The Betsy – South Beach's Georgian house of jazz and poetry

At the quiet, northern tip of Ocean Drive, where the parade of neon Art Deco gives way to Lummus Park and open ocean, The Betsy stands apart from the rest of South Beach. It occupies a Florida-Georgian mansion built in 1942, later joined to the former Art Deco Carlton Hotel next door by an orb-shaped glass sky bridge, so that a colonial porch with rocking chairs sits one building away from a 1930s Deco façade. Family-owned, it trades the strip's nightclub reputation for a working library, nightly jazz and a visiting-writers programme that has hosted well over a thousand artists. The MICHELIN Guide recognises the hotel with One MICHELIN Key, a quieter, more literary distinction than the glass towers further up the coast. There are 130 rooms and suites, two restaurants under chef Laurent Tourondel, two pools, a rooftop spa and direct access to the sand — all inside what is, in effect, Ocean Drive's only genuine historic house hotel.

01The house

The building opened in 1942 as the Betsy Ross Hotel, designed by architect L. Murray Dixon in a Florida-Georgian style that stood deliberately apart from the Art Deco wave rising around it on Ocean Drive. Its first guests were not holidaymakers but American troops, as Miami Beach was turned over to military training during the Second World War; the hotel later entered the State Registry of Historic Places, and in 1972 Gloria Steinem based the National Organization for Women there during the Democratic Convention.

The property fell into decline before current owner Jonathan Plutzik — son of the poet Hyam Plutzik — bought it in a bankruptcy sale in 2005. A multimillion-dollar overhaul followed, with interiors by designer Carmelina Santoro and architecture by Miami firms Shulman + Associates and Diamante Pedersoli, and the hotel reopened as The Betsy-South Beach in 2009, its original colonial façade intact. Between 2016 and 2020 a further expansion connected the Betsy Ross building to the former Carlton Hotel, a 1930s Art Deco building by Henry Hohauser, via an overhead glass passage known as the Betsy ORB — now treated locally as a piece of public art in its own right.

The result is two distinct buildings reading as one hotel: colonial columns and terrazzo on one side, Deco geometry on the other, bridged mid-air above the street.

02Rooms and suites

The Betsy's 130 rooms are split between the two historic wings, every one fitted with hardwood or walnut floors, marble bathrooms, fresh orchids and original art, plus a mini-bar and a small in-room library that mirrors the one downstairs. Categories run from Classic King and Classic Double rooms up through Betsy Balcony rooms and suites — the latter spanning 500 to 650 square feet with a king master, a sofa-bedded living area and two private balconies apiece — to the Royal Ocean View Suite looking over Lummus Park and the Atlantic.

Insider tip

Beachfront on the quiet north end of Ocean Drive, near Lummus Park and Lincoln Road.

At the top sits the Skyline Penthouse, a two-guest hideaway of 710 square feet of living space wrapped by a 1,000-square-foot terrace, with a double-sink marble bathroom, kitchen pantry, walk-in closet, baby grand piano and a Viennese chandelier that spent seventy years in the Zimbabwe home of the matriarch of the family that owns the hotel. It can be connected by private elevator to three one-bedroom balconied suites below for larger groups.

03Where to eat

The hotel's dining has belonged to French chef Laurent Tourondel since the 2009 reopening, a partnership between the Plutzik family and the chef that began when they recruited him from his New York restaurant on 57th Street. The concept evolved through several incarnations: BLT Steak at opening, then LT Steak & Seafood in 2016, and now LT South Beach, each iteration reflecting Tourondel's evolving culinary vision. By 2024 the Tourondel–Betsy partnership had marked its fifteenth year. The menu mixes French technique with American ingredients, raw-bar seafood and prime cuts served on the lobby floor and the beachfront patio.

Beyond the flagship, the hotel runs a small constellation of lower-key rooms: The Alley serves Italian artisan pizza and pasta, while the Carlton Room offers Panther Coffee, sandwiches and home-made pastries by day. La Ventanita adds a café-con-leche counter nodding to Miami's Cuban coffee-window culture, and in-room dining covers the rest.

04The bar

Music is as central to The Betsy as any kitchen. The Betsy hosts jazz nine times a week, classical music pop-ups, major art exhibitions, poetry readings, and a renowned artists-in-residence programme, which has welcomed over 1,000 creatives. The Piano Bar, set just off the colonial lobby, is where most of that jazz happens nightly, alongside book talks and the occasional arts-festival spillover — part of a cultural programme the hotel treats as seriously as its wine list, including its own Writer's Room residency and a library in both the lobby and the guest rooms.

05Spa, pools and wellbeing

Two pools sit at opposite temperaments. An infinity rooftop pool just cool enough to relieve the heat and warm enough to linger for a cocktail or conversation offers 360-degree views of Miami and the Atlantic, a full bar with food service, and an architectural marvel – it's suspended in mid-air. A tranquil counterpart, the Courtyard Pool — equal parts full shade and direct sunlight — feels like a tropical retreat from a bygone era, ideal for families with little ones. Guests also have access to two pools, a rooftop spa, and a fitness center, with Peloton bikes and sunrise yoga sessions run on the rooftop deck most mornings, plus direct beach service with chairs, umbrellas and towels.

06The neighbourhood

The Betsy anchors the quiet north end of iconic Ocean Drive, a few steps from Lummus Park's dunes and the Atlantic, and on the calmer side of the Art Deco Historic District away from the strip's louder clubs and tour buses. It sits close to SoundScape Park and Lincoln Road Mall, putting the hotel within easy walking distance of the district's galleries, vintage shops and restaurants while keeping its own beachfront corner noticeably calmer after dark.

07Making the most of a stay

The hotel is genuinely dog-friendly, down to its own resident Golden Retrievers, Betsy and Rosa, who occasionally greet guests at the door; dogs under 40 lbs are welcome without extra clearance. A resort fee of $62 per room per night (plus tax) covers beach chairs and umbrellas, Wi-Fi, sunrise yoga, the 24-hour fitness centre, docent-led art tours and the live jazz programme, while valet parking runs at $55 plus tax. Check-in requires guests to be at least 21. For a first stay, book a Betsy Balcony Suite for the twin outdoor space, take breakfast at LT Steak & Seafood, and end the evening at the Piano Bar before a last circuit of the rooftop pool under the Miami skyline.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.