Where to Stay

Where to Stay

There are so many amazing and unique hotels in Miami. If it is your first time in Miami I recommend staying right near South Beach so you can walk around and be right by the beach too. If you want a quieter experience I recommend staying in Brickell, Downtown, Mid Beach, or Bal Harbour.

My favorite hotels:

The Faena Hotel - The creme de la creme of Miami hotels. This is the most extravagant hotel here and it is a must see even if you do not stay here.

The Confidante- The most Instagrammable hotel in Miami full of multi color umbrellas with a retro vibe. Featured in Dua Lipa’s New Rules music video.

The Kimpton Epic- One of Kimpton’s best properties. The view of downtown and the water is incredible.

The Kimpton Angler- A more boutique hotel located closer to the quieter South Pointe area. There are two pools on the property. I love the rooms and some of them have jacuzzi tubs!

The Fountainbleu- A Miami icon, featured in James Bond Goldfinger. Amazing restaurants and bars, you never really have to leave.

The W Downtown-

The Mandarin Oriental- For a luxurious quiet stay, The Mandarin is located on an island called Brickell across a bridge from Downtown. This island is so exclusive, I was not even allowed to take photos outside the hotel.

Where to Eat and Drink

Miami is an incredible food city with a ton of latin influence. You will find some of the best restaurants that are also in NYC and Vegas, but also great little family owned restaurants and cafes.

Best Restaurants and Bars

Stubborn Seed- One of the best meals I have had in a while. Incredible elevated farm to table dining.

Bazaar Meats by Jose Andre- Not only is the food here amazing, but so is the restaurant decor. Try the famous Salt Air margarita.

The Broken Shaker- A Miami institution with incredible drinks and patio. The space is so huge you might even get lost.

Carbone- A New York Restaurant that has come to Miami with some of the best Italian food.

Minibar- A small but super fun bar with drinks based on the little bottles from hotel mini bars

Zuma- Located in the Kimpton Epic, this is the place to be seen in Miami.

The Rusty Pelican- For beautiful views of the water this is the place to be.

Pao and Los Fuegos- Both located inside of the Faena, Pao is Asian fusion and Los Fuegos is Argentinian. I highly recommend both restaurants.

Ko Sushi- An incredibly beautiful and delicious fusion restaurant with a very bougie crowd.

Orilla- A beautiful Argentinian restaurant with the best empanadas I have ever had! The drinks are incredibly inventive as well. I had a pancetta negroni here which was superb.

Las Olas- It might look like a greasy spoon but this is one of the best spots for an authentic cuban sandwich.

What to do

Check out the Art Deco on South Beach- Go hotel hopping- Take a peak inside the many incredible hotels on South Beach and admire the art deco and incredible art all around that Miami is known for.

Go out on South Beach- There are so many amazing bars, clubs and restaurants to choose from. Club all night at some of the best clubs in the world or enjoy a quiet cocktail bar or lounge.

Go to the beach or pool- Most of the hotels on the beach have beach access and if you are not staying at a hotel, you can actually pay for pool access just for the day. Just make sure to research which hotels have pool passes beforehand.

Miami Design District- I think that the design district is a must do while in Miami. It is a fairly new neighborhood but it is filled with incredible art installations, high end stores, and restaurants. A great place for photo ops too.

Wynwood- Check out the hipster neighborhood, the street art, colorful murals, and great restaurants.

Coral Gables- Spend the afternoon exploring the neighborhood of Coral Gables. They have a beautiful umbrellas canopy street and The Biltmore, a classic hotel.

La Jolla

La Jolla is definitely my favorite beach neighborhood in San Diego. I have also been to Pacific beach but to me that beach is just a typical boardwalk beach (and the pier is not good it is filled with houses which is strange). La Jolla is like being on the coast of Australia. There is so much beauty here and you get to actually get close to the famous sea lions that like to tan on the rocks ( just do not touch them!). La Jolla Cove is where you can snorkel, kayak, or just enjoy the water. There is also so much to do around the area. There are great restaurants, shops, and the Hotel Valencia. You can spend the whole day here just wandering around, I like to stay so I can watch the sunset.

Coronado

Wineries

There are countless wineries to choose from in Sonoma Valley and the surrounding areas. Here are some of our favorites:

Lancaster- A beautiful winery in Alexander Valley. All of their wines are excellent and they have a wine cave that is something out of Lord of the Rings.

Kunde- I loved this tour so much! Request the hill top tour and they take you up to the best view for the wine tasting outside.

Chateau St. Jean- A gorgeous winery that definitely makes you feel like you are in France! I recommend the reserve tasting outside on the patio.

Scribe- This beautiful winery is located in a Spanish style house. It has a very farm to table approach with a chef prepared light meal with your wine tasting.

Repris- This is a small vineyard boutique winery but the wines are so incredible. They do a wonderful tasting by starting with taking you up to the vineyards in an ATV, a tour of the wine caves, and then a tasting with cheese in their wine room.

Ledson- This winery is in a huge Gothic style chateau and the wine are so unique.

Buena Vista- The oldest winery in all of Wine Country founded in 1857. You really do get the feel that you are back in time. The tour is super outrageous and not what you would expect at all, I will leave you wondering.

Gundlach Bundschu- The second oldest winery still owned and operated by the family and of the most impressive wine caves I have been to!

Hamel- A modern boutique vineyard. They will set you up with a chef driven private tasting inside their dining room overlooking the vineyards. The best rose I have ever had!

NAPA

I cannot really create such a guide without at least mentioning Napa Valley. Napa is a lot more touristy and commercial than Sonoma and the downtown is kind of small and not as quaint, yet I still enjoy it of course when we go. I have only been to Napa twice and stayed in Downtown Napa once so I am not really an expert on it but I can show you a few great places we went to.

Where to Stay

There are not that many hotels in Downtown Napa but we stayed at The Archer. It was a really nice hotel with great rooftop and we had a huge outdoor terrace with fireplace. There is also the Andaz which is on the same block.

Where to eat

Model Bakery- Honestly it is worth it just to come to Napa for this bakery. They have the best breakfast sandwiches made with their famous english muffins.

Tarla Mediterranean- Great Middle Eastern food and also the manager of the restaurant is a hoot.

Torc- Delicious farm to table cuisine served tapas style.

Oenotri- We went here years ago but it was a delicious Italian restaurant downtown.

Angele- A French bistro style restaurant right on the water, beautiful views and great traditional food.

Wineries

Darioush- Worth going to just for the massive Persian estate but the wine is also spectacular as are the bottles they come in.

Domaine Carneros- If you love bubbles they have excellent sparkling wine but it is very touristy so make sure you reserve ahead of time.

Ashes and Diamonds- A sister property to Darioush but could not be more different. This winery is super modern and they do an excellent cheese pairing.