If there was a day I felt like a pampered (and very well fed) person while in Miami, it was spending the day at Loews Miami Beach Hotel. This hotel recently underwent a $50 million dollar renovation that gave the hotel a fresh, sophisticated look.
When we walked through the tall palm tree-lined path to the pool, we were mesmerized how stunning it is. It looked glamorous and it’s not too far from the beach. We had the cabana and it’s practically a mini studio apartment. We had our private bathroom fitted with a walk-in shower with a large rainfall shower head, a daybed with a large flat screen TV with coffee tables, and a small area outside the door to lounge and take in the views. We also had our own little space upstairs on the sundeck to hang out besides the sectioned off area near the cabanas.
Usually whenever I have food at the pool area, they tend to be decent or average at best. However, Loews Miami Beach’s pool food is actually pretty darn delicious. The fried fish tacos were fried perfectly and the soft taco shell was not too dry and it’s pliable to the filling. The blackened mahi mahi sandwich was very good. Soft squishy bun to go with the large, mildly spicy fish fillet and seasoned perfectly. The fresh fruit platter (it’s included in the cabana’s rate) was sweet and ripened as it should be.
If you don’t mind splurging on your calories, the bacon cheeseburger is the ultimate thing to eat by the pool. It’s messy to eat but worth not caring so much about the swimsuit body since it’s really that good. The sweet potato fries coming from the kitchen were fantastic. Perfectly crisp and not dry on the interior.
We headed over to Exhale Spa for my overdue massage and relaxing in the hot tub. (I can’t photograph much of here.) I had a very good time to unwind. There’s a large co-ed lounge area where one can sit in the dim light to sip tea and chat with a friend or even nap on the sofas. The locker room/changing area was clean and tidy. The staff was friendly.
With our body and mind refresh and relaxed, we headed over to dinner at Lure Fishbar Miami. This restaurant originated in New York City and it’s still standing strong over a decade. What Lure is all about is the seafood and they do a fantastic job with it. It’s a beautiful restaurant with a large, handsome bar and there’s a separate private room with a sushi bar set up.
We started off with the Mystery Plane, a fruity, refreshing and not-too-sweet cocktail made with Plantation Pineapple Rum, Averna, Aperol, Blanc Vermouth and fresh lemon. I stuck with one of my personal favorite Suntory Hibiki 12-Year whiskey that’s balanced, honeyed and light that it would work perfectly with the delicate fish and seafood dishes.
The raw bar offerings we went for were dressed oysters of Kusshi with jalapeño and ponzu and Kumamoto topped with wasabi leaf, and jumbo stone crab claws. The oysters were silky, briny with just enough flavors from the dressing. Those enormous stone crab claws were something one can get primarily in Miami. These meaty, sweet claws were delicious. You don’t want to deter the flavors even with a squeeze of lemon.
The best sushi experience for this trip was at Lure. The plate of nigiri sushi was sublime. We had the Big Eye Tuna with Kisame wasabi, Yellowtail, Aji Spanish mackerel and Unagi fresh water eel were absolutely delicious. The eel’s flavors taken me back to my trip to Tokyo a few years ago and it’s that good. The scallop sashimi was sweet and luscious unlike any scallop I’ve had in recent memory.
For the cooked seafood, the grilled King crab legs with a side of melted butter was super tasty. The sweet crab meat mixed with the char of the grill made it delectable. The grilled fish of the day was a local Pompano. This beautiful fish meat is firm but finely flaked, with a sweet, mild flavor. The garlic and chili pepper marinade on that fish accompanied the fish very nicely.
For dessert, we had a version of the Cuban style espresso and shared a slice of key lime pie. The espresso was very good and amount of sugar was just right (sweet but not overtly). The key lime pie had a firm curd that was flavorful and not too sweet.
Overall, it was a great day to spend at Loews Miami Beach. It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to book a room since it was Art Basel week but I can imagine it would be an excellent stay.
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Information:
Loews Miami Beach
Website
1601 Collins Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Phone: (305) 604-1601
