Modern-day South Beach is a living museum of the Art Deco designs of the late 1920s and 1930s.
Although Art Deco buildings come first to mind at the mention of South Beach, in the greater Miami Beach area there are actually three predominant architectural styles — Art Deco, Mediterranean Revival and MiMo (Miami Modernism.)
The Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) is a non-profit organization devoted to preserving, protecting, and promoting the Miami Beach Architectural Historic District.
The League offers tours of the District — which extends from 6th Street to 23rd Street — guided, recorded and one that can even be done listening on a cell phone.
Stops include the Mediterranean Revival style Amsterdam Palace at Ocean Drive and 11th Street. Today it's known as Casa Casuarina, a five-star luxury hotel, where Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was gunned down in 1997.
Most of the district hotels are small, Art Deco and aglow with neon light. These hotels catered to the middle-class tourists. The wealthy vacationers went to Palm Beach.
My favorite is The Tiffany Hotel at 801 Collins Avenue, now known as simply The Hotel of South Beach. The entry facade looks like a rocket ship and it has a spire on top. Very Flash Gordon.
There is lots of good food to be had in the district. Gloria Estefan has a restaurant there called Larios on the Beach, which serves the most delicious Cuban food.
Check out our Miami travel guides before you go. If Key West is your destination you might want to take a slight detour!