Miami Beach, Florida USA, The Setai

Some of the most memorable dining in the entire Miami area is at The Setai, on Collins, one block in from Ocean Drive. You can dine, with up to 13 friends, in a granite-lined wine room surrounded by magnificent bottles (all red), or outside in semi-sunken eating areas set into a double-tennis-court-sized ornamental pool. Alternatively, choose one of The Restaurant’s fascinating inside areas, say sitting at a table that branches out, at right angles, from the kitchen so that you can almost reach over and help with the preparation. There are lots of clever things about The Setai, which is another 1930s-vintage building brought magnificently up to date. As well as the seven-floor original, there is an adjacent, 40-floor glass block of residential suites, some of which go into the hotel letting pool. The main block’s 77 rooms are typical of designers Jean-Michel Gathy and Jaya Ibrahim. The typical 600 sq ft area is greys and browns, with teak floors; the bathroom with a black bathtub is open to the main room, and you have Khmer statues and best-ever Dux beds, from Sweden. The spa is sensational, and, unusually, there are three, parallel, 90-ft outdoor pools one 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24C), and two others, the more-popular 85 and 95 degree pools. If you can pull yourself away from this cutting-edge environment, borrow one of the hotel’s cream retro bikes, complete with big wicker basket, to explore Collins and its retail. Hotel GM is Hansjoerg Meier, www.setai.com