Lucy’s Cantina

The most beautiful places to stay in Miami are the old art deco hotels along Collins Avenue like The Raleigh (my favorite!), The National and The Shelborne. The facades are classic deco — all curved lines, pastel colours and tasteful details. Period furniture fills the lobbies and bars and when you walk through you feel you’ve entered another era.

We discovered an equally interesting view of the backs of these hotels by walking along the oceanfront boardwalk. From there you can peek through the palms to catch glimpses of the beautiful people sunning themselves near shimmering swimming pools lined with royal palms. At The Shelborne there’s even a taco shack (not really a shack, of course) that’s open to the public and where the rest of us can pretend that we are part of the deco life too.