Ocean Palm Motel 1949 - 2009 beachfront @ Sunny Isles, North Miami, Haulover Beach Park, Florida

The Ocean Palm Motel was the first and is one of the last motels of the legendary 'Motel Row' along 15795 Collins Ave (Route A1A) in Sunny Isles, Florida ... After Route A1A had just been moved about 400ft west, new buildings could be erected with direct beach access ... The Ocean Palm Motel was planned and built by Norman M. Giller in 1949 as the first 2-story motel in the U.S. ... This early structure is rather modest in comparison to its flashy siblings of the 1950s ... Giller is widely recognized as one of the predominant personalities of the MiMo (Miami Modern) style of the mid-century period, also dubbed as Populuxe or Googie in other parts of the country ... The Ocean Palm Motel is still individually owned and operated to this very day ... It offers clean, well-kept rooms (incl. kitchinettes) at moderate rates, a sparkling pool and direct beach access ... One of the closest motels to beautiful Haulover Beach Park in North Miami ... Only a 5-minute you walk along the surf ... Unfortunately, not too many city officials and planners understand the importance of preserving meaningful architecture ... So, in the heat of 'development' and 'future planning', mega-structures like the Dump -aehm - Trump towers (30+ stories) were slapped next to this human-scale motel ... You be the judges what you would like to find OCEANFRONT: low-slung buildings with history and charme (think South Beach!) or condo towers that block the sun and the view of the beach ... Cheers, Julia from Florida

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Ocean
• Palm
• Motel
• Sunny
• Isles
• Florida
• Miami
• Norman
• Giller
• Haulover
• Beach
• Park
• beachfront
• property
• Trump
• architecture
• history
• mid
• century
• 1950s
• 1940s

[kgkuntryluvr]

great video! really helped me make up my mind about staying here next month. thanks! by the way, is it true that the pool is "unofficially" clothing optional? i hear that it ends up that way, even though signs say that it is not.

[JulianeMcLaughlin]

By all means: stay there while it's still in operation! ... As the pool is open to the ocean and beach on the east side, and can be seen from a public walk-through from the north side, it is NOT a clothing-optional pool ... BUT: it is a nice location to meet people who wished it was ... ;) ;)

[dana3nyc]

o kuzwa!...moj pokoj!!!!:)...ale pieknie wyglada na filmiku:)))))

zreszta niewazne,tani byl motelik jak nad oceanem...i ta zajebista palma!!!:)...203 to byl rzeczywiscie nasz pokoj...styczen 2010!...cudowna wtedy byla pogoda!!!!!:)

I will be back!!!!!:)

[DBLCC]

the last time I stayed there (1998) the hotel had just been bought by Germans and they were very naturist friendly. While the pool was not "offically" CO, the owners said it would be ok to be in the pool nude. With the nude beach only a couple hundred yards to the south it seemed like a moot point.

[uzpeep]

highly doubtful but still cool. Uncle George Berman built it 62 yrs ago, my dad owned it 1967-82

[lucydec16]

My grandfather is the current owner and has been for years!! Im guessing he knows your father.

[lucydec16]

@uzpeep

cool! My grandfather has own this hotel for years!! In guessing he knows your father.

[kgkuntryluvr]

my stay here was a BLAST! the place is so small and cozy, yet still was more than enough. it was clean, and except for the parking, everything was perfect. hopefully it is still around for our next visit. and since there were no children here during our visit, the pool was clothing optional day and night, with friendly people just hanging out and swimming nude. however, if you have children, get a room near the front of the building and stay away from the pool, especially late at night.

[kgkuntryluvr]

thanks for the reply. reservations are made for next week! and thanks for the tip too. i read a review on yahoo and saw pictures of people going nude in the pool after sunset and topless during the day. they said it is common after dusk and i just wanted to make sure i don't get kicked out when i attempt it...lol.

[macNjulia]

Hey uzpeep ... I created this short video as a brief documentation on the Ocean Palm for all the world to share ... Too soon even this last little gem of a motel might vanish ... Cheers, Julia