Friday, July 11, 2008

Sunny Isles Beach, known as the City of Sun and Sea, is a lesser-known beachside town north of Miami Beach and south of Fort Lauderdale, and is the next hot place to travel. Named the top U.S. destination in TripAdvisor's 2008 TravelCast survey, Sunny Isles Beach is regaining the trendy reputation it had in the 1950s. In the 1950s, the town was known as the Vegas of Florida, and was frequented by Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack and other celebrities.

Today, the barrier island offers a two-mile stretch of white sand, chic restaurants, a golf course, and beachfront resorts and hotels.

Why so popular? The atmosphere is a bit more laid back than the chic, well-traveled South Beach area of Miami, and Sunny Isles Beach is an easy drive to shopping, restaurants and sightseeing in both Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

For the beach lover, Sunny Isles Beach offers miles of beautiful white sand on the Atlantic Ocean, where you can bask in the sun or play in the surf. Water sports like jet skiing, sailing, kayaking, boating and fishing are popular, and most of the equipment you'll need is rentable at the beach. The landmark fishing pier, Newport Fishing Pier, is a local favorite, where you can drop a line. Deep-sea fishing is also popular, with charter boats docked on the Intracoastal Waterway at the nearby Haulover Beach Park.

Haulover Beach Park also offers one of south Florida's most beautiful beaches--a mile and a half stretch that draws people from all walks of life, from other states, Canada and a variety of other countries. Nestled between the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, it has pristine white sand shores, open ocean surf, various shaded picnic facilities, beautifully landscaped sand dunes, and concession stands. The beach is ideal for surfing as well as swimming. The entire beach is guarded by well trained lifeguards. Across the street from the beach, Haulover Park has a full-service marina, a restaurant, tennis courts, a family-oriented nine-hole golf course, and a sundries shop, as well as kite shops. The ocean breezes make the park the perfect spot for kite flying.

For the shopper, Sunny Isles Beach is conveniently located. The nearby Bal Harbour Shops is the ultimate chic shopping spot featuring Hermes, Gucci, Armani, Dior, Bulgari, Tiffany, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Lalique, and Neiman Marcus. Also nearby, in Aventura, is the Aventura Mall, with a 24-screen Cineplex, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's in addition to specialty stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, J. Crew, Fossil, and Clinique, as well as several excellent restaurants. Head a bit farther northwest, to Sawgrass Mills for top-of-the-line bargain stores.

The town may be small, but the dining options are many. Among the local favorites are Timo for Italian and Mediterranean-influenced gourmet food, where the emphasis is on the freshness and purity of ingredients, as well as select wines and attentive service; La Terrazza for eclectic, authentic Italian fare, featuring an astounding array of wood-oven fired pizzas, meats and seafoods, offered at amazingly agreeable prices; Taisho for authentic Japanese cuisine and all-you-can-eat sushi; and the Peruvian Delicias Peruanas, where you can feast on unique, flavorful seafood and pasta dishes and specialties include Ceviche and Peruvian paella.

If you're headed to South Florida for a well-deserved vacation, CRSHotels.com has the perfect Sunny Isles Beach hotel or Miami hotel for you. In town, choose the Days Thunderbird Beach Resort Hotel, historically where the "Rat Pack," hung out; or the oceanfront Travelodge Monaco Beach Resort. In the north Miami/Miami Beach area, stay at the Ocean Surf Hotel Miami Beach or the Howard Johnson Dezerland Resort Miami Beach. Enjoy both Miami Beach and an easy drive to Sunny Isles Beach at the Hotel Nash Miami, the Majestic Hotel Miami, the Shelborne Beach Resort Miami, the Kent Hotel Miami South Beach, the Beacon Hotel Miami, the South Beach Plaza Hotel Miami, the South Beach Plaza Villas Miami, the Suites on South Beach Miami, or Haddon Hall Miami. Choose the Carlton Hotel South Beach, the Bentley Hotel Miami, the Greenview Hotel Miami South Beach, the Hotel St. Michel Miami, or the Clinton Hotel and Spa Miami.
 

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