USA
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(305) 604-1000