Esmé Miami Beach

Esmé's buildings on Española Way began in the 1920s as the Spanish Village, a colony for artists, and Robert A. Taylor's designs of 1925 still look the part: cream stucco edged in coral, wrought-iron balconies, palms down the street. The artists were not left to themselves. Al Capone is said to have run a gambling den in what is now Casa Matanza, Desi Arnaz performed here regularly, and after the Second World War the street was known as the Rhumba Capital of the World. Since 2021 the eight buildings have been one hotel, with narrow white paseos between them, strung with lights and set with café tables under a red awning. Indoors the colours get louder: olive-green plaster, an arch tiled in glossy black and hung with antler trophies, stools in leopard print. The bedrooms go coral pink, with red velvet curtains, and the telephone by the bed is cream and has a dial.

Recommended for couples who want South Beach at the door and somewhere with a past to come back to. Washington Avenue's nightlife starts at the entrance. The sand is 0.4 miles off and Lincoln Road a little further, and the hotel lends bicycles for both at no charge. Ask for a room over the plaza: a Superior City View King with Balcony, or the Louise Suite, whose French balcony sits above Esmé Village. Dinner is a ten-seat sushi counter behind an unmarked door, or gin and tapas at Tropezón. Upstairs, The Roof spreads across four connected rooftops, with cabanas and a plunge pool whose depth marker reads 3 ft 4 in, which settles any question of lengths.