World's Best

Travel + Leisure Readers' 15 Favorite Resorts in Greater Miami Beach of 2023

Sun, sand, and style complete the trifecta for our readers’ Miami resort must-haves in our annual "World’s Best Awards" survey for 2023.

By

Siobhan Reid

Updated on July 11, 2023

How Voting Works

Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, Travel + Leisure asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Nearly 165,000 T+L readers completed the 2023 survey, an increase of nearly 25 percent over pre-pandemic voting levels. A total of more than 685,000 votes were cast across over 8,500 unique properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.).

Hotels were classified as either resort hotel, city hotel, or safari lodge based on their location and amenities, and they were specifically rated on the criteria below:

Rooms/facilities
Location
Service
Food
Value

For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses.

What Readers Loved

T+L readers’ favorite hotels in Miami offer world-class services and amenities. Take, for example, Nobu Hotel Miami Beach (No. 4), which is home to not one but four pools, a private marina, a 22,000-square-foot spa with Natura Bissé treatments, an exclusive beach area, and, of course, the namesake Japanese restaurant from chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro. “This is luxury,” gushed one traveler. “The location is great, the rooms have amazing views, and the staff go out of their way to serve you.”

And while some travelers prefer the beachside action of properties on Miami Beach like The Setai (No. 3), others favor the calm and more grown-up atmosphere of Bal Harbor, where two of this year’s winning properties are located: The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour (No. 5) and The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort (No. 2). “This is the most elegant hotel in Miami,” asserted one traveler of The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, a 216-room resort walking distance from the designer shops of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci.

When this year’s winning property emerged on the scene a few years back, it put another ritzy Miami enclave on the map. Read on to learn more.

The Winner

Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club

In the mid-20th century, The Surf Club was Miami’s most exclusive social club, where Hollywood stars like Gary Cooper and Frank Sinatra rubbed shoulders with the likes of Winston Churchill and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Today, the Mediterranean Revival clubhouse is the beating heart of the Four Seasons Hotel at Surf Club, where Parisian interior designer Joseph Dirand dreamed up 77 rooms split between a 12-story glass tower and a collection of beachfront suites and cabanas. Guests used words like “immaculate,” “pristine,” and “excellent” to describe the beachfront oasis, which is also home to a fine-dining establishment from chef Thomas Keller. “This is the best of Miami,” gushed one traveler.