I went to Miami for a 2 night stay on a work-related trip.  I arrived Friday evening, was in meetings all day Saturday followed by a business dinner and came home Sunday morning so it was a pretty short trip without any real leisure time.  However, I did get to check out The Mondrian Hotel located in the South Beach area and I really liked it.

The Hotel is just across the bridge from downtown Miami and actually faces the bayside rather than the beach side (and thus, is a bit less expensive) but this hotel was no less popular.

It’s a boutique hotel that is part of the Morgans Hotel group, which also operates The Delano and The SHore Club in Miami as well as hotels in New York and Europe.  The Mondrian, like other hotels in this group, have a very modern, hip vibe to them.

The Mondrian was clearly an older condominium building that has been converted into a hotel.  My room was a “studio” category and was huge.  It also had a small kitchen area.  My view wasn’t much to write home about but I could see the ocean in the distance.

On Friday night when I arrived, the hotel lobby bar and restaurant was hopping.  They were playing party music and it was packed.  I was tired so I ended up being a party pooper and I ordered a room service salad and hit the hay early.  I was up early the next morning for a workout and then headed to my meeting which lasted all day.  Around noon on Saturday, we started hearing the bass thumping music from the pool party downstairs.

The Mondrian had a great looking pool area with lots of cabanas, seating, a huge circular bar and a great view of Biscayne Bay.  The weather was gorgeous this day so it was hard to be in a conference room all day knowing the fun that was being had outside.  I did get to venture outside and check it out during a break in the afternoon and I can tell you that the pool scene on the weekend here is happening. It would definitely be a fun place to be for a weekend and you really don’t miss being on the beach.  Also, the food we were served here, including my room service, was excellent.

I would definitely come back and spend my own money to stay at this location though I do think it’s nice to be directly on South Beach.