Miami is a great choice for a stay and play trip with superb golf resorts in an exciting city blessed with an enviable climate and beautiful scenery. We’ve picked three of the best resorts.
Trump National Doral
This five-star resort opened in the 1960s and is home to four championship-level golf courses onsite including the world famous Blue Monster. The resort has everything you would expect from a luxury venue with over 600 rooms spread across across eight villas, a lavish spa, the Royal Palm Pool, tennis courts, a fitness centre and four onsite restaurants, all less than half an hour from downtown Miami. A $250 million renovation of the resort began in 2013 and was completed in 2016.
Doral, including the lively CityPlace Doral, is a destination for entertainment, shopping and food and lies just five minutes from the resort. Perez Art Museum Miami, the Spanish Monastery and the Everglades are all within easy reach.
The Blue Monster is one of the most iconic golf courses in America which has hosted prestigious PGA Tour events for 55 consecutive years as well as the current LIV Golf Team Championship. The greens are fast and always in tournament-worthy condition, there’s plenty of water hazards and bunkering and the final hole is one of the most famous finishing holes in golf with a large water hazard all the way down the left side to get the pulse racing.
Guests can also play The Silver Fox course, probably the second most challenging course at the resort, packed with water hazards which come in to play on 16 of the 18 holes. Like all the courses here, it’s beautiful with lakes surrounded by palms. The Golden Palm course, renovated by Gil Hanse, is another world-class layout with dramatic water features, risk/reward holes and a par-4 island-green final hole. The Red Tiger course is another Hanse redesign incorporating bold bunkering with water on 14 holes set across lush South Florida landscape.
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa
A superb choice for golfers with two 18-hole Raymond Floyd-redesigned golf courses. The resort is set in Aventura, a suburban city around 20km north of Miami. Aventura is known for the Aventura Mall, the third largest shopping mall in the United States and the largest in Florida. Tidal Cove Waterpark is also just a five minute walk from the property.
The resort boasts nearly 700 rooms in a stunning Mediterranean-style hotel with a prime location in North Miami Beach, nestled in 300 acres of secluded manicured tropical gardens. The luxurious guest rooms have views across the ocean, fairways and gardens and there’s several pools with luxury cabanas, a lazy river, a world-class tennis academy, fitness centre and one of the best spa and wellness centres in Miami. There’s several bars and restaurants, including Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina, and a Beach Club on the Atlantic.
Both 18-hole championship golf courses here were originally designed by renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Snr in the 1970s. The Soffer and slightly easier Miller courses were then re-imagined in 2007 by Raymond Floyd and have since hosted numerous South Florida PGA and LPGA championships. Both have contoured fairways, clever doglegs, challenging bunkers and strategically placed water features including creeks, lagoons and waterfalls. Staying at this resort is well worth it for the excellent golf courses alone.
Biltmore Hotel Miami Coral Gables
This is a place of sophistication with its towering Mediterranean architecture offering timeless elegance combined with all the modern amenities you could need. The hotel building dates back to the 1920s and is a Registered Historic Landmark replete with hand-painted frescos on vaulted ceilings and marble columns.
There’s 271 spacious guest rooms and suites and a huge selection of restaurants serving everything from fine dining to brunch and afternoon tea. There’s a beautiful modern spa, a tennis club, a gym and an outdoor pool with private cabanas.
The resort is home to the Biltmore Golf Course, an 18-hole par-71 championship course originally designed in 1925 by famed architect Donald Ross. The renovation of the course was completed in 2019 by Brian Silva who restored the classic nature of the original design. The layout weaves through a series of canals along lush fairways with towering banyan trees and elevated greens. You can see the historic hotel from almost every hole. This is very playable for all levels of golfer and it’s steeped in history with famous names from Babe Ruth to Tiger Woods and plenty of movie stars having played here.
Guests can enjoy shopping and dining at Village of Merrick Park less than two miles away, while Coconut Grove on Biscayne Bay, the bay-front upscale neighbourhood of sidewalk cafes, chic shops and the Vizcaya Museum, is just over three miles away.
