This resort near Miami Beach was named best waterfront hotel
A luxury resort in Sunny Isles Beach considered an escape from the world is basking in worldly accolades this month.
Acqualina Resort & Residences won the 2024 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards contest for best waterfront hotel. The family-owned, seaside property with a Mediterranean-villa vibe beat out prominent brands such as Wyndham and Ritz-Carlton for the honor, the magazine and its partners said on Thursday.
The recognition comes less than a month after it was awarded best hotel in the country by U.S. News & World Report in its
2024 Best Hotels report.
“It has been a remarkable awards year, and we are thrilled to be first-time recipients of the Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards,” said Deborah Yager Fleming, chief executive officer and partner at Acqualina in a written statement.
The Sunny Isles Beach property was not the only one from the Sunshine
State singled out by Newsweek. Miramar Beach’s Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, landed in fifth place.
The 590-room property is about 9 miles from Destin beaches and about 10 miles from Big Kahuna’s Water and Adventure Park.
The rest of Newsweek’s Top 10 were outside of Florida and included Headlands Coastal Lodge & Spa on the Oregon coast, the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf and Beach Resort, and the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay near San Francisco.
While Acqualina was a first-time winner in Newsweek’s competition, it has obtained the overall top spot on the U.S. News & World Report list two straight years. It was also named that magazine’s best resort in the U.S., best hotel in Florida, best hotel in Miami Beach, best resort in Florida and best resort in Miami Beach in its annual awards.
Yager Fleming cited her hotel staff’s “unwavering dedication” to high-end service and their ability to exceed guests’ expectations as a major reason for the awards.
Acqualina, more a boutique property, has 98 guest rooms and suites and 188 residences with views of the Atlantic Ocean. On 4 1⁄2 beachfront acres, the property features red couches set on grass dotted with its signature red umbrellas. Dining options at the hotel include Il Mulino New York, the alfresco Costa Grill, and Ke-uH Restaurant, a Japanese offering.
Th spa boasts 20,000 square feet over two stories and offers a “tranquil sanctuary.” Yoga and wellness activities abound.
In addition to the awards from this month, Acqualina is also a Forbes Five-Star hotel for 12 years running. Its spa has a Five-Star rating from Forbes Travel Guide.
For the Newsweek competition, a panel of experts was chosen by the staff and the publication’s partners, and they developed an initial list of hotels released on Feb. 22. Voting by readers started then and took place for 28 days.
Voters though had to be least 18 years old and could only vote once. Participating hotels were prohibited from giving away prizes or any other incentives to the public for their votes.
The recognition is welcome for the broader hotel sector here as tourism has softened in South Florida since the spring of 2023, with hotel occupancy rates and average daily rates both down. But with a slew of new luxury and resort properties scheduled to open in the second half of this year things might turn around. Some of the new sites will offer in-room Pelotons, coworking space in the lobby and cocktails upon checkin.
Acqualina may face new competition at home.