Yogis on the lawn at the newly opened Exhale Spa at the Loews Hotel South Beach

In less than a week I’ll be on the beaches of Nicaragua and Costa Rica with the sole purpose of learning to surf. (Well, maybe also to commune with nature, disconnect from society, make new friends and drink beer and rum.)  With that in mind, I’ve been amping up my workout routine. I thought I might switch it up radically and adopt a whole new regimen, but in reality I just hit my regular spots harder and more frequently. Here’s where I go in Miami for that endorphin boost that only a good sweat sess can give you.

Green Monkey Yoga

Green Monkey South Beach has been my go to yoga spot for a couple of years now. It’s safe to say that it’s the best studio in town (they also have locations in Midtown and South Miami), especially if it’s a power yoga or vinyasa flow practice that you’re after. The classes are challenging and the balance between a solid workout and the spiritual aspects of yoga is just right. While the studio’s not heated, it’s not exactly air conditioned either, and you can expect to work up a serious sweat. The treehouse (as they call their studios) has a nice community feel and the teachers are fantastic. Paul is my guru–and everyone else’s. His classes are perennially packed. I also love Amy Steiner and Sharon Aluma for their thoughtful instruction and vigorous vinyasa flow classes. I purchase a 10 pack for $179, but individual classes ($20) and memberships are also available

Jet Set Pilates

When I’m in the mood for a more straightforward 50-minute Pilates class, I head to Jet Set Pilates South of Fifth (additional location in Coral Gables). While not classical Pilates (and actually, not really Pilates), Jet Set offers small group classes on their Megaformer machines. The class is limited to eight people and you have to book online in advance to guarantee your spot. Pilates requires a lot of precision and awareness on how to position your body to perform the exercises properly and safely. (My best friend is a Pilates instructor and owns a studio, so I like to pull my Pilates snob card.) Jet Set is an intense full body workout and you can literally feel your muscles sculpting as you repeat the exercises. Even though the class is small, you don’t get a lot of personal instruction or corrections, though, and I worry that a newby not familiar with Pilates could easily hurt herself in a class like this. Class costs $20 for first-timers (normally $35). I opt for the 10 pack at $250.

Beach Runs

This one’s as simple as it gets and it may just be my favorite workout of all. It’s one of the main reasons I live on South Beach and insist upon my oceanfront condo. I love having that kind of access to go for a run on the beach. I tend to do between two and four miles first thing in the morning or at sunset. Lately, I’ve been heading south along the hard pack sand, but I also enjoy running north on the boardwalk. I don’t bring music or my phone. It’s my time to totally disconnect. Nothing clears my mind or gets my creative juices flowing more than a nice long run on the beach.

Exhale Spas

Exhale has been my go to spa since my days in New York City. When I moved to Miami, one of the things that made me think this city was legit was the fact that there was an Exhale Spa at the Epic Hotel downtown. They’ve recently opened a second location at Loews Hotel on South Beach less than a mile from my house, so I’m a happy girl. Exhale’s genius is that it offers both exceptional spa therapies and amazing fitness classes under one zen-chic roof. Their proprietary Core Fusion classes are serious business. Combining principles of yoga, Pilates, ballet, aerobics and weight training, the focus is on the smallest movements targeting your muscles to the point of exhaustion. Their instructors are well-trained, know the body’s anatomy and are very motivational. They also have a wonderful yoga program. I recently got a membership ($180 per month), which is reciprocal to both locations. Single classes cost $25.

Swimming

I’m very ambitious about my swimming workout, yet I don’t manage to squeeze it in as often as I’d like. I guess it’s access to a good lap swimming pool that makes this one tough. I have a pool in my building, but it’s not ideal and I don’t want to be dodging kids and people at leisure. I’ve attempted a handful of open ocean swims in preparation of my surf trip, and they’re exhilarating. I use my swim gear (goggles, swim cap, two-piece Speedo) and basically use the hotel skyline as my guide. I swim a half mile south before turning back the other way for a full mile. Conditions need to be right, though, and lately we’ve had a lot of wind and rip currents. People ask if I’m afraid of sharks and the short answer is, no. The only things that really scare me in the ocean are jellyfish and jet skis.

South Beach Kayak

This is another one I wish I took advantage of more often. Old family friends own this great little kayak shack on Purdy Avenue where you can rent kayaks and standup paddleboards (SUP) to put in on Biscyane Bay. SUP is a fun, full body workout with emphasis on core stability and balance. It’s a great way to enjoy the great outdoors and the abundant natural beauty in Miami, all while getting a nice calorie burn in. Best of all, there’s plenty of great dining options in the neighborhood to refuel post-paddle. This is definitely a workout to make a social occasion out of. Paddleboard rentals start at $30 per hour at South Beach Kayak. Tell them Shayne sent you!

SoBe Fit Body

I’ve tried SoBe Fit Body a handful of times for its Pilates reformer classes. It all depends on the instructor, though, and I couldn’t get into enough of a regular groove there to justify more class packs. They also offer Pilates mat, yoga and barre classes. The studio is clean and modern and the staff is nice. I have a handful of friends who swear by their Tuesday night barre class. Classes start at $20.

Barry’s Bootcamp

I’ve now tried the uber-trendy Barry’s Bootcamp once thanks to a good friend and colleague, and I have to say it’s a pretty kickass workout. From the chiseled, model-perfect instructors to the fashionable, well-heeled worker-outers, it can seem like an intimidating gate to crash, but everyone was super friendly. The class itself involves some serious cardio circuits on a treadmill with bootcamp-style weight training and aerobics. It’s high energy in a sexy, nightclub setting, and I can see how people get totally addicted. It was my first time ever running on a treadmill and I appreciate the way that machine (and the Barry’s drill sergeants) pushes you to the next level. I’ll definitely be back. I dropped in for a single class at $30. Memberships and packages are also available.

SoBe Kick

While I tend towards a zen-like mind body workout, there are times when I just want to punch something. Or kick something. That’s when boxing classes at SoBe Kick come in handy. With a variety of boxing, kickboxing and yoga classes to choose from, these classes pack a serious full body and cardio punch (pun 100% intended). I bought a package on Groupon long ago and I’m not sure how individual classes or memberships are priced. All I know is that after my first class, I was so sore I could barely walk (no exaggeration). I keep meaning to head back to this place or test the other boxing gyms in the city.

Karma Yoga

There’s a secret community yoga class free to the public in Sunset Harbour hosted by the good folks at YOGiiZA, the organic yoga apparel brand, on Wednesday nights. Founders/owners and husband and wife duo Dawn and Mark Oliver foster a lovely yoga community inside their warehouse where yogis of all stripes swing by to hang out, practice and then enjoy a potluck and ping pong party afterwards. It skews a little hippy dippy (depending on your threshold for all of that), but they’re friendly and welcoming. Different instructors from the community play the teacher role each week, so it’s a great way to get to know yoga in Miami and find the practice that’s right for you.

The Standard Spa Miami Beach

The Standard Spa is where the monied hipster goes to get his zen on. Lodged inside the creaky old Lido Hotel on Belle Isle in the middle of Biscayne Bay, The Standard has created a sublime hideaway. With lush, labyrinthine zen gardens, a bayfront pool and restaurant, their spa is one of the most popular in Miami with a robust menu of services and fitness classes. Their Friday evening H2Om class at 8 p.m. plays host to a variety of teachers and offers students access to its indoor baths, including an impressive hamam. The level of instruction is top notch and the facilities are nice, but it can be all too sweaty, breathy and gross in the bath/hamam area for my taste post-class. H2Om classes cost $30, spa memberships also available.

Where do you get your workout on and what kind of workout do you prefer? Any questions about the spots mentioned above? Let me know in the comments below!

Aerial view of the St. Kitts Marriott. Image: St. Kitts Marriott

With rainforest canopies climbing the heights of volcanic peaks, and craggy, sun-baked bluffs rippling across the horizon, St. Kitts is a striking Caribbean island destination. Located in the West Indies’ Leeward Islands, emerald green and aqua waters lap against soft gold sand shores. At 70 square-miles, there’s not a single stoplight on the island. Locals (known as Kittitians) are a laidback, happy lot quick to crack a joke or offer up a recommendation, and they’ll explain that their beloved island is shaped like a drumstick with sister island Nevis to the south.

Where To Stay

The oceanfront St. Kitts Marriott Resort & The Royal Beach Club is centrally located in Frigate Bay on the island’s Atlantic side. The grounds are sprawling with Frigate Bay House serving as the main hotel, as well as 19 freestanding, garden-style buildings housing one- and two-bedroom suites perfectly suited for families on vacation (for prime ocean views, request a suite in buildings 5, 6, 7, 13, 14 or 15).

The beach and view at the northern end of Marriott’s property.

As the largest resort on the island at 393 rooms, St. Kitts Marriot offers all the creature comforts you might expect, and then some—an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, casino, three swimming pools, multiple restaurants and bars, a spa, fitness center and activity center.

Opened in 2003, the lobby is grand and open air, there’s an oversized map of the island behind reception and a Disney-esque wooden boat replica can be found in a fountain overlooking the Grand Plaza. Guest rooms, while clean and comfortable, are in need of a modern refresh and pool furniture is standard aluminum and plastic. What the resort may lack in style, it makes up for in expanse and friendly hospitality. Not to mention, a tranquil private beach with gorgeous views of the mountainous landscape. (Go for a swim, and you might just share the waters with a pod of sea turtles). Daily programming is designed to entertain and ranges from pool volleyball and aqua aerobics to horseshoes and “dive-in” movies.

What To Do

Get the lay of the land from sea on a day sail to Nevis with Leeward Island Chartersaboard a 78’ catamaran. The drinks will start flowing as soon as you step on board and this is a perfect opportunity to try the local beer Carib or a “Ting with a Sting.” Ting is a local grapefruit soda and the sting comes when it’s served with Cane Spirits Rothschild or CSR, a local white rum distilled from sugar cane.

You’ll sail south along the Caribbean and stop to snorkel at a protected cove. Next, sail across The Narrows, the channel separating St. Kitts from Nevis, where the wind and the waves will pickup as you leave protected waters. The catamaran beaches just north of The Four Seasons Resort Nevis on a secluded beach for a barbecue of fresh fish and hot dogs.

My happy place: Aboard a catamaran with a Carib in hand.

Spend the afternoon cooling off in the refreshing crystal clear waters and nursing a Ting with a Sting or two. A little exploring will lead you to fishermen with colorful wooden outboard boats beached on the shore preparing conch and snapper for the markets. Walk in the other direction and a bluff will lead you to an unexpected pasture of cows searching for shade.

While closed during our visit, Sunshine’s (just south of The Four Seasons) has a reputation for being a raucous beach bar with former patrons including Beyonce and Jay-Z.

What To See

For a crash course in St. Kitts history and an exploration of the island’s bio-diversity, embark on a jeep tour and rainforest hike with Greg’s Safaris. Led by fifth generation Kittitian and extremely knowledgeable naturalist Greg Pereira, you’ll wind your way up the island’s interior as the terrain shifts from arid and sweltering to lush and dewy.

Pereira narrates a fascinating tour detailing the island’s colonization first by the Spanish, then the French and later the British, and its 360 year history producing sugarcane, which came to a halt in 2005. The island’s highest point is at 3,700’, and we stopped at local farmer Yellow’s Garden to hike through the “Valley of the Giants.”

You’ll see colorful flowers like morning glories, heliconia and black-eyed Susans blooming through green tangles of tree ferns and elephant ears. Due to its rich, porous soil, the rainforest produces such fruits and crops as guavas, bananas, pineapple, sweet potato, tamarind, soursop and breadfruit, many of which have medicinal purposes.

Pereira has keen observational skills in the forest and he will demonstrate and explain the intuitive functions of the ecosystem. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a vervet monkey tucked away in the trees.

Where To Eat & Drink

Kittitian cuisine draws upon West Indian, Creole and indigenous Carib influences, and curries, stews and rotis are common dishes. For a truly local experience, head to El Fredo’s Restaurant and Bar in the capital city Basseterre for lunch. There are no menus, but the day’s selections are scrawled on a chalkboard reflecting what’s fresh and available. Grab a seat inside the small screened-in porch and dine amongst local politicians and businesspeople.

The kitchen itself is the size of a closet, but the aromas wafting from it, drenched in garlic, curry and spices, signal that big flavors are simmering inside. Selections range from Creole snapper, curry conch, garlic shrimp and chicken roti served with mashed bananas or rice and pink peas. Goat water, a savory stew, is the local comfort food, and adventurous eaters may wish to sample it here.

For a refined, modern take on local cuisine, head to Spice Mill at Cockleshell Beach for dinner. Located at the southern end of St. Kitts, you can see the lights of Nevis twinkling across The Narrows. You’ll be charmed at once by its rustic chic dining room, composed entirely of natural wood with cathedral ceilings, exposed beams and shutters opening up to the beach breeze. Overhead, woven wicker light fixtures dangle in abstract shapes reminiscent of pineapples and jellyfish.

The dining room at Spice Mill at Cockleshell Beach

This attention to detail extends to the menu, which plays up Thai flavors (a seafood soup with coconut and lemon grass, coconut-scented jasmine rice, chili flakes) on an otherwise straightforward gourmet menu. Selections range from spiny lobster with a housemade butter sauce to beef tenderloin in a cognac pepper sauce, but the seafood risotto with pumpkin, parmesan and truffle-scented oil is hands down the winner.

Spice Mill makes for the perfect evening out, but it’s also a daytime beach club destination boasting a private beach, abundant cushy lounge chairs and cabanas, and a bon vivant air. For a similar scene by day and night, head to Carambola Beach Club inFriar’s Bay. The mouth-watering sushi menu is the highlight here, and they also have a variety of surf and turf entrée options.

If it’s nightlife that you’re after, the St. Kitts Marriott is walking distance to “Da Strip,” a row of beachfront bars blaring reggae, reggaeton, hip hop and house music. Da Strip attracts both locals and tourists, and the scene from bar to bar ranges from low key to high energy. Shiggidy Shack is the place to be on a Thursday night, Vibes is on Friday and Chinchilla’s draws the ex-pat med school students.

Why Go

St. Kitts stands out as a Caribbean island that’s still somewhat undiscovered. It was late to adopt tourism as a major economic force because of its long history producing sugar cane. This gives it an off the beaten path quality and an upwardly mobile local populace. With plenty to discover by land and sea, it’s ideal for the beach bum or the adventurer, and a strong local cuisine will also satisfy curious foodies.

The Logistics

• Flights from Miami (MIA) depart daily to Basseterre (SKB) on American Airlines. Roundtrip rates from the $700s. Three-hour, non-stop direct flight.
• St. Kitts Marriott Resort & The Royal Beach Club is a 10-15 minute transfer from SKB. Nightly rates from $199.
• If you book on June 21st, the first day of summer through the CyberSummer flash sale website, you can get three nights free when you book four nights. Visit the site for other deeply discounted hotels in Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America.

A version of this story originally appeared on Miami.com

In anticipation of my upcoming surf trip to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, I’ve had health and fitness on the brain. While I’ve ramped up my workouts, I was curious about what healthy, energy-boosting food I should be putting in my body, so I tapped Melissa Schollaert, a Holistic Health & Nutrition Counselor and founder of Real Nutritious Living. She put together an entire day’s meal plan packed with delicious vegan and raw recipes. I’ve been sipping the smoothie every day for breakfast and I tried my hand at the coconut kale quinoa tropical pesto salad. Both were easy to whip up and delicious! So without further adieu, here’s Melissa and her Real Nutritious recipes.

By Melissa Schollaert

Summer is just around the corner and we all know what that means. Bikini time! If you’re not ready, to show off your bikini body, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with some simple suggestions.

First off let’s make it clear, I am not a fad diet, drop the weight in two weeks (so you can gain it all back and then some) kind of gal. If that’s what you’re looking for, let me save you some time right now reading this post. Anyhow, I am all about cleaning up the system and holistically creating a lifestyle that leaves you full of energy, so you can enjoy your fabulous life.

We’re exposed to toxins every day. In fact, we encounter more toxins in one day than our grandparents did in their entire lifetime.  Yikes! These toxins can lead to all kinds of symptoms like a poor complexion, and you guessed it, weight gain. I find by adding lots of raw, whole foods we can work to slowly clear these toxins, without nasty detox reactions all while picking up energy and gaining glowing skin. Sound good? Below is what a typical day of eating would look like to have you bikini ready by summer.

Breakfast: The Energizing Smoothie Everybody Loves

1 c dairy free or raw milk
1 c frozen blueberries
½ banana (or 1/2 avocado)
1 large handful greens of choice (spinach is a good place to start if you’re new to greens in your smoothie)
¼ t coconut oil
2 T hemp seeds

Blend well and enjoy!

Option to Add/Garnish with:
bee pollen (great way to boost immunity and energy while fighting seasonal allergies), ceylon cinnamon (just 1 tsp can keep blood sugar level for 24 hours!), raw cacao nibs, or 1/2-1 tsp Vitamineral green (energy boost/detox)

Lunch: Green Dragon Rolls 

For the rolls:
4 nori sheets
2 cups baby greens
1 cup garlic cream dressing

Optional toppings: shredded carrots (or any other veggie), sprouts, raw kraut

Cut each roll in a diagonal into 2 piece with a sharp knife.

Serve immediately with remaining dressing as a dipping sauce.

For the dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lemon
1/4 cup coconut aminos
8 garlic cloves (peeled)
3 inch piece ginger (peeled
1 cup olive oil
salt, pepper, kelp, dulse to taste

In a high speed blender add all ingredients and blend well]

Lay out 1 nori sheet on a clean, dry surface. Place 1/2 cups greens in a narrow layer of the sheet (about 1/2 inch from edge closest to you) Layer 1/4 avocado, and any other desired toppings and add 1 T creamy garlic dressing. Gently roll nori sheet away from you, tightly and evenly. Seal edge by wetting lightly with water or dressing.

Dinner: Coconut Kale and Quinoa with Tropical Pesto

1 cup quinoa, rinsed under running water in a fine mesh colander for a couple of minutes (I like red or tri-color best)
1 cup  water
1 small bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (for a total of about 4 cups chopped kale)
1/2 small to medium red onion, chopped
1/3 cup coconut flakes (optional)

Tropical Cilantro-Cashew Pesto:
2 cups cilantro, packed
scant 1/2 cup cashews
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 lime, juiced (or more, to taste)
pinch red pepper flakes, optional
Dash each of kelp and dulse

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa, cover and simmer for 15 to 17 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, cover and set aside.

Make the pesto: combine cilantro, cashews and garlic in a food processor. Start processing the mixture, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. When I’m cleansing or to lighten up, I lower oil content and increase lime juice by equal amounts. Season with salt, pepper, lime juice and red pepper flakes, all to taste, and blend well.

In a medium serving bowl, combine the warm coconut quinoa, chopped kale, red onion and pesto. Mix well with a big spoon and season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.

In a skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut flakes for a few minutes until golden and fragrant, stirring often. Top the salad with coconut flakes and serve warm.

Notes: This salad keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days. Either eat it cold or gently reheated.

Dessert/Snack: Raw Blueberry Dream Pudding

Soaking time:  1 hour

1 heaping cup raw cashews, soaked for one hour and then drained
1 cup pure water (or unsweetened almond milk or coconut water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean
3 tablespoons coconut butter
1 cup organic blueberries (fresh or frozen)
½ teaspoon dark-liquid stevia
½ teaspoon sea salt

Blend all ingredients except berries together in a food processor. Stir in berries or gently pulse a few times in blender. Refrigerate and serve cool. My favorite is to add a sprinkle of raw cacao nibs before eating.

If you’d like a guided cleanse to prep you for summer, save 15% on the RNL cleanse through July 5^th for all Wanderlust readers (includes supplements, recipes, an individual one hour nutrition session and full email support.)

Melissa Schollaert is a Holistic Health & Nutrition Counselor and founder of Real Nutritious Living. She’s been an on-camera expert for ABC, NBC, and GoodDayLive, with her writing published on a number of healthy living and nutrition websites. She also teaches cooking classes and workshops at Whole Foods and various other retail outlets.  She’s an avid yogi, always improving surfer, and a firm believer in faith, love, and the healing power of green juice. She’s got a heart for helping others achieve their health goals to attain their healthiest happiest life.  Check out her website, Follow her blog, “Like” her on FaceBook , and enjoy tips and tweeting here. 

I like to think I lead a pretty active, healthy lifestyle. I eat right (most of the time) and I workout regularly. Whether it’s running on the beach, swimming, practicing yoga or Pilates, I always feel better if I get an exercise in. However, when it comes to travel, my regular routine seems to fall by the wayside. I rarely make time for a dedicated workout and I tend to indulge a little more in meals out.

I don’t have a free weight or machine routine, so hotel gyms don’t really work for me, and you never know what you’re going to to get from a Pilates or yoga class on the road. Most of all, it’s just hard to find the time and energy to exercise when you could be out exploring a city, sunning on the beach or sleeping in an extra hour.

Krista Schollaert-Garabedian of Lates Pilates Studio

I reached out to my best friend Krista Schollaert-Garabedian, owner of Lates Pilates Studio in Pittsburgh, to give me a quick 20-minute workout I could do on the road. She and I have traveled extensively together and our travel styles are the same. We love an action-packed vacation, from wandering the streets of new and familiar cities to bicycling across the Golden Gate Bridge, learning to surf or hiking the Hollywood Hills. We also love our fair share of eating, drinking and lazing around.

I remember Krista always doing a little Pilates exercise in our hotel rooms in between activities, so I asked her to share a routine with me. I tested it out on a recent trip to Cancun and it gets my seal of approval (obviously!). All you need is 20-minutes and a little floor space.

Krista’s 20-Minute Pilates-Inspired In Room Workout

“When we travel, we tend to be on our feet a whole lot, so when I get to my hotel, the first thing I like to do is lay on the floor and pull one knee in at a time, roll out my ankles, flex and point my toes, straighten my leg, stretch out my hamstrings and then cross my straight leg over my body and do an IT stretch,” Krista told me. Start with this stretching routine.

Abdominal Series

If you practice Pilates, then you’re probably familiar with the abdominal curl. It’s the posture you keep your spine in during the ab series. If you’re a beginner, think abs tight, naval to spine and ribcage in. The ab series consists of five moves and you’ll do 10 reps of each before moving onto the next one.

1. Single Leg Stretch-  With your upper body curled, pull both knees into the chest and place both hands on the right knee. Send your left leg straight, either hovering off the floor if abs are strong enough or higher if weaker, then switch legs at a fast tempo.

2. Double Leg Stretch- Start with your knees into your chest and your upper body curled with both hands on your shins. Extend both legs out as low as you can and hold. Extend your arms behind you. Then, pull your knees back into your chest and your arms back to your shins.

3. Scissor Kicks- Extend both legs straight up and go into an upper body curl. Reach for your right leg’s shin or ankle and pull your straight right leg to you while you send your straight left leg down to the floor. Switch legs at a fast pace.

4. Double Leg Lift- Place your hands behind your head and extend your legs straight up to the sky. Curl your upper body. Lower your legs down to the floor as far as your abs can hold them and pause. Take your time lifting  your legs slowly back up to the starting point.

5. Criss Cross- Place your hands behind your head with your legs in table top position and curl your upper body. Twist your upper body up to the right side and pull your left knee to the elbow. At the same time, extend your straight right leg and switch. This exercise should be done slowly while maintaining both shoulders off the ground as you  twist.

Standing Yoga Series

The next portion of the workout takes a few cues from yoga.

1. Cat Cow Stretches- On all fours, alternate between arching your spine (cat) and raising your hips and head while lowering your spine (cow). It’s helpful to time these movements with the inhale and exhale of your breath.

2. Downward Facing Dog to Plank- To get the blood flowing, move from plank to downward facing dog for about 5 reps. On the last rep, pull your right knee into your chest and hold there for five breaths, then step it through between you hands.

3. Low Runner’s Lunge to Standing Lunge- You are now in a low runner’s lunge. Find the sweet spot to allow your hip flexors to release. Then, find your way to a standing lunge with your hands on your hips. After you’ve cultivated balance, start bending your back leg to the floor with a bent knee. After 10 reps, place hands back on  floor and switch sides.

Side Series

Rest for a moment in child’s pose before moving to your side. For beginners, you can lay on your side with a hand behind your head and for more advanced, position yourself on your knee with a hand on the floor. You’ll do the following three exercises in reps of 10 and then switch sides.

1. Leg Lifts- Lift the top leg to hip level and lower back down.

2. Pendulum Kicks- Keeping the leg hip level, swing your straight leg back and forth. The goal here is to keep the hips in alignment like you are in between two walls.

3. Hip Circles- For a hip opener, take your straight leg and imagine you’re drawing small circles in the air with your pointed toe. These can be large or small circles, but the idea is to maintain proper alignment.

The Teaser

Your final test of ab strength is with the teaser. If you’re more of a yogi, this is also called boat pose. The easiest way to start your teaser is to find a seat on your sits bones, curl your spine so that your lower back touches the floor and raise your legs to table top. From there, hold the back of you your legs and balance.  If you’ve got it, extend your legs straight, trying to make your body form a V-like shape.

To intensify, curl your spine all the way down onto your back, trying to touch your feet and head at the same time to the floor. Once you’ve touched the floor roll back up to the V position. Do 10 reps.

Final Spine Stretch

Place your feet on the floor and make your way to a standing position. Roll down to touch your toes articulating each vertebrae on the way down. While hanging like a rag doll, shake your head yes and no, and release your shoulders. Once you feel relaxed, slowly roll your spine back up to a standing position and focus on your breath. Your head is the last thing to come up. Finally, test your balance and try to come onto the balls of your feet. Balance here for at least one full breath circuit and you’re all done.

Namaste.

If you’re traveling to Pittsburgh and looking for a great Pilates class, make an appointment at Krista’s Lates Pilates Studio. She’s the best! Do you have any special tips for staying in shape and working out while you travel? Please share them in the comments below.

Whether scrawled on the side of a building or on a massive canvas, the work of London-born, Berlin-based artist David Walker makes one pause for closer study. His medium is exclusively spray paint and his masterpieces are made without the aid of stencils, brushes or a projector, creating hyper-realistic, multi-layered portraits in a rainbow of dripping spray paint colors. Women are almost always his subjects, and it’s the juxtaposition between classical and modern, beauty and ugliness where he finds an “odd poetry” in his art.

On May 10, he will present his first United States solo show “Swapping Souls With Strangers” at the Robert Fontaine Gallery in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District during the monthly Art Walk. He’ll debut 12 new large scale portraits, as well as his first foray into word art using his “wet painting” technique. The show will run until the end of the month. I caught up with Walker in Berlin last week to talk to him about his work and his upcoming Miami show.

WC: How did you develop your technique of creating portraits using spray paint freehand?
DW: It was sort of an accident. I had some of my illustration and print work in a group show in L.A. in 2008. A chunk of my work went missing in transit, so I had to compensate by working on the wall. I used spray paint to get the job done quick and something just clicked. I got back to London and feverishly started painting. Portraits seemed to be the best place to start and something I was always drawn to exploring in other work. The style has developed over time, but I want the idea to stay simple, just one medium, no stencils or projectors, a traditional subject in a contemporary medium.

The large-scale portraits are very realistic and you use a rainbow of colors to depict them. Who are your muses or models?
For the last two years, the subjects of the work have all been people I have met along the way, through friends, travel or complete strangers that I approached and had to convince I wasn’t a crazy person.

Are they always women?
I paint men occasionally, but I find painting women far more interesting and it works alongside the masculinity of graffiti and vandal-like marks I make.

What inspires the juxtaposition of realism with street art?
I am drawn to the idea of creating a beautiful portrait out of components that are associated with ugliness. There is some odd poetry in that.

Do you have a preference working outside on the street versus on a medium that can be hung in a gallery? How is the approach different?
I make the work in exactly the same way both inside and outside. I didn’t want to differentiate between the two. All that changes is what they are painted on. I think my preference depends on my mood. Both come with their own challenges. I like painting outside because you have to make quick decisions, you have time constraints, people are watching and photographing you and such. It makes you work in a more spontaneous way. I’m always surprised that I can paint a huge wall in two days, but it may take me two weeks to finish a canvas. In the studio you can take your time, experiment and really think about what you are doing. You go through it all putting a show together! It’s never easy. It’s love and hate, but it’s always rewarding in one way or another.

You’re from London and travel extensively for your art. You’re based in Berlin now. How do these different cities affect your work?
You pick things up from different cities, colors, textures, faces. It all has a push on the work in some way, big or small. I have noticed a definite change in the work since I have been in Berlin. It took a while, but the influence has creeped in. There is more space in Berlin. It’s more relaxed than London. I feel like I am out of the race. I can concentrate on the work, which is a great. As a result, some of the new work also has space in it and the colour palettes nod to the darkness of the winter and the intense hues of the graffiti which climbs the walls everywhere here.

What can we expect at your May show at the Robert Fontaine Gallery?
Lots of beautiful mess, large scale works, some new paths ventured and a few surprises.

Your show is called “Swapping Souls with Strangers.” What does that mean?
It came from something I wrote years ago. It just made perfect sense as the title for the show. All the people in the paintings were strangers to me not so long ago. I wanted the images to have a connection to each other and myself, rather than a collection of random faces.

When you paint someone I feel it’s an equal exchange. My subjects give me everything just by letting me paint them, so I try and give everything back in the creation the work. Inevitably you become part of their story. Their family and friends instantly know about you. The image, good or bad, becomes part of their life. It can feel like a strange intrusion sometimes, but when you are new to a city it can help ground you. You quickly become part of that place and linked to the people who live there.

Tell me about your new word art pieces. What’s the inspiration and why the absence of color here?
I’m actually really excited about them. I have been writing for many years now. I come up with sentences and phrases and they stick in my mind and I never know what to do with them. I wanted to include something in the show that would counteract the colorful portraits, so black and white text was the perfect choice.

Tell me about the “wet painting” technique you use in these works.
I happened upon this wet painting technique when I was experimenting with spray paint some years ago and had forgotten about it. When I started to think about how to make the text pieces, it suddenly came back to me and was the right solution for creating the work. Oh, but I’m not telling you how it’s done!

Have you spent much time in Miami? How do you like it? What do you do when you’re here?
I was there in 1999. I don’t remember much. It was a crazy week. I came back last December over Basel week. I had a great time. I love coming to the U.S. I was mostly up a ladder or searching for a good whisky bar. I think I started to scratch the surface, but as with most cities it’s not until you get to know the underbelly that they get really interesting, so looking forward to this trip.

A few of my favorite poets & poems: Billy Collins’ Aimless Love, Mark Strand’s Black Sea, Dora Malech’s To The You Of Ten Years Ago, Now, The Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop, Selected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay, How To Eat A Poem, & Jennifer Chapis’ Rain At The Beach.

When I was a middle school Humanities teacher in New York City, poetry was my favorite unit to teach. I loved it mostly because of how much my students loved it. All of a sudden, my most problematic and reluctant students were letting their guards down and opening up to creativity and self-expression. I made it fun for them. I acknowledged that they didn’t have to understand every word or what the poet was trying to say, but just to enjoy the way the words were organized on the page. I pointed out that poems were short, so it didn’t take very long to read them. We read each poem four times because there was always something new to discover.

They wrote emulation poems of William Carlos Williams’ This Is Just To Say and Pat Mora’s bilingual poem The Desert Is My Mother and cinquains and free verse and whatever they wanted to write. We read Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Shel Silverstein, Edgar Allan Poe, Gary Soto, Robert Frost. The tough boys in my class were now writing poems about baseball and football and relating these themes to their families and their dreams. We were reading poetry, writing poetry and reading each other’s poetry. In my planning periods, I’d find myself surfing Poets.org clicking from one poem to the next and relishing in them.

During April’s National Poetry Month, The Academy of American Poets (who run Poets.org) provided educators with a free poetry anthology How To Eat A Poem: A Smorgasbord of Tasty and Delicious Poems for Young Readers (I still have my copy today). After the Foreward, there’s a few lines from Marianne Moore’s Poetry:

I, too, dislike it.
Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in
it, after all, a place for the genuine.

I’d write that quote on the board on the first day of the unit and it immediately disarmed my students. I remember being turned off by a lot of fiction and poetry in high school English class when it was applied too heavy-handedly by my teachers. (Wallace Stevens’ The Emperor of Ice Cream, for instance, still sticks in my mind as a poem I didn’t much care for). And I didn’t want to do that to my students. I told them upfront that they didn’t have to like every poem that we read, but they had to at least consider it.

It was around that time that Poets.org started their “Poem A Day” emails. My dad and I both signed up and to this day we forward each other poems with our thoughts, criticisms and inside jokes. Moving to Key West continued to deepen my love for poetry, an island so apt for the art form. I discovered Elizabeth Bishop who spent time in Key West and I devoured The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, loving how much Pleasure Seas perfectly described the natural beauty of the island I lived on and swooning every time I read One Art.

I began working on the event staff for the Key West Literary Seminar and one year the theme was poetry, specifically Clearing the Sill of the World: a Celebration of 60 Years of American Poetry in honor of Richard Wilbur. And Richard Wilbur was there (because he once lived in Key West) whose poem The Writer I love, and so was Rita Dove, Mark Strand, Robert Pinsky, James Tate, Jane Hirshfield and my friend Billy Collins–all of these Poet Laureates and award-winning poets, and they were not stuffy and formal and boring, as one might expect poets to be. They were funny and brilliant.

I am so pleased that poetry has been infused into my daily life for so many years now. Whether it’s clipping out a poem from The New Yorker that particularly resonates with me or forwarding a poem to my dad for his commentary, it’s a treat to have a time out in the day to ponder and enjoy the pleasure of a few lines of poetry.

I’ve also loved discovering new voices like Ada Limon, Sommer Browning and others who I follow on Twitter now. The kernels of great lines of poetry stay in my head and I recall them at different moments. I recite some version of these last few lines of Limon’s Roadside Attractions with the Dogs of America to my dog Rascal on a near-daily basis.

They want to be your only dog,
your best-loved dog, for this good dog of today
to be the only beast that matters.

Another poem that’s stayed in my head as a sort of coda is Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Travel.

I remember being in Key West on the back of a parasail boat while my captain zoomed out to sea, and I’d look up in the sky and see an airplane, and think of the last stanza of Millay’s poem substituting train for plane.

Another travel poem I find particularly captivating is Elizabeth Bishop’s Questions of Travel, which takes a rather derisive tone  towards that longing to travel, pitting it in existential limbo (which I think every frequent traveler or nomad finds themselves in from time to time). She asks:

What childishness is it that while there’s a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around?

and

Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?

There’s something about poetry that gets to the heart of thoughts, feelings and emotion with far more precision and nuance than prose can. In honor of April’s National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket day (which is today!), these are just a few of my favorite poems and an explanation of why I love poetry so much. I’d love to know what poems you love and why. Please share in the comments below!

Also, if you want a taste of more poetry, I highly recommend you checkout Poets.org and sign up for their Poem A Day email. As I’d say to my students, if you don’t think you’ll read them every day, that’s okay (you can always delete them). A new one will pop into your inbox at a moment when you can.

Jennifer Pansa at Acqualina Resort & Spa. Photo: Acqualina Spa by ESPA

A private yoga class has always sounded like something reserved for the stars. (Maybe I’ve watched a few too many episodes of E! News over the years with reports of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna’s private yoga instructors whipping them into immaculate shape.) It’s not that it sounded unattainable, but perhaps unnecessary. I’ve enjoyed a solid group class practice for over a decade now and I’ve always managed to find studios and teachers just right for me in every city I’ve lived in (exhale Spa in New York City, Shakti Yoga and Bikram in Key West and Green Monkey here in South Beach). I suppose I’ve even indadvertedly had a private lesson or two when I’ve been the only yogi to show up to a group class. And I’m no stranger to private apparatus Pilates lessons as I got to work with my best friend and rockstar Pilates teacher Krista when she was training for her certification many moons ago.

So when I was invited to Acqualina Resort & Spa last week for a private yoga class followed by a fitness massage, I jumped at the opportunity. YOGiiZA, the Miami-based organic yoga apparel and lifestyle brand, has teamed up with the Forbes 5-Star Sunny Isles Beach resort to offer a variety of private fitness and wellness programs for its guests, including yoga, mat Pilates, personal training, and health and wellness coaching.

I was particularly excited for the chance to practice yoga one-on-one because I’m working on ramping up my fitness routine to prepare for my upcoming two week surf trip in June. You may recall that my 2014 travel resolution is to go to surf camp in Costa Rica. Well, I’ve doubled down on that resolution and I’ll be joining a group of friends at a home in Nicaragua by the Panga Drops for a week before making my way to Witch’s Rock Surf Camp in Tamarindo, Costa Rica for another week. I want to get my body conditioned to take full advantage of this opportunity to really learn to surf.

The Yoga Lesson

Prior to my private yoga class at Acqualina, Dawn Oliver (who co-founded YOGiiZA with her husband Mark) got in touch to learn about my current yoga and fitness routine so that she could pair me with the perfect teacher. And that she did! I had a quick and easy connection with my teacher Jennifer Pansa as soon as I met her. We chatted briefly and learned that we’re both from the west coast and grew up loving the outdoors (she in the mountains of Colorado and I at the beach in California). She’d even spent a month surfing in the same town in Costa Rica that I’m heading to.

We practiced inside one of the spa’s relaxation rooms (you can also opt for outside on the oceanfront), and Jennifer led a class that was both vigorous and thoughtful. She’s a knowledgeable and creative teacher, and she used ocean metaphors and identified which muscles I’d be using from my chaturanga and upward facing dog postures when I pop up on the surfboard. The greatest benefit was personalized modifications to draw greater awareness and get me deeper into some of my poses.

Specifically, she helped me lengthen my downward facing dog and I can already feel the difference in my back and shoulders. She also helped me draw awareness to my shoulder carriage when transitioning from upward facing dog to downward facing dog, and she gave me the tools I need to practice crow pose and head stand more effectively. Her upbeat and down-to-earth personality was a perfect match for my style, and she challenged me to go deeper in my standing poses and be even more aware of my alignment.

The Fitness Massage

I worked up a nice sweat with Jennifer and before I could catch my breath it was time to join my masseuse Elica Bendary for an 80-minute fitness massage. Her technique combined deep tissue massage with stretching and compression for a truly tension-melting experience. Her touch was both expansive and precise, soothing my muscles in vast sweeping motions and needling away the most acute pressure points. The end result was feeling loose as a noodle and totally blissful.

The spa’s ESPA body and skincare products are luxurious and effective. Through a scent test at the beginning of my treatment, I selected the body oil that was most appealing to me, and I lavished in a scalp massage with ESPA’s pink hair and scalp mud, which had the most pleasant juicy citrus scent. I also have a bottle of their newly launched proserum at home, which seems to work miracles. It brightens and moisturizes my complexion and magically softens and evens my skintone.

The spa’s facilities include a relaxing crystal steam room with light therapy, a Finnish dry sauna, an ice fountain and an experience shower. After my yoga class and massage, I was definitely ready to take advantage of these amenities. And I couldn’t leave before refueling with a fresh bento box lunch outside on the spa’s private pool deck and nibbling cookies and hot tea inside the women’s relaxation room in my robe and slippers.

As a Forbes 5-Star spa Acqualina is placed on a pretty lofty pedestal, especially considering the glut of luxurious spas to choose from in Miami. I think you can distill great hospitality down to the ability to make guests feel like they’re in good,capable hands, and Acqualina definitely delivers on that hallmark.

For a spa experience similar to mine, you can contact Acqualina Spa by ESPA by calling 855-223-4003.

W South Beach Mega Suite. Photo: W South Beach.

I’ve never been able to fully wrap my head around the idea of a “staycation.” For one thing, I think the word is ridiculous (hence, the quotation marks surrounding it). For another, I think I’ve always conjured an image of checking into the Hampton Inn near Hwy 41 in Cartersville, Georgia–which shouldn’t be anyone’s idea of a sought after vacation. Mostly, it seems like a silly waste of money. If you’ve already got a roof over your head, why spend money on a hotel when you can just go out and experience the city you live in, and then go home and sleep for free. Save that precious hotel money on real travel.

Well, my experience at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami a couple of weeks ago opened up my eyes to the true value of a staycation. It’s not to discover your city. It’s to stay at a fancy hotel with little to no plans of leaving until you checkout. The objective should be to select a hotel that has its own luxe world within a world. My checklist now includes: a luxurious room with a comfortable bed, a great poolscape and a delicious restaurant. Bonus points if it has a nice spa and/or nightlife option (depending on how hard you want to staycay).

My 37th floor king suite with floor to ceiling views of the Miami River at the JW Marriott Marquis could easily function as a fortress of solitude, a sexy lovers’ den or a girlfriend’s getaway slumber party headquarters. Whatever your reason may be to get away from it all without actually going that far, I get it now. A stay in one of Miami’s finest hotels really is a revitalizing vacation.

And what better city to live in to take advantage of all the fancy hotels? Now that we’re approaching the “off season,” room rates are dropping to their lowest of the year (August and September are your best bets for rock bottom rates in Miami). The JW Marriott Marquis Miami obviously gets my seal of approval for a fabulous staycation and here are a few others:

Top Miami Staycation Hotels I Can Personally Vouch For

Fontainebleau Miami Beach– Party and dine in the lap of luxury. Highlights: Beds that feel like you’re sleeping in a cloud, sexy oversized en suite showers, lavish oceanfront poolscape, countless gourmet dining options, LIV nightclub, the scene, enormous spa with every imaginable amenity.

The Raleigh- A cool hideaway in the heart of South Beach. Highlights: Chic Art Deco kitsch decor, beveled swimming pool made famous by Esther Williams, Martini Bar.

Mondrian South Beach– Enter the dreamlike world of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Highlights: High design rooms, bathroom featuring mosaic tile resembling the sky with chandelier rainfall shower, surreal poolscape overlooking Biscayne Bay for prime sunset gazing.

Loews Miami Beach– Family friendly luxe in the center of South Beach. Highlights: Contemporary chic rooms, lavish oceanfront poolscape, newly opened Lure Fishbar restaurant and exhale Spa, stellar hospitality.

Boca Raton Resort & Club– All encompassing resort catering to the rich & fabulous in Boca. Highlights: Pink palace historic grandeur, sprawling resort with every imaginable amenity (marina, golf, beach club, spa), surf lessons, family friendly.

The Ritz-Carlton South Beach- Hallmark hospitality & luxury in the heart of South Beach. Highlights: Luxe rooms, fab spa, oceanfront pool and restaurant with live music.

Top Miami Hotels I’d Love To Staycay At

W South Beach- The Allure: I’ve seen the Wow Suites and other room categories and I’m ready to check-in, The Dutch restaurant, luxurious oceanfront pool, celeb hotspot.

The Biltmore- The Allure: Historic beauty, Mediterranean revival architecture, enormous pool.

Mandarin Oriental Miami- The Allure: 5-Star everyhting, sign me up.

Acqualina Resort & Spa- The Allure: Lap of luxury to the extreme, 5-Star everything, just make sure you roll up in a Bentley.

The Setai- The Allure: Tallest hotel in South Beach with unparalleled service and amenities, a tranquil luxe retreat with Far East influences.

One Bal Harbour- The Allure: Great restaurant and views, luxury and relaxation away from the scene.

The Epic- The Allure: Epic views, epic spa, epic restaurants, I bet the rooms are epic too.

The view from a 37th floor suite. Note the yacht docked in the foreground. Yes, that’s a helicopter on its aft deck.

There’s a little something I love to do, and that is luxuriate. It’s a way to approach life. It’s a state of mind. It’s lounging in comfortable environs, savoring every morsel of a gourmet meal, reveling in a beautifully written sentence, relishing the touch of a fine silk or cashmere (even George Costanza said he’d drape himself in velvet if it was socially acceptable). It’s akin to the art of doing nothing. I’ve always said that I’m not much of a napper, but I can lounge like the Queen of Sheeba. And while you can luxuriate anywhere (I’ve tried to create a home built for it), it’s best done, of course, in a luxurious setting, like say, in a fluffy robe on a king size bed with lots of pillows and a fresh down comforter sipping a glass of chilled Champagne as you gaze through floor to ceiling windows looking out at sailboats and yachts cutting through the Miami River and Biscayne Bay from a 37th floor suite at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami. See what I mean? It’s a picture perfect place to luxuriate.

The Room

Yes, I can get quite comfortable here.

I checked in last Saturday afternoon, and my room had a definite wow factor as soon as I stepped through the threshold. The color palette is rich in chocolates, caramels, honey and gold. Plush carpeting in a sunburst pattern radiates from underneath the bed. For the business traveler, there’s a large desk with all the accessories, and for the lounger, a pair of chairs and  an ottoman in dark chocolate await.

Galena stopped by for a luxe bathroom selfie and dinner

I love a luxurious bathroom and this one was large with honey-gold marble his and her sinks with a glass shower and separate tub. The television inlaid into the bathroom mirror along with a cushioned stool to sit on makes doing your hair and makeup far less of a chore. I appreciated the special touches, like a bathroom stocked with quality bath products, bergamot bath salts by the tub and a small vile of essential oil aromatherapy at turn down with instructions to use in the shower to invigorate you in the morning.

The Spa

Shortly after check-in, I headed down to the enliven Spa on the 20th floor for a deep tissue massage. While amenities are minimal (a dry sauna and shower in the ladies locker room), those floor to ceiling views (and high ceilings, at that) were something to marvel at in robe and slippers while munching on a green apple and sipping water in a cushy chaise lounge awaiting my treatment.

Between years of working on boats and hours spent in front of a computer screen combined with an old yoga injury, my muscles manage to kink up into pretty extravagant knots. My masseuse Rosie didn’t mess around. It’s fabulous when a masseuse has a real knowledge of the body’s muscle tissue and is observant of individualized needs. She tackled some tender tissue that I wasn’t even aware of and figured out my yoga injury without my telling her. My only mistake was not upgrading from 50 to 80 minutes. You can’t rush luxuriating, after all.

While the spa itself may not be flush with amenities, the rest of the hotel certainly is. A spacious clean gym (floor to ceiling views, again) with state of the art equipment shares the 20th floor with the spa, and one floor down is an outdoor pool, full court basketball gymnasium, bowling lane and media room. The athlete and the sunbather has plenty of ground to cover in luxuriant pursuits.

The Restaurant

JW Marriott Marquis Miami is also home to celebrity chef Daniel Boulud’s db Bistro Moderne, a modern interpretation on the classic French bistro. The dining room is gorgeous (high ceilings here, too) with cushy cloth upholstered banquettes in slate grey, white table cloths and playful models of the Eiffel Tower as decor.

The Original db Burger

But enough about the dining room, let’s dig into the menu. The restaurant is particularly famous for its $34 Original db Burger made with sirloin stuffed with braised beef short rib stuffed with black truffle foie gras served on a parmesan bun with pomme frites. That falls under the category of decadence to the extreme. As a lover of burgers, I knew I had to try it and it did not disappoint.

Db is also noted for its Burgundy escargots prepared in garlic, almond and parsley with potato croquettes, and they were positively sumptuous. We were also delighted with our salad course (my dinner guest Galena loved the red mustard greens in her Swank Farm tomato salad and I loved the garlic sausage in my Beaujolais salad). And as if all of that were not enough, my bourbon chocolate fondant dessert with caramel sauce upstaged the entire affair. A swoon-worthy meal, to say the least.

And where better to retire to after luxuriating over a three hour long dinner paired with martinis and rosé Champagne? Back to my 37th floor suite and right in the middle of that king size bed. Sweet dreaming.

Shayne, Dad & Kristy on their balcony at Loews Miami Beach Hotel

Last month, my dad paid my sister and me a visit in South Beach after a business trip in Naples. We selected Loews Miami Beach Hotel as our “staycation” destination. A spacious oceanfront resort (790 rooms, including 52 luxury suites) on Collins Avenue and a mere block south of Lincoln Road, Loews is positioned smack dab in the heart of South Beach. While not overly trendy like some of its neighbors, Loews offers plenty of luxury and spot on hospitality for a fantastic vacation experience. They’ve also upped the ante with a brand new restaurant Lure Fishbar straight from New York City’s Soho neighborhood, and exhale Spa just opened its doors on April 1st.

The Room

A guest room at Loews. Photo: Loews Miami Beach Hotel

For a hotel built in 1999, the rooms feel contemporary and updated with plush carpeting in shades of turquoise offsetting white furniture (a comfy king size bed, desk, chairs and couch) with white-washed wooden accents. The marble bathroom is modern and spacious, and plush robes hang from the large closet. Perhaps best of all, our spacious balcony had magnificent south-facing views of the sparkling Atlantic Ocean for gazing at sailboats and cruise ships criss-crossing the horizon.

The Hospitality

We were welcomed with a cheese plate and complimentary bottles of Fiji water, making nice refreshments for an in-room catch up session (my sister and I brought the wine and Champagne) before setting off to Lincoln Road for dinner. From the bell staff to the valet to the beach attendants, service was on point and sincerely friendly. A particularly nice touch? Complimentary water bottles offered at the valet upon retrieval of our car.

This Miami Vice is no vice at all.

The beach attendant (managed by Boucher Brothers) also went the extra mile by finding us prime spots on the sand for three chairs later in the day. We wanted to see the ocean from our lounge chairs, not rows of other lounge chairs (the Benowitzes are serious about their sunworshipping rituals). Our attendant Edward was on it. It was 1 p.m. and he explained that the best spots are usually scooped up by 10 a.m. Same goes for the pool. We lucked out, though, and were happy for Edward’s help as we enjoyed our spot in the sand until about 5 p.m.—fruity frozen drinks and all.

The Amenities

While staying at a large resort may require some maneuvering for a prime beach chair, it also provides its own world within a world for the ultimate in convenience—and to me, convenience means luxury. Preston’s is the resorts main restaurant serving tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the main lobby, there’s also a bar, sushi bar, Starbucks and ice cream shop, as well as a fancy hotel shop with designer clothing and tasteful gifts. In the late night hours, the bar hosts live musicians beckoning guests to enjoy a nightcap (or pre-party drink, depending on your point of view).

We also tried the new Lure Fishbar. I loved the nautical décor and the impressive cocktails created by Robert Ferrara, all with clever maritime names (Catch & Release, Full Mast, Kissing the Gunners Daughter). While seating was somewhat cramped and we were plagued by a perpetually wobbly table, our waitress was wonderful and the food superb. Some menu standouts include kumomoto oysters dressed with fresh wasabi leaf and lemon, a melt-in-your-mouth yellowtail carpaccio, spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice cakes, deviled eggs with caviar and butter-poached crab bucatini pasta with uni crema.

The hotel gym is an important feature for my dad who rarely misses a workout. He said this one was “just okay,” but it served its purpose (his favorites are at Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas and Fontainebleau Miami Beach). There’s good news for yoga and Core Fusion devotees, though, as exhale Spa just opened inside the resort’s historic St. Moritz Tower. A powerhouse brand that began in New York City, exhale now has 23 locations across the country (including downtown Miami at the Epic Hotel) and they’re beloved for their fitness classes, as well as their exceptional spa treatments.

Loews has also struck a partnership with Fiat this year offering complimentary chauffeured car service in the stylish Italian cars to anywhere in Miami for up to three hours at a time.

What To Do Nearby

We walked Lincoln Road both nights with stops at Books & Books and All Saints. When Dad’s in town, we like Shake Shack for dinner and a movie at the Regal. While Lure is fantastic for fine dining, a few casual spots nearby are amongst my dad’s favorites: Jerry’s Deli for classics like heaping corned beef sandwiches and matzoh ball soup and Pizza Bar for, well, pizza (great for takeout on a night in).

Other Miami Spots

It’s tempting not to venture too far from Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road on a brief South Beach stay over. However, we headed to Yardbird Southern Kitchen & Table for breakfast (it was already packed on a Sunday at 10:30 a.m.). We managed to snag a table near the bar and feasted on flaky buttermilk biscuits, thick cut bacon, and outrageously delicious shrimp ‘n grits.

We love the beach, but we’ve also got a penchant for art and culture. What better time to visit the newly opened Perez Art Museum Miami than with the man who took me to my first museum as a little girl? We enjoyed the stunning views of picturesque Biscayne Bay, Ai Wei Wei’s exhibit and spotting works by  masters of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and emerging contemporary artists.

Why Stay Here

With its heart-of-South-Beach location, spacious, comfortable environs and amenities galore, this is an ideal resort for families of all ages who are after a luxurious beach vacation. You’re perfectly positioned to walk everywhere you want to go by night, and the beach and lavish poolscape are impossible to resist by day.