Explore Vero Beach from this Quietly Fabulous Boutique Hotel: South Beach Place

Last Updated on January 23, 2024 by Marybeth

Possibly the most quietly fabulous lodging experience we’ve ever had, South Beach Place in Vero Beach proves that the really good stuff is hidden just off the beaten path. While you may never see “quiet” and “fabulous” used in the same sentence to describe a thing, when you get here, you’ll know.

Palms fan overhead, the swimming pool is summer-holiday warm, and your room looks like none of the others. Each of the 18 suites sparkles with gorgeous, mostly midcentury modern, furniture and art. Some were made by noted designers, collected over the past 19 years during the owners’ travels and fun forays into thrift shops, estate sales, antique fairs and more, finding unique pieces they knew the perfect spot for. Many of the rooms’ items have fascinating stories (some hilariously ribald and not safe for this article) and enchanting histories of how their famous designers started out. One designer opened a bicycle shop at age 14, another began a career as a cabaret singer! The makers and artists we’ve all heard of and revere:  Knoll, Heywood Wakefield, William Wegman, Lilly Pulitzer. True students of “the golden age of design” will recognize the creators who aren’t known by mainstream terms but nevertheless were leaders who helped form the entire American Modern movement. Despite the highbrow sound – I confess I wondered, before arrival, if I dared sit on an original Knoll chair! – each room has such an atmospheric serenity and coziness that says yes, please do sit, lounge, nap, reflect and recharge.

All of the rooms are lovingly curated to compliment the Old Florida lifestyle, blending old and new – you may recognize a lamp in fun colors and shapes from a current-day popular retailer. Not every piece is a collectible. The hotel owners have worked in the luxury real estate business in Miami Beach for many years, allowing them access to beautiful old mansions, and much of the décor and furniture were purchased from the occupants or saved from ending up in a dumpster!

South Beach Place is a constant work in progress. The owners and management team delight in the ongoing process of restoring, respecting, and maintaining the architectural integrity of the property and all that goes into creating an entire mood for their guests. You’ll find sublime surroundings punctuated by layers of playful mixes of color, texture, and elevated design that sit side-by-side with simple favorite finds. This dedication, coupled with high standards and a dedicated staff, keep devoted guests returning year after year.

This one-of-a-kind setting hides in a drowsy little corner of one of Florida’s most quietly friendly beach towns. The ocean is a half block away. You’ll walk through South Beach Park, which offers a shady, winding raised boardwalk pathway with sheltered seating areas. A few outstanding restaurants – including the best pizza we’ve had in years – are within a short walk, but otherwise South Beach Place is nestled in a mostly residential neighborhood on a quiet cul-de-sac next to one of Vero Beach’s oldest and most sought-after neighborhoods, Riomar. 

Vero Beach is known for its white sand beaches, golfing, fishing, water sports, nature trails, and thriving art scene: at South Beach Place you’ll have the perfect launch point for exploring. Pedestrian friendly downtown Vero Beach with its vibrant shops and restaurants and the lively, beloved Saturday farmer’s market is a 5 minute drive from South Beach Place. Put America’s first national wildlife refuge, Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, on your list to visit, as well as enchanting, tropical McKee Botanical Garden. The Vero Beach Museum of Art with its world-class exhibitions is a not-to-be-missed stop. Have lunch or dinner after, just around the bend, at historic Riverside Cafe. We’ve heard “Florida’s Cultural Capital” being attributed to a town on the gulf coast… Today we officially transfer that nomenclature to Vero Beach!

This spectacular swath of coastline (and the one at South Beach is particularly wide and crowd-free) offers so many reasons to be out and about, but the real, quietly fabulous, compelling pull of South Beach Place might just have you, oh-so-happily, staying put. We fell under its spell. Our pulses slowed, the days stretched long and glorious ahead of us. Do we go for a bike ride, a beach stroll, a pool plunge complete with our happy hour charcuterie set nearby on the pool’s edge, and wine in a Corksicle? All of those, plus naps, a dinner out here and there, lunch made in our own kitchen, and coffee enjoyed on the raised deck under the palm trees.

Enticing exterior spots abound…

… but the rooms are the real stars of the show. The toughest decision you will have to make is which room to choose!

I can’t show you all the rooms – well, I could because I was able to tour almost all of them in between guests! Heaven here on earth for this design-loving, historic hotel renovation-loving, interior design / midcentury modern design / everything colorful and creative-loving nerd.

You can scroll through all the rooms, here, and choose your perfect vacation spot vibe. All the rooms except one have an open kitchen / dining / living area with large windows letting in the sunlight through the palm trees, and a separate bedroom with one bathroom. The Disco room is the one studio space, perfect for two guests. Several of the rooms have daybeds that offer a spot for an extra guest or two.

I snapped over 200 photos during my tour! My eyes and my heart were almost literally shooting out of my body (the above-mentioned slowing pulse did not happen during this tour) and I’m thrilled to share some with you. Enjoy these, along with the beautiful professional photos on South Beach Place’s website. Let me know which room you choose!

In no particular order or organization, just because they all spark delight:

The Pink Lady room’s description mentions “sass and cheekiness,” and my sleuthing into the designer of the lucite dining set, Charles Hollis Jones, found that he meets that description! With clients like Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, and the Kardashians, Charles relied on “a pinch of his mother’s Indiana quilt patterns, a dash of Modernism, and an extra-large helping of over-the-top Hollywood opulence” to attract and keep his famous clients happy. Read more about this delightful, dashing “Mr. Lucite,” including some saucy quotes, here.

The Pink Lady bedroom showcases one of the owners’ ingenious solutions to a smaller room – how to creatively employ a piece of furniture that won’t take up space on either side of the bed, yet give ample “nightstand-duty” uses; places for your drink, book, glasses, phone, on the console table behind the bed. The petite lucite and pink chair is the perfect spot to toss your bathrobe, and it makes us smile.

The Disco room, above – the one studio layout room at the hotel – showcases the use of a reproduction table and chairs that looks just like the ones we remember in our grandmother’s house, including that iconic biomorphic boomerang print. There is a disco ball in this room, in the entryway where you can enjoy its spangles on the walls and ceilings and imagine you’re back in your Stayin’ Alive days!

The Network Newsroom – our room! – named for the vintage fabric featuring the recognizable CBS eye logo on the queen bed’s headboard – abounds with geometric shapes and has these cool midcentury tables and chairs –

Above is the iconic CBS eye logo vintage fabric, along with the two Chalkware Egyptian dancer lamps; excellent acquisitions, as Chalkware (molded plaster of Paris, or sculpted gypsum) has become more rare, and hard to find unblemished. Any little scars we may see just add to the charm of the piece’s ability to survive, and bring us cheer, as in our bathroom’s Chalkware fishes, below.

The Jacques Cousteau Room, with its marine motifs and French accent pieces, also boasts this vintage bistro table with Thonet Bentwood chairs. Michael Thonet lived from 1796-1871, and his experiments in the production of Bentwood furniture widely influenced modern styles, still being made today.

Marvelous lamps are found throughout South Beach Place, but this lucite and bamboo lamp was one of my favorites.

The Expedition Room features Safari and nature-themed decor, along with a Palacek dinette set. Allan Palacek began his career in award-winning, handcrafted eco-conscious furniture and accessory design by traveling to Asia 45 years ago to study basket-weaving!

One of the many great stories surrounding the owners’ purchases is this rare, mid-century Harris Strong mirror in walnut, with his signature tile inlays. Found in a Palm Beach thrift store and bought for $20, an almost identical piece was spied not long after on an auction site for $1750!

One last favorite room, Pretzel Time, with its stunning collection of Heywood Wakefield “pretzel” living room furniture –

I somehow did not get a photo of the even cooler Heywood Wakefield sofa, but check it out on the website.

With so many phenomenal restaurants in Vero Beach, you may not need to use your kitchen (except to store drinks, snacks, and make coffee) but I want you to see how fun they are, so here is a sampling –

Some around the town photos –

I could genuinely keep you here for another few days, our visit gifted me with so much great content, stories, photos, and relationships forged with the welcoming staff and a few guests we met poolside (one couple owns a vineyard in California, but they prefer life in Florida, Vero Beach in particular! Yay, them!)

Make sure to visit the South Beach Place blog, Retro Vibes Hotel, where you’ll find lighthearted Beach Astrology posts with a groovy, 60s mindset. They choose their favorite celebrity who embodies each zodiac sign, along with some suggestions for products to keep the retro glam going. Read the entertaining articles about visitors – some who have rented the whole hotel for an event – and photo shoots that have happened there, because it’s just that special and photo-worthy. As you’ve just seen!

I’ll leave you with a couple of fun facts about us. Well, about my husband: Robert remarked that South Beach Place was the cleanest lodging we’ve ever visited. To be fair to all the other stellar vacation spots we’ve stayed at and written about, he has not been with me on every trip! The other giant compliment coming from a man who doesn’t toss them out easily: Robert never seeks to revisit any spot, as there are so many still to explore, but not only does he want to go back to South Beach Place, but he wants to go back not just “someday,” but as a recurring event. Putting it on repeat in my phone calendar right now.

Join us! You’ll thank me. Book now, at South Beach Place, or call 772-231-5366.