Where to stay in Miami: the best areas and hotels

South Beach is Miami at full volume. The Art Deco Historic District is a candy-coloured parade of porthole windows, neon signs and streamlined facades, and Ocean Drive's terraces fill with people-watchers from breakfast to the small hours. Lincoln Road is the pedestrian shopping street, and the beach itself is wide, white and dotted with those famous pastel lifeguard huts.

Its hotels are among the most stylish in the country. The Delano is a design hotel right on the sand, while the Ritz-Carlton South Beach is a polished Art Deco resort with a spa and a pool. The Loews, at Collins and 16th, puts you four blocks from the convention centre and a short walk from the bars. Come to be seen; sleep later.

North of South Beach, Collins Avenue calms down and smartens up. Mid-Beach has the same golden sand but fewer crowds, and its grand mid-century hotels have been restored into some of Miami's most glamorous places to stay. The Faena District, with its arts centre and theatrical, gold-leafed hotel, is the showpiece.

The Faena Hotel is unapologetically lavish, all red velvet and gold, and won a Forbes five-star rating in its first year. The Andaz Miami Beach blends Art Deco character with a modern spa, right by the sand. Perfect for couples who want to dip into South Beach's nightlife and retreat somewhere calmer.

At the northern end of Miami's barrier islands, Sunny Isles Beach is a skyline of gleaming condominium towers with a broad, golden beach at their feet. It's calmer than South Beach and handy for the shops of Aventura and Bal Harbour, and both Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports are within reach.

The resorts here are spacious and family-minded. Acqualina, styled like a Mediterranean villa, has three oceanfront pools, four restaurants, a spa and a marine biology programme for children. The Sunny is a family-owned hotel on the sand beside Miami's last public fishing pier, while Solé Miami and the DoubleTree Ocean Point offer beachfront pools at gentler prices.

Across the bay from the beach, Brickell is Miami's financial district, a forest of glass towers where the after-work crowd fills rooftop bars and some of the city's best restaurants, and Brickell City Centre adds a big open-air shopping centre. Just north, Downtown has Bayfront Park, Bayside Marketplace, the Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat, and the art and science museums on the bay. The free Metromover loops between them, and Wynwood's street art is a short ride away.

The Four Seasons stands on Brickell Avenue a block from Biscayne Bay, and the W Miami is a few minutes' walk from Brickell City Centre. Downtown, the InterContinental overlooks the bay around Henry Moore's sculpture The Spindle, and the Kimpton EPIC has its own dock right on the water. PortMiami is minutes away, which makes this a smart pre-cruise base. For sand, it's a drive over the causeway to Miami Beach.

Coral Gables was planned in the 1920s as a Mediterranean dream, and it still looks the part: coral-rock villas, fountains, archways and streets canopied by banyan trees. Miracle Mile is the main shopping street, lined with restaurants, and the Venetian Pool, a lagoon carved out of an old quarry, is one of Miami's loveliest places to swim.

The Biltmore, a National Historic Landmark with Mediterranean towers and 150 acres of tropical grounds, is the grand dame. The Hyatt Regency, modelled on the Alhambra in Granada, sits just off Miracle Mile, and the Hotel Colonnade and the Thesis are smart, central choices. It's a car-friendly base: the beaches are a drive away, but the airport is close.

West of the airport, Doral is a modern business district built around golf. Championship courses sprawl between the office parks, and Dolphin Mall and Miami International Mall are big draws for bargain hunters. It isn't scenic, but it's convenient and good value, especially if you have a car.

Provident Doral at the Blue offers all-suite apartments with full kitchens overlooking a championship course, and the DoubleTree, AC Hotel and Residence Inn are dependable, modern choices with pools. The beaches are a fair drive away, so this suits golfers, shoppers and short stopovers best.

Miami Springs sits on the northern edge of Miami International Airport, which makes it the obvious choice for a late arrival, an early departure or a night before a cruise. Several hotels run free shuttles to the terminals, and the Holiday Inn Miami Airport offers transfers to PortMiami, too.

Expect practical, comfortable rooms with pools and free breakfasts rather than ocean views. For a beach holiday, move on to Miami Beach once you've slept off the flight.