Luxury: comfort, joy, excellence, and a dream experience in a place that feels like home away from home. Purpose: thinking, sharing, debating, honoring, and giving. The combination is sublime.

Passionately Low-Key

A Contemporary Throwback

The Betsy honors the grace, poise, and charm of a more civilized time while passionately embracing the vibrancy and causes of today.

a bunch of children playing with soccer balls

Philanthropy

No Commerce Without Community

Partnership with area organizations, leadership on local issues, support for critical causes: Through community-led collaborations, The Betsy has provided a voice and platform for hundreds of local and national not-for-profit organizations. The Betsy’s ownership family are also founders of Zara’s Center, an after-school safe haven for AIDS-impacted youth in Zimbabwe.

History of an American Icon

The History

of The Historic

Oceanfront

Hotel
1910s–1930s

1910s
The Town of Miami Beach is incorporated.
1920s
Miami Beach is a scarcely populated barrier island that would barely be recognizable today with one exception – Miamians were already partying on South Beach. Though at that time, it was called Ocean Beach.
1930s
Ocean Drive’s historic Art Deco skyline begins to take shape – and includes the construction of Henry Hohauser’s Carlton Hotel, later to join with…
1940s

1940s
The Betsy Ross, designed by L. Murray Dixon, opens in 1942. Its first guests are American troops, as Miami Beach is transformed from a tourist haven to a military training ground. Within a year of the United States joining World War II, the US Northern Command has leased “almost all of the 332 resort hotels” in Miami Beach, according to LIFE Magazine.
1950s–1960s

1950s
Esther Williams’ “Million Dollar Mermaid,” which was shot in Miami, opens at the box office.

1960s
Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack perform at the Fontainebleau in Miami. The Beatles come to Miami Beach to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Jackie Gleason Show moves to Miami Beach. In Miami Beach, Muhammad Ali takes the world heavyweight title from Sonny Liston. The American Football League grants Miami an expansion franchise, the Dolphins.
1970s

1970s
The Betsy Ross Hotel is added to the State Registry of Historic Places. Gloria Steinem headquarters the National Organization for Women (NOW) at The Betsy Ross Hotel during the 1972 Democratic Convention.
1980s–1990s

1980s
Amid numerous Art Deco revivals, The Betsy Ross Hotel maintains its classic Florida-Georgian architectural façade. In 1985, Renowned fashion photographer Bruce Weber chooses Miami Beach for Calvin Klein’s “Obsession” campaign, spurring an onslaught of fashion photography shoots in the Art Deco District.
1990s
The Marlins are Major League Baseball’s newest professional team.
2000s

2000s
Art Basel and Miami Beach join forces to present one of the world’s premier international art shows – Art Basel Miami Beach. Reimagined as a 61-room luxury boutique hotel, in 2006 The Betsy Ross Hotel becomes The Betsy-South Beach. Three years later, it re-opens after a complete internal renovation while maintaining its original historic (Florida-Georgian) façade, and begins a long-term partnership with celebrity chef Laurent Tourondel.
2010–2015

2010–2015
The Betsy launches the Writer’s Room, which will host 1000+ visiting artists in its first decade; is the Arts Challenge Grant Winner for Bilingual Arts Programs and the Betsy Literary Salons from the Knight Foundation; becomes the principal corporate sponsor of O, the Miami Poetry Festival and the official residency partner for the Academy of American Poets; Betsy owner Jonathan Plutzik is honored by the White House as a “Champion of Change.”
Condé Nast Traveler: Four Hot List Designations: US, UK, Italy, and Spain.
Boutique Lifestyle and Lodging Association: Boutique Hotel and Hotelier of the Year (Jonathan Plutzik)
Condé Nast Johansens: Most Excellent Small Hotel in North America
Miami New Times: Best Steakhouse in Miami
USA TODAY: Top Three Romantic Hotels in America
Bride’s Magazine: Ten Best Beach Wedding Venues in Miami
2016–2020

2016–2020
The Betsy completes a groundbreaking expansion, connecting the original Betsy Ross property to the former Carlton Hotel. The two buildings are joined by an orb-shaped sky bridge (The Betsy ORB) now celebrated as an important piece of Miami Beach public art.
The Betsy receives a BCA-10 award from Americans for the Arts as one of 10 corporations in America fueling business with the power and energy of the arts; The Betsy is the corporate host for the official U.S. government cultural mission to Cuba by the President’s Commission on Arts and Humanities.
LT Steak and Seafood with Chef Laurent Tourondel opens at The Betsy.
Condé Nast Traveler: Gold List Award + Readers’ Choice Top 5 Miami Beach Hotel (multi-year)
Travel + Leisure: Top Three Best Resort Hotels in Greater Miami Beach (multi-year)
US News and World Report: Miami Beach’s Best Hotels + Gold Badge Winner + Top Ten Best Small Luxury Hotels in the World
Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce: Innovative Architecture Award, Historic Preservation Award, and Citizen of the Year Award (for Betsy owner Jonathan Plutzik)
Condé Nast Johansens: Best Urban Hotel in Canada, USA, Mexico & The Caribbean
TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award (multi-year)
2021–Present

2021–Present
The Betsy celebrates a decade as the founding home of the Miami Beach Classical Music Festival; owner Jonathan Plutzik receives the Leadership Award for service to poets and poetry in America from the American Academy of Poets; the Perez Foundation awards the Betsy the CreARTE award celebrating the legacy and future of The Betsy Writers’ Room
TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award (multi-year)
U.S. News & World Report: Best Hotel Rankings Gold Badge

Sustainability

As a founding member of Miami Beach’s “#PlasticFreeMB” campaign, we use every opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint, including local sourcing at LT Steak & Seafood, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, eco-conscious appliances and interiors, and partnerships only with businesses that engage in sustainable practices.

Partners

As the journalist and author Thomas L. Friedman has said, “Today in business, if you are not in the community-building business, you are not in business.” The Betsy has been a place to foster meaningful connections since 2009, and has incubated and provided critical support to countless organizations that have evolved into sustainable projects, a proud part of our legacy.

Accolades

Travel + Leisure said it best: “An unexpected departure from bustling Ocean Drive, The Betsy has more awards than rooms.” The Betsy has been a regular recipient of the travel industry’s most coveted accolades for its singular brand of luxury hospitality, including Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards and Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.

In the Press