The Tony Hotel South Beach

The Art Deco Hotel Renamed for the Man Who Saved This District

Long before it was the Tony Hotel, this block of Collins Avenue was the Tiffany Hotel, one of the Art Deco towers L. Murray Dixon designed through the 1930s boom that gave South Beach its skyline. The building passed to Goldman Properties, the firm founded by preservationist Tony Goldman, who is widely credited with rescuing the Art Deco Historic District from demolition in the 1980s and turning it into the neighborhood it is today. In 2022, a decade after his death, the family renamed the hotel in his honor, not a rebrand so much as a correction, putting his name on the kind of building his career was built around saving.

Why It Works

We selected it for what sits behind the Art Deco facade: a 1998 interior redesign by fashion designer Todd Oldham, the first time an American fashion designer outfitted every element of a hotel rather than handing the job to a traditional design firm. That history, paired with the Goldman name now on the door, gives the Tony an identity few Collins Avenue boutiques can claim, preservation and design credibility in the same building, not marketing copy layered over a generic renovation. The 2010 Ocean Drive annex, also designed by Oldham, extends that same sensibility a block over.

Why This Location

The hotel sits at 801 Collins Avenue, inside the core of the Art Deco Historic District, with its Ocean Drive annex putting a second entrance a block east, closer to the beach and the café terraces. The newly reopened News Café, the all-hours Ocean Drive institution that's been a South Beach fixture since 1988, sits a few doors from the annex, and the Collins Avenue side keeps enough distance from Ocean Drive's late-night crowds to still feel residential after dark.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Art Deco landmark with a design-world interior

• Rooms: 139, plus a 20-room Ocean Drive annex

• Best For: design-minded travelers, first-time Art Deco district stays, Ocean Drive access without the noise

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the hotel's name itself, a 2022 renaming in honor of preservationist Tony Goldman

• Dining: on-site restaurant and bar, with the reopened News Café steps from the Ocean Drive annex

• Amenities: ocean-view rooftop pool and bar, fitness centre, 24-hour front desk

• Attractions: Art Deco Historic District, Ocean Drive, Lummus Park beach, South Beach's gallery and shopping strip

A 1998 Interior by Todd Oldham

Todd Oldham's redesign stripped the hotel back to a single, consistent point of view, saturated color, custom furniture, and a playfulness that had little to do with the minimalist white-on-white look most of South Beach's design hotels were chasing at the time. It was a first for an American fashion designer taking on an entire hotel rather than a single collection, and more than two decades on, the interiors still read as considered rather than dated. The 2010 Ocean Drive annex carried the same hand into twenty additional rooms a block away.

Rooftop Pool and the Ocean Drive Annex

An ocean-view rooftop pool and bar sits above the main Collins Avenue building, open past sunset for guests who want the skyline over the sand rather than a beach chair. The Ocean Drive annex adds a second, smaller address inside the same walk, putting guests steps from the café terraces and the reopened News Café without a late check-in across the neighborhood. Between the two buildings, the hotel covers both the quieter Collins Avenue side of the district and its liveliest strip.

Before You Book

Check-in starts at 4pm and check-out is at 11am, with children welcome throughout. The hotel sits inside walking distance of nearly everything in the Historic District, so a rental car adds little beyond parking costs. Ask at booking whether a room in the main Collins Avenue building or the Ocean Drive annex suits the trip better, the annex puts you closer to the café terraces and the beach, the main building a little further from Ocean Drive's evening noise.