Acqualina Resort & Residences

Editorial score of 9.1 of 10, the composite average of the three factors above (Rooms, Service, Location). Method at our methodology page. Affiliate disclosure: booking links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and never change our verdict.

Why is Acqualina one of Miami's top family resorts?

Acqualina is our number four Miami hotel because it does the one thing most of the city's luxury hotels only pretend to do: it takes families seriously without letting the adult experience slide. The resort sits on a four-and-a-half-acre oceanfront parcel on Sunny Isles Beach, about 20 minutes north of South Beach, and the 51-storey tower opened in 2006 under the Trump Group, a private developer unrelated to the political family of the same name. The architecture borrows from Tuscan and Venetian palace forms, so the gardens, fountains and colonnades read like a Mediterranean villa scaled up for Florida. It has held Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond status continuously since 2009, one of the longest unbroken runs of any resort in the state, and that consistency is the quiet engine of the place.

The other half of the case is scale and service. There are 98 hotel rooms and suites alongside 188 serviced residences, so the property can house a couple in a generous ocean-view room or a three-generation family in a multi-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, all under one service standard. The beach and pool teams run at the full five-star level, the spa is one of the largest in Miami, and the AcquaMarine children's programme is a genuine operation rather than a colouring book. For a family holiday, a wellness break or a quieter anniversary away from the South Beach crowds, this is one of the strongest addresses in the metro area. Set expectations for a residential high-rise stretch rather than a walkable beach village, and it delivers.

What are the best rooms to request?

Request an ocean-view suite or, for a family, a two-bedroom oceanfront suite, and prioritise the balcony and the layout over the lowest rate. Hotel rooms start around 590 square feet, generous for the segment, and every room has an ocean-facing balcony, which is the feature you are really paying for on this beach. The interiors were refreshed in a calmer cream-and-driftwood palette than the original, and the bathrooms run in honey-coloured travertine with deep soaking tubs and walk-in showers. Where Acqualina pulls ahead of a standard resort is at the top of the range: the two-bedroom suites are sized for actual families rather than a king bed with a pull-out sofa, and the serviced residences add three bedrooms and a full kitchen for multigenerational trips.

One honest clarification: not every category is a vast suite, and the entry ocean-view rooms, while roomy, are still hotel rooms rather than apartments. The higher floors carry the widest, least-interrupted views straight down the coast, so if the outlook matters, book up the building as well as up the category. It is also worth knowing that the serviced residences are individually owned and vary in decor from one to the next, so ask the reservations team to match the layout and the finish to your party rather than booking a category blind. Treat the room as your base for a resort day that runs from the AcquaMarine programme to the spa to Il Mulino, and book the largest oceanfront layout your budget and party size call for.

What is the dining scene like at Acqualina?

Dining is a real reason to book rather than a convenience, and the range now covers most of a week without leaving the resort. The marquee restaurant is Il Mulino New York, the long-running Italian institution, which reopened in 2026 after a full renovation of its dining room, bar and private spaces, and remains among the most reliable serious meals in Sunny Isles. On the pool deck, the open-air Costa Grill handles the casual daytime meal in fresh Mediterranean flavours a few steps from the sand. Two newer additions widen the choice further: Avra Miami runs a refined Greek-Mediterranean menu in a glamorous indoor-outdoor room, and Ke-uH serves Japanese cooking in a chic, art-led setting. Between them a family can eat a different cuisine each night without a car.

What about the spa, the pools and the beach?

The Acqualina Spa is the wellness centrepiece and one of the largest hotel spas in Miami, a two-storey, 20,000-square-foot sanctuary with 11 treatment rooms, relaxation lounges lined in Himalayan salt walls, a Royal Spa Suite for two and an outdoor sun deck with a heated jet pool. Out front, three oceanfront pools step down toward the beach: a quiet adults pool, a family pool and a children's pool with the resort's signature seahorse fountain at its centre. The beach service runs at the full five-star standard, with branded sunscreen, fruit, cold towels and attendants on the sand, and the AcquaMarine children's programme gives younger guests a marine-themed day of their own while the adults use the rest of the property.

Signature amenities

On Sunny Isles Beach

The villa, the pools, the spa

Oceanfront

Ocean-view suite

Pools

Spa

How does Acqualina compare with Miami's other five-star resorts?

Against the field, Acqualina is the space-and-family benchmark on the northern beaches, and the choice comes down to what your days look like. The Four Seasons at The Surf Club in Surfside, a few minutes south, is the more architecturally serious and adult choice, 77 rooms behind Richard Meier's white towers with two Michelin Keys. The St. Regis Bal Harbour, next door in Bal Harbour, matches the butler-service polish with 650-square-foot starter rooms and a walk to Bal Harbour Shops. Faena in Mid-Beach is the design-and-theatre alternative for couples who want spectacle over space. Acqualina's own trade-off is the Sunny Isles high-rise setting, which is calm and residential rather than walkable and lively.

Other luxury stays in Miami

#3 · Surfside

Four Seasons Surf Club

Surfside · Richard Meier

★★★★★HFK 9.3

#5 · Bal Harbour

St. Regis Bal Harbour

Bal Harbour · butler service

★★★★★HFK 9.1

#1 · Mid-Beach

Faena Hotel

Mid-Beach · design landmark

★★★★★HFK 9.3

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