After turning up the music at Ultra Music Festival this March 24-26, concert-goers searching for a bite and a bed don’t have to look too far from the festival’s epicenter at Bayfront Park. Here is an exclusive list of the best spots to stay and dine before, during and after the festival.
Where To Stay
The Elser Hotel Miami
Located just steps from Ultra Music Festival in Downtown Miami, The Elser Hotel is an all-new 49-story, 646-room hotel with accommodations ranging from studios to three-bedroom suites and direct proximity to world-class entertainment, arts, and dining.
It shares the same bustling locale and glimmering views of Biscayne Bay previously enjoyed at Elser Pier, an early 1900s tourist attraction that ultimately shaped the vision for Downtown Miami and the thriving bayfront metropolis we know today.
Guests enjoy access to an abundance of well-appointed amenities, including a two-story state-of-the-art fitness center and a 19,000-square-foot sun deck offering sweeping views of Biscayne Bay, a 132-foot-long pool, a 16-foot LED screen and an expansive event lawn serving as the ultimate destination for outdoor celebrations.
The Gabriel Miami
Within walking distance to Ultra Music Festival, The Gabriel Miami is a 129-key lifestyle hotel in Downtown Miami offering spacious rooms and suites and views of Biscayne Bay.
Adjacent to the hotel’s palm tree-lined sun deck on the 14th floor is a rectangular pool with views of the Intracoastal waterway, Miami Beach, PortMiami and Biscayne Bay, providing guests with the ultimate venue for relaxation in the city’s cultural epicenter.
Select rooms feature balconies with outdoor seating, perfect for watching the sunrise over the Miami skyline.
The Gabriel South Beach
What better way to keep the party going than to stay on the beach!
The Gabriel South Beach is a boutique property centrally located on Ocean Drive in South Beach.
The 132-room hotel has two pools, including a showstopping glass-bottom pool on the roof overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
The hotel blends art deco modernism with tropical allure.
Guests will find a 30-foot-tall mural by the French-born, Los Angeles-based street artist Mr. Brainwash, known for his large-scale installations and prints of celebrities like Madonna, Kate Moss, and Marilyn Monroe and his practice of subverting cultural iconography similar to Andy Warhol and Banksy.
Sagamore South Beach
The Sagamore South Beach offers everything attendees want for the ultimate Miami Music Week experience – daily pool parties at the hotel’s iconic Art Deco Pool, spacious guest rooms, and museum-quality art exhibits the hotel has built a reputation.
The iconic hotel offers a unique glimpse into the art culture that embodies the very essence of the property with 101 rooms, suites boasting some of the largest standard rooms in the area, and serene oceanfront views.
The hotel’s 5-day pool party series, titled Epic Pool parties, includes live performances by three influential DJs and brands including Defected, DJ Mag, and Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden.
Miami Music Week partygoers can bask in the Miami heat as this luxury hotel becomes an adult playground.
The oceanfront hotel is also centrally located within walking distance of Miami Beach’s main attractions, including world-famous shopping and dining destination Lincoln Road.
Nautilus by Arlo
Nautilus by Arlo, the first Arlo Hotels property to open outside New York, is an eight-story, 250-room beachfront hotel that entered the South Beach market in 1951.
The property is home to a 1,890-square-foot heated saltwater pool with an underwater sound system.
Guests and locals alike are welcome to dine at the Mediterranean restaurant, Nautilus Cabana Club, which boasts a 2,000-square-foot outdoor dining terrace and 12,000 square feet of outdoor event space.
This property has been an evolution of the Arlo experience, maintaining the same core brand identity while providing guests with more space, amenities, and programming for a new take on Miami.
THesis Hotel Miami
THesis Hotel Miami, a modern property that serves as a cultural hub in Coral Gables, has 245 contemporary guest rooms and suites in a strikingly designed building.
Amenities include a sun-filled rooftop pool with tropical views, a poolside bar perfect for soaking up the Florida sun, and two on-site restaurants, Mamey and Orno, led by Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef of 2020” and James Beard nominee Niven Patel.
With a robust year-round calendar of programming and events – all open to the public – THesis is not only a hotel but a destination where curious, like-minded individuals exchange ideas, celebrate art, discover new cultural experiences, and engage with the community.
Arlo Wynwood
Just opened in November 2022, Arlo Wynwood is the first-ever hotel in Miami’s preeminent creative and cultural district, which is home to the largest concentration of street art in the world.
An experience-driven 217-room boutique hotel, Arlo Wynwood serves as the cultural hub for residents and visitors while offering savvy travelers prime access to the best of the region.
Designed by Meyer Davis, an award-winning firm at the forefront of global, upscale commercial design, Arlo Wynwood draws on the neighborhood’s bold and curated artistic nature while embracing an eclectic industrial aesthetic where organic meets modern.
Arlo Wynwood has an all-star culinary team led by award-winning Bar Lab and James Beard alum Chef Brad Kilgore.
The hotel also has more than 250 works of art throughout the property and offers guests multiple complimentary wellness activities and live music programming.
Where to Dine
Casa Bufala
The founder of Miami Beach’s first and oldest Neapolitan pizzeria Fratelli La Bufala recently opened Sunset Harbour’s Casa Bufala, a first-class Italian trattoria, and pizzeria complete with a handcrafted cocktail bar.
Designed to evoke the welcoming spirit of traditional Italian casas, the restaurant draws in guests with its warm, honey-toned woods, plush leather banquettes, industrial ambient lighting, and hand-painted, contemporary Italian artwork by Neapolitan artist Antonio Montariello.
Casa Bufala serves a selection of gourmet wood-fired pizzas freshly prepared in-house with buffalo mozzarella, as well as antipasti, pasta, calzones, and more.
A daily happy hour from 4-7 p.m. pays tribute to Italy’s cultural ritual of aperitivo.
The Drawing Room Sushi Pop-Up
Perfect for moments of relaxed luxury, The Drawing Room at Shelborne South Beach boasts the hotel’s legacy of sophistication.
The locale’s new sushi pop-up serves traditional and contemporary sushi dishes, including raw, sashimi-style, and tempura-fried rolls.
Upon entry, guests are immediately welcomed into the restaurant’s speak-easy-style dining room featuring geometric statement chandeliers, eccentric zebra-print seating, and wooden shelves stacked behind the bar.
Just steps away, the bar’s lounge features walls lined with books and sexy red leather seating where guests can catch intimate musical performances.
Kosushi Miami
Located in Miami Beach’s affluent South of Fifth neighborhood, Kosushi Miami is the first international location for the São Paulo Kosushi brand, known for its authentic yet contemporary take on traditional Japanese cuisine by five-time Michelin-starred Chef George Koshoji.
For appetizers, guests can choose from small cold or hot dishes like the chilled King Crab Truffle and the steaming Wagyu Gyoza.
Guests can watch their orders be delicately prepared at the interior’s centerpiece sushi bar, which sits below wooden Japanese carpentry.
Kosushi also serves an exclusive cocktail selection created by the talented Brazilian mixologist Márcio Silva, featuring drinks like Shokobutsuen, with ginger-infused Roku Japanese gin, basil, cucumber, and lemon, as well as a curated list of wine and sake showcasing flavor profiles for every palate.
Villa Azur
The chic French supper club Villa Azur is a classy culinary and lifestyle experience with a fresh and flirty vibe.
Upon entering, guests are transported into a world of European elegance, where they can pair their dinner with a sophisticated and lavish evening of live music, entertainment, and art that parallels the glamour of the French Riviera.
The romantic environment offers an intimate setting in its private La Cave d’Azur wine cellar or its open and plush main dining room.
Guests looking for a night under the stars can recline in the open-air courtyard with lush greenery and candlelit tables.
Villa Azur assures an authentic array of dishes to please even the most refined palates. Menu highlights include the roasted Chateaubriand Au Poivre, 2 pounds of prime filet mignon paired with bordelaise and béarnaise sauces, and the Dover Sole Meunière, made with whole fish, caper, lemon, and brown butter and prepared tableside for a stunning visual.
Additional bites include the cognac-flamed Pâtes à la Meule pasta served tableside.
The Deck at Island Gardens
The Deck at Island Gardens is Miami’s most treasured waterfront restaurant.
From innovative brunch bites to a weekday Sunset Happy Hour, private cabana service, special events, and more, this unparalleled setting is the perfect space to dine and dance the day – or night – away.
Guests can sit comfortably at reservable full-size dining tables or cabana lounges while enjoying a decadent menu of fresh seafood, brick-oven pizzetta, pastas, meats, large plates, desserts, and more and taking in the mega views of Downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay.
Verde at PAMM
Located at Pérez Art Museum Miami, Verde offers sweeping views of Biscayne Bay and boasts an elevated menu of seasonal-inspired dishes with locally sourced produce.
The modern-casual restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating, featuring an expansive terrace with lush vegetation cascading from the canopy’s overhang.
The patio, which leads to the entrance to the museum’s sculpture garden and Maurice A.
Ferré park is a scenic outdoor experience for diners looking to bask in the South Florida weather and immerse themselves in the city’s cultural offerings and views of Downtown Miami.
Food@Science Café at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
Come for the science; stay for the food. Visit Food@Science at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science for a science-inspired lunch while enjoying Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park.
After exploring the showstopping oculus lens aquarium, watching an eye-opening show at the planetarium, or digging for dinosaur bones at the Dino Explorers Mini-Camp, aspiring scientists can munch on some brain food to power through the day.
The café elevates the Frost Science experience by offering themed menu items related to the museum exhibitions.