Inside Faena Miami Beach, An Over-the-Top Oasis That’s Fit for the Stage

Stay Here For

A “more is more” experience. Faena Miami Beach is for people who don’t just want to see and be seen; they are the scene.

It’s Alan Faena’s world, and we’re all just living in it. At least that’s how it feels when you step into the Cathedral, a soaring space punctuated by gold-leafed columns and eight striking murals that, in any other hotel, would be called a lobby. You immediately sense the drama and fantasy inherent in this Miami Beach enclave, conceived by the Argentine model turned fashion designer turned real estate developer turned hotelier, which irrevocably changed the hospitality scene when it debuted here a decade ago. Thanks to a creative collaboration with film director Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Catherine Martin, Faena Miami Beach (sister to Faena Buenos Aires) feels much like the set of a blockbuster, with you as the star.

The centerpiece of the four-block Collins Avenue neighborhood now called the Faena District, the hotel is a showcase for Faena’s eclectic taste. An oversize chandelier made of neon-painted fishing bobbers dominates the living room at the spa, Tierra Santa Healing House, while chocolate-brown leather walls and a gilded ceiling make La Cava (the private dining room and wine cellar) feel simultaneously opulent and intimate. Rooms incorporate a small library of books (including Faena’s coffee-table tomes), and guests in colorful maxi dresses and crocodile-skin loafers dine under the gaze of a giant golden unicorn that watches over the Asian restaurant Pao by Paul Qui.

Although the bustle of South Beach is just blocks away, Faena’s dreamy vibe makes it feel a world apart, offering an opportunity to transform any stay into a theatrical production. Whether that turns out to be a mystery, romance or drama is entirely up to you.

The Essentials

The Room

Bay-view or oceanfront, every room here feels plush and theatrical, with Faena signatures like leopard-print fabric and “Faena red” padded hangers, drapery and even mini fridges. Partial Ocean-View Junior Suites dial up the drama with spacious bathrooms, some of which feature soaking tubs and red (of course!) ottomans. Faena’s crown jewel: an oceanfront, five-bedroom duplex penthouse, complete with two kitchens and a rooftop whirlpool.

The Bars and Restaurants

At Tree of Life restaurant, aqua tiles, shell-embellished sculptures and clamshell sconces evoke the ocean.

Enjoy breakfast in the room that transforms into Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann for dinner or, better yet, alfresco at Veranda, a sun-dappled poolside space where the South Beach Scramble (with jumbo lump crab, avocado and chimichurri) is an appropriate start to the day.

Lunch is served poolside—a gelato cart also stands ready for a midmorning snack—or on the sand at the resort’s beach club, where sunbathers can summon Russian caviar and Champagne pairings simply by hoisting red flags next to their chaises. There are also two outdoor spots, Tree of Life restaurant and the adjacent Sun Bar, where aqua tiles painted with marine motifs, shell-embellished sculptures and clamshell sconces evoke the sea mere steps away.

Come dinnertime, guests can’t be faulted for staying on-site—particularly after 6 p.m., when The Living Room becomes a seductive cocktail lounge with live music. After a Queen of Collins cocktail (with rum, pineapple liqueur and mango puree), check out El Secreto Omakase, a six-seat, 15-course sushi bar serving seafood flown in from Japan less than 24 hours prior. Or try Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann, which celebrates traditional South American grilled meats in a handsome room furnished with glossy oval burled-wood tables that evoke dining on a luxury yacht. For modern Asian cuisine, there’s Pao by Paul Qui, where the menu features Eastern and global ingredients and cooking techniques, evident in dishes such as The Unicorn (sea urchin with grilled-corn pudding and sake aioli).

Several nights a week, Faena Theater presents cabaret-style productions in an intimate, velvet-draped venue that feels like a jewelry box come to life. And late at night, Saxony Bar, a speakeasy-style lounge, hosts live DJ sets.

The Standout Feature

Tierra Santa Healing House is a spacious sanctuary for body-healing treatments.

At Tierra Santa Healing House, the extensive menu of treatments incorporates indigenous Latin American ingredients and therapies. Unlimited access to the wet spa—a hydrotherapy circuit that includes a hammam, a range of showers and an ice room—is included in your stay.

The Location

Diversions in the surrounding Faena District (Collins Avenue, between 32nd and 36th Streets) include Campo, a farm-to-table restaurant at the boutique hotel Casa Faena, and Curio, a three-story boutique featuring men’s and women’s apparel inside Faena Bazaar. Shopping, dining and people-watching on Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive are a short drive south.

The Time to Go

Winter is Miami’s high season, when visitors swap snowdrifts for the city’s sizzle and descend for marquee events including art and food festivals. Come summer, you’ll encounter fewer crowds, less competition for tables at the trendiest restaurants and air-conditioning cranked so high you’ll need a light sweater.

The Vibe

The perfect spot for your social media post: You can’t leave without snapping a selfie with the woolly mammoth skeleton covered in 24-karat gold that presides over the resort from its massive climate-controlled vitrine in the Mammoth Garden.

The souvenir you’re taking home with you: The Tierra Santa candle and room spray, available in the retail shops, incorporate the hotel’s signature palo santo–based scent, helping you evoke the Faena fantasy long after you’ve returned home.

What are you packing? By all means, bring those designer slides. But keep in mind that sandals won’t make it past the velvet rope to The Living Room, where sophisticates sip rummy (and yummy!) Queen of Collins cocktails.

The dish you’ll wish you could re-create at home: The beet carpaccio at Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann is a revelation (even for those of us who aren’t usually fans). It combines earthy, tangy and sweet flavors like pistachio yogurt and garlic chips.

The amenity you want every hotel to have: Maybe it’s the ruby slippers connection, but the scarlet slippers in every room make us feel a little bit special every time we put them on.

Everything Else

• Number of rooms: 180
• Number of pools: 1
• Fitness center? Yes
• Spa? Yes
• Salon? Yes
• Number of bars/restaurants: 3 bars, 4 restaurants
• 24-hour room service? Yes
• Childcare and kids club? Babysitting available upon request
• Closest airport: Miami International Airport (MIA)
• What’s included: Unlimited access to the wet spa at Tierra Santa Healing House