Cardozo Hotel, Hotel in Miami Beach, United States
Cardozo Hotel is a historic Art Deco hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, United States, facing the Atlantic shore. The structure has a long white front with rows of windows, round porthole-like openings, and nautical railings along its upper edge.
The building opened in 1939 under the design of Henry Hohauser, at a time when South Beach was filling with small resort hotels. During World War II it became quarters for Air Force personnel, and by the late 1970s it joined a local campaign to protect Miami Beach’s Art Deco district.
The name on the front honors Benjamin N. Cardozo, a former United States Supreme Court justice, though the building was first known as the Atlantic Terrace Hotel. Passing guests often stop to photograph the curved corners and the ship-like railings that echo Miami Beach’s seaside identity.
You can view the building easily from the sidewalk along Ocean Drive, where the front details are most visible in the morning light. The surrounding blocks are flat and walkable, so approaching on foot gives you the best chance to notice the horizontal lines and curved corners.
Despite its elegant white exterior, the building once served as a retirement residence after its military use ended, a contrast that few visitors imagine while walking on Ocean Drive. Its appearance in the movie “The Birdcage” also made the front steps a quiet point of recognition for film fans.
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