Excellently located, but without the crowds peering at you from the beach or the poolside bar, the Catalina offers a subtle, minimalist-in-places, art-deco-in-some, retreat. This is a clever hotel that is perched beside the big boys, but keeps it’s mouth shut and its guest-list ticking over. Like the Whitelaw Hotel, free drinks are served from 7pm.
Telephone: +1 305 674 1160
Url: www.southbeachgroup.com
Price: from $75
The Catalina is the latest addition to the South Beach Group’s hotel empire, of which this, the Chelsea, the Mercury and the Whitelaw are the pick of the bunch. Located in front of the stylish Raleigh Hotel on Collins Avenue, the Catalina can be identified by its large windowed front that looks more like a sportscar showroom.
The lobby is a roomy, tranquil space with white curtains flowing down from the double-height ceiling towards a set of white leather mini sofas, crafted wooden stools and an egg-in-a-hole chair. It’s very Miami. Apart from the spotty red lampshades, the rooms could not be any whiter, and there is plenty of room for the in-house masseuse to pay guests a visit.
Out back there is a 75-foot pool, while the lobby’s bar serves free drinks to hotel guests between 7 and 8pm.
