Delano South Beach Hotel

Despite pricey standard rooms (and small ones, at that) and buzz that the place isn't the hot spot it was a decade ago, it's still, miraculously, full. Around the pool, times are good. Well-off, but not over-the-top fabulous, late-20- and 30-somethings order drink after drink. They pour champagne into glasses, sloshing a bit into the pool -- no worries.

But it's not as crazy as you might expect from a hotel dreamed up by the original owner, Ian Schrager, the man who brought Studio 54 to the world. There are live DJs, $20+ mojitos, and tight security, but it's not all coked-up models and sugar daddies. In fact, it's mostly just well-off 30-somethings who paid good money for a room with some bragging rights.

By night, things get far less exclusive. The beautiful lobby, designed by Philippe Starck and decorated with billowing white curtains, chairs, and objects by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames and Salvador Dali, becomes a mob scene. Anyone and everyone wants to get their picture taken in the hotel's famous oversized chair, and they do.

The lobby and the Rose Bar directly off it get so crowded that it's difficult to move through or grab a drink. The crowds continue out the back and around the pool.

Located on posh, upper Collins Avenue, the Delano is a South Beach navigational icon. Originally built in 1947, the bright white Art Deco building with its crownlike cap is hard to miss. The hotel sits in the center of Miami's Art Deco Historic District, which covers one-square-mile and offers walking tours. Beyond is aesthetics, Delano is packed in every direction with dozens of bars, restaurants, and attractions, all within easy walking distance.

To its north are some of the most popular, high-end hangouts at the W South Beach or Fontainebleau hotels, as well as some of Miami's most exclusive clubs, like Mokai. To the south, things get less exclusive and more populist along the famed Ocean Drive, with its busy boardwalk, outdoor bars and cafes, and more affordable boutique hotels.

• 5 -minute walk to Lincoln Road outdoor mall
• 8-minute walk to Ocean Drive
• 7-minute walk to the Miami Convention Center
• 15-minute drive from Miami International Airport
• 6-minute walk to the Bass Museum of Art
• 2-minute drive to the Wolfsonian library and museum
• 5-minute walk to the Jackie Gleason Theatre of The Performing Arts
• 11-minute walk to Lummus Park
• 12-minute walk to the Holocaust Memorial
• 13-minute walk to the World Erotic Art Museum
• 11-minute walk to Miami Botanical Garden
• 12-minute drive or 32-minute bus ride Bal Harbour Luxury Shops

The hotel sits right on the beach, which is easily accessed by walking out of the pool area and underneath an elegant arch that reads SEA. The beach is part of a huge, busy stretch of public Miami Beach, but the Delano does its best to make its sand feel exclusive.

As at the pool, attendants don't just lay a towel on a lounge chair -- they make it like a bed, with a fitted terry cloth sheet that wraps around the cushion. Surrounded by a string of other hotels and independent beach service stands that cater to guests staying at cheaper hotels, the Delano stakes its claim in white.

Since it's a bit of a free-for-all on the larger beach, guests go up to the service cabana for a lounge chair. But if you want an umbrella, you'll have to pay for it. Food and drinks service is available, though it's not particularly elegant -- food comes in disposable plastic containers.

Last renovated in 2006 and 2007, the all-white rooms have just three dramatic touches of color: the green-stone-topped desk; a large, real, potted plant; and a single green apple resting on a metal plinth engraved with the words "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." The abundance of stark white is stunning and sexy but not exactly homey, and is showing some wear and tear. It feels more trendy than truly luxurious. Take, for example, the huge, faux tarnished mirror opposite the bed.

• At 350 square feet, the standard rooms, called city view rooms, are on the small side, especially given the price
• Only one-bedroom suites have balconies
• Fluffy white beds are topped with luxurious 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton linens
• In the bathroom, sinks, floors, and showers are tiled in beautiful gray Carrara marble
• MALIN+GOETZ bath products
• Boston alarm clock/radio and a Bose iPod dock
• 32-inch LG flat-screen TV and Zenith DVD/CD players
• Free Wi-Fi
• Work desks
• Minibar includes the Miami standards: booze, snacks, and an intimacy kit

• Agua, the hotel's full-service spa, is on the top floor and offers treatments ranging from a "Mother to Be" massage to a "White Cloud Algae Body Mask."
• Guests worried about tan lines can also use the spa's beautiful top-floor sundeck. Topless sunbathing is also allowed at the pool and beach. Use of the sundeck comes with any spa service.
• Bright fitness room with TechnoGym machines and free weights.
• Free Wi-Fi
• The hotel offers free bike rentals on a first-come basis

Classical music plays underwater, and an ornate silver table and chairs sit right in the pool for whoever snags them first. In front of the pool, there's a beautiful orchard of manicured ficus trees. A giant chessboard and huge mirror within the orchard, like the giant chair in the lobby, try to create an Alice in Wonderland feel. Of course, after over a dozen years, many of the highly publicized Delano design elements seem to simply reference themselves rather than Lewis Carroll novels.

Live DJs, tasty but pricey food and drinks, cabanas with flat-screen televisions, and whimsical, hedge-lined bungalows make the pool sceney but still relaxing -- at least by day, when only hotel guests are allowed in. When the sun goes down, it changes from pool to lively bar scene as pretty young and older things from all over crowd around the water's edge.

• UMI Sushi and Sake Bar is centered around a large communal table and offers a mixture of classic and modern sushi. The restaurant is open weekends for dinner.
• Bianca is an upscale Italian restaurant with a "slow food" menu of locally-sourced, organic dishes. The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and serves Sunday brunch.
• 24-hour room service

• Cocktails at the Pool Bar and Rose Bar are delicious, but they don't come cheap -- or quick.
• FDR also serves drinks in an underground space, and features DJs Monday through Saturday.