Last month I flew to Miami for five days to celebrate Rosh Hashana (Jewish new year) and my birthday with my family. As part of the birthday celebration my mother arranged for the two of us, my sister and my cousin to spend a day at the Shore Club on South Beach.
The Shore Club is owned by the Morgans Hotel Group, the same company that owns the Ames Hotel here in Boston, so I knew it would be fabulous. When we arrived we checked in with the concierge and she then lead us out to the pool.
On the way to the pool we walked through the outdoor bar area which had all kinds of creative seating including this iron, canopy bed. Those silver lanterns at the foot of the bed are the same lanterns in the lobby at the Ames!
The pool at the Shore Club is magnificent.
Each guest receives two neon orange towels - one for your chair and one to dry off if you take a dip in the pool. The towels add a serious pop of color to the pool deck.
This was the view from my lounge chair:
I was in heaven. The sun was shining, the pool was the perfect temperature, we had our own waitress who happily refilled our drinks, a DJ was spinning fun tunes and no one got too out of hand. The whole vibe at the pool was very Las Vegas. It made me miss my stay at the Mirage.
After several hours of sunbathing we headed into the shade at the Shore Club's restaurant called Terrazza. The outdoor patio at Terrazza overlooks the pool.
The restaurant's decor is all blue and white. It has a very fresh, light and airy feeling.
The row of tables closest to the pool have couches as part of their seating arrangement. Naturally I requested to sit at one of those tables.
Our superb friendly waiter arrived to introduce himself and hand us each a menu. The menus were displayed on clip boards. I loved the fun, blue pattern on the left side of the menu.
While debating what to order our waiter brought us a bottle of sparkling water, but this was no ordinary bottle. This Pellegrino was blinged out! How appropriate for our over the top birthday celebration!
With the Pellegrino came a basket of doughy bread, perfect for sopping up olive oil.
My cousin was more in the mood for breakfast than lunch, so she ordered two eggs which came with bacon and fingerling potatoes. Her eggs came as she ordered them (over well), as did her bacon (well done). My cousin always orders her bacon well done and I've seen her send it back countless times when it shows up too light and limp.
My sister went with the caprese panini which looked amazing! It was mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes in between two pieces of focaccia bread. The sandwich was squished in the panini press and then served topped with fried artichokes and a side of arugula salad. My sister made that panini disappear!
My mother ordered the Italian cobb salad which arrived in the most beautiful presentation. She said, "It was so nice to enjoy this Italian take on a classic American dish."
I went with the Caesar salad which came as three heads of Romaine lettuce topped with a delicious Caesar dressing. The plate was garnished with polenta croutons, oven roasted tomatoes and big slices of parmesan cheese. This was one of the best renditions of Caesar salad I have ever had. I am absolutely going to try and recreate this at home!
On our way out of the restaurant we noticed a promotional card for Terrazza's Sunday brunch. Their special is called "Ladies who brunch" and for $32 your meal includes unlimited mimosas, bellinis or bloody marys. The best part? It costs an additional $20 if you want to bring a man. Ha!
After lunch we resumed our sun worshipping at the pool and ultimately ended the day with a long walk on the beach (just outside the pool's gates).
Our experience at the Shore Club was phenomenal. We had perfect weather, the pool was a blast, lunch was fantastic and squishing our toes into the sand to end the day was sublime. An extra special thank you to my mom for organizing such an incredible day.
If you're considering a vacation to Miami, I highly recommend treating yourself to a day at the Shore Club.
