Anonymous wrote:W

Not a fan. Room was over $1000 a night, had a great balcony and view. Beach was great but did not like the night club vibe at night.

The Betsy is my fave luxe S Beach hotel but that may break your budget over Xmas holidays. We stayed at The Tony which is definitely not fancy but the location is awesome and they have a lovely roof pool with cabana options. Years ago we did Setai but I thought it was more frilly than awesome. While fancier than The Tony (cause now we have kids!), I still liked The Tony for location and small boutique feel. Their pool was great and so is News Cafe next door.

News Cafe has been there forever and is my #1 breakfast place down there.

W

Hotel One

We rented an apartment at the 1 Hotel residences, through vrbo I think. It was 700-800 a night and included access to everything at the hotel. At some point an owner approached us about renting directly from him, which might have been less.

anyone stay at The Standard?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently had a nice stay at the Fontainebleau - not sure how that compares to your price range. They did check our bags going to the pool, but just for glass...

I stayed at Fontainebleau a number of years ago, maybe they've changed, but I found they treated everyone like underaged teens. And we were all in our late 30s, it was a little maddening. Checking bags, checking hotel keys, counting towels, it felt very restrictive.

OP here- that's how I feel about Mondrian