The Villa, Casa Casuarina

The old Versace mansion is back, this time as a luxury boutique hotel, under a new name: The Villa. This patchwork Italian-style palace is still every inch a monument to excess; the difference being that these days it’s open to the public — or at least ten suites' worth of the public.

A monument to minimalism the Villa most certainly isn't. The accommodations don’t play it any safer than the hyper-ornate common areas; all the suites are intricately detailed, full of stained glass, mosaic tile and hand-carved furniture, along with everything a modern luxury hotel needs, from marble baths to plasma televisions. Frette linens are standard, as are personal butlers (always useful in a pinch).

As for the social atmosphere, you’ll share The Villa with no more than a dozen and a half fellow guests. There’s a full-service spa, a beach club, and an extravagantly ornate dining room, as well as Versace’s famous Thousand Mosaic swimming pool. And rather than the typical South Beach velvet-roped hotel bar, The Villa boasts a couple of relatively sedate private lounges, including one whose rooftop views might just change your perspective on Miami.