"A sleek, Blade Runner –esque tower with a lushly landscaped 40th-floor rooftop bar stands out in a city known for beachfront resorts. This 352-room luxury hotel nestled in the heart of the $1 billion Brickell City Centre designed by Miami’s Arquitectonica is in the middle of downtown. The elevator alone, with its infinity mirror, sets the posh, playful tone. The hotel, opened by Hong Kong’s high-end Swire Hotels, has touches like a soaring lobby outfitted in dark woods and a metallic palette of gold, bronze, and silver. Highlights include floor-to-ceiling windows in every guest room and the cloud-skimming rooftop oasis Sugar, with its Asian-inspired bar surrounded by hand-carved teak stools. Rooms are comfortable, but it’s the public spaces that feel most welcoming—the fifth-floor pool deck that seems carved from the concrete pillars of the building with rattan ottomans and the wood-fired Quinto La Huella, an outpost of Uruguayan Parador La Huella. It’s a reminder that Miami is vibrant, multicultural, and metropolitan, far from the beach. From $359." - Sara Liss, Jennifer M. Wood
