Four Seasons Miami: an excellent stay in cool Bricknell
When the Four Seasons Hotel Miami opened 21 years ago, it was one of the first five-star hotels in Brickell, the Downtown financial centre of Miami. Today, Brickell is a mini-Manhattan, filled with modern glass high-rise towers and deserving of its reputation as Miami's most youthful and dynamic neighbourhood.
Brickell is waterfront but not on the beach, yet what it lacks compared with the sandy footprint of its sister hotel Four Seasons at the Surf Club, some 30 minutes away on Miami Beach, it makes up for in its on-trend take on Miami's work-live-play lifestyle.
Brickell Avenue is the epicentre of Brickell, a wide north-south avenue of high-rises that mix banks, finance businesses, hotels, branded residences and apartments. Step out of the Four Seasons and you immediately feel the city's pulse. Brickell, 20 minutes from Miami airport, is vibrant, both business-minded and pleasure-orientated, with top-ranked restaurants, (Delilah, Sexy Fish, Cipriani, Komodo) and cool cafes. There's a range of international branded shops in Brickell City Centre, a smart air-conditioned shopping centre currently being expanded.
Miami Modern with a Tara Bernerd twist. The London-based designer has updated rooms and suites with her version of "mid-century glamour", keeping interiors light, bright and welcoming. Swirling patterns, colour-blocked furnishings and vivid photographs and prints are both playful and elegant while cushions on window seats urge you to sit and gaze out on the blue water of Biscayne Bay.
The hotel reception and main area is on the 7th floor with hotel accommodation from the 8th to the 29th floor. Rooms are well designed, all with Bang & Olufsen Beolit Bluetooth speakers and built-in wireless iPhone charger and tea and coffee making facilities. A very special shout-out for the super-sized, super-scented bottles of Diptyque toiletries which made me come straight home and order some of my own.
If you need confirmation that Miami is the world's most fitness-obsessed city, head to the Equinox gym on the 4th floor in the early morning to see the beautiful people work out en masse. Guests at Four Seasons have complimentary use of the gym and spa as well as extensive exercise classes running from hard-core workouts to relaxing yoga – though do book ahead.
On the 7th floor, leading out from the main reception area and complete with tall palm trees, there's a handsome pool and adjoining Kids Pool with over-water hammocks, leafy private cabanas and sun loungers. Guests eager to live more of the Miami dream can rent an electric Moke to zip around the immediate area.
Miami was once something of a one-trick city – an edgy, hedonistic mix of beach and parties – and while there are plenty who still come for that, there's also much more to Miami now. Head to Wynwood Walls, a globally recognised open-air street art district or to the shops and craftsmanship in Miami Design District, both within 15 minutes by car.
Brave the traffic over to Miami Beach for a walking tour of the Art Deco beauties in South Beach. Take in a Mojito cocktail in Little Havana or soak up the modern art in the Perez Modern Art Museum Miami (PAMM), a building designed by Herzog & de Meuron.
For a day trip, there's the Florida Keys, boating in Fort Lauderdale or how about touring the Everglades on an airboat, spotting alligators, turtles and birds as you go. The concierge team have, as you would expect at any Four Seasons, an encyclopaedic knowledge of the city.
The two restaurants both have wide-ranging menus and traditional Four Seasons A-grade service. The EDGE Brasserie and cocktail bar has inside and outside tables and serves a seasonal menu that can include oysters, Wagyu steak, branzino (sea bass). Sunday brunch here is a Miami favourite. By the pool but set back from any splashing and well-sheltered by greenery and large parasol umbrellas, the second restaurant, Bahía, has Mediterranean options and at the weekends, with open-fire cooking and live DJ sets.
The 231 rooms and suites include ones overlooking the Bay (top choice) or the high glass towers of the city. All room sizes are generous, certainly by UK city standards, while four further newly renovated suites will be completed by September 2024.
The urban location in business-focused Brickell means that many guests are there for work, but it didn't feel corporate and there's plenty for holidaymakers and families too. The culture, shopping, design and art of Miami are all close at hand and the spacious grounds and large pool with its Royal Palm trees and shaded cabanas bring the holiday vibe.
