The Setai Miami Beach – Art Deco bones, Asian calm

At the quiet, northern edge of Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District, The Setai occupies a 1937 landmark that began life as the Dempsey-Vanderbilt Hotel, opened on New Year's Day by the former world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey and designed by the Miami architect Henry Hohauser. In 2005 the historic building was joined by a new oceanfront tower, with the whole reimagined by Belgian architect Jean-Michel Gathy and the late Indonesian designer Jaya Ibrahim, who set a restrained language of teak, bronze and dark stone against the original Art Deco shell. The result, at 2001 Collins Avenue, is one of South Beach's more deliberately composed hotels: 120 rooms and suites split between the historic building and the 117-metre tower, three temperature-graded pools, a Valmont spa and private beach service. The MICHELIN Guide marks the house with Two MICHELIN Keys, its distinction for an exceptional stay.

01The house

The Setai's footprint begins with its history. The property opened as the Dempsey-Vanderbilt Hotel on New Year's Day 1937, built by the former heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and designed by Henry Hohauser, one of the architects who shaped Miami Beach's Tropical Deco style, making it one of the city's oldest surviving Art Deco hotels. Sited at the northern end of the Art Deco Historic District, it sits a short walk from the pastel façades of Ocean Drive without sharing their crowds.

The 2005 renovation, led by Jean-Michel Gathy, added a 117-metre tower between the historic building and the beach while keeping the original façade intact. Inside, the design draws deliberately on the Far East: the lobby combines Burmese teak, Indonesian bronze and brick salvaged from demolished Shanghai lane houses, reassembled underfoot as flooring. Artworks on display include pieces by South Korea's Lee Jung-woong and the Shanghai-based Frenchman Christian de Laubadère, reinforcing a lobby that reads as a conversation between two Art Deco port cities rather than a themed pastiche.

02Rooms and suites

Accommodation splits between the Art Deco Suites in the restored 1930s building and the Ocean Suites in the tower. The Art Deco rooms favour clean lines and teak panelling, furnished with handmade Duxiana king beds, Frette linens and deep soaking tubs; a Junior Suite runs to 684 square feet, a One Bedroom Suite to 786 square feet, with separate living areas and a choice of ocean, courtyard or city views. The Ocean Suites in the tower push higher, with unobstructed sunrise views over the Atlantic and the same discreet, Asian-inflected service that runs through the house. A single Penthouse tops the offer.

Insider tip

Short walk to Ocean Drive's nightlife; close to the Art Basel Miami Beach fairground each December.

03Where to eat

Dining runs across three kitchens. Jaya is the house's South Asian showcase, built around Chinese, Indian, Thai and Balinese dishes under Executive Chef Vijayudu Veena, a Hyderabad-trained cook, served in an indoor room and an alfresco courtyard that turns lively after dark. Japón, the newest addition, concentrates on contemporary Japanese cooking and fresh sushi across an indoor dining room, a private dining room and a courtyard setting. Ocean Grill takes the Mediterranean-Italian route, with prime grilled meats and fresh seafood served oceanfront for lunch and dinner. On Saturdays the courtyard turns over to a Rosé brunch, with live DJ sets and a Jaya-led spread running through early afternoon.

04The bar

Jo's Bar sits between Jaya and Japón and has recently been reimagined, with a refreshed, more refined look and a cocktail and food list built to hold its own against the restaurants either side. The room keeps faith with the hotel's Eastern-meets-Deco grammar — mother-of-pearl surfaces, low light, a sense of theatre — and functions equally as a pre-dinner stop or a destination in its own right once the courtyard fills in the evening.

05Spa, pools and wellbeing

Valmont for The Spa at The Setai runs to seven treatment rooms with ocean and city views, including five couples suites, alongside full men's and women's locker rooms with private showers, dry saunas, steam showers and a hydrotherapy cold plunge. Complimentary yoga takes place on the beach each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8.30am to 9.30am, and private Pilates, personal training and meditation can be arranged on request.

Outside, three infinity pools are each kept at a different temperature — a cooler lap pool, a mid-range pool for lounging and a warmer family pool — arranged east to west to catch both sunrise and sunset, with poolside cabanas added for shade. A solar-powered beach kitchen and jet-ski rental extend the water-facing side of a stay, while a 24-hour fitness centre and a house fleet of custom bicycles cover land.

06The neighbourhood

The Setai sits where Collins Avenue meets 20th Street, within walking distance of Miami Beach's shopping, restaurants, galleries and nightlife, and close enough to the Art Basel Miami Beach fairground each December to draw a steady collector crowd. From the hotel it is a short, easy walk south to Ocean Drive's denser party strip, or north along the quieter Collins Waterfront stretch of the Art Deco district.

07Making the most of a stay

Service runs through a Les Clefs d'Or concierge team, who handle everything from restaurant bookings to private transfers. The hotel is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World and has held the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award continuously since 2015, a streak that tracks the consistency of the operation as much as any single feature of the building. For a first stay, the Art Deco Suites in the historic building put guests closest to the original Hohauser architecture, while the Ocean Suites in the tower suit those who want sunrise over the Atlantic from bed.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.