Miami Beach got a new boutique hotel when Casa Cañita opened April 24 on Ocean Drive, just steps from the beach. The property pairs Michelle Bernstein — the chef and TV personality behind several Miami concepts — with her sister, interior designer Nicolette Bernstein. This is their first foray into the hotel business.
Casa Cañita has 24 rooms and was inspired by Cuba’s Golden Age and sugarcane’s cultural legacy. The design is residential in feel and meant to emulate being welcomed into a home rather than checked into a hotel.
Another source of inspiration was Michelle Bernstein’s La Cañita (Spanish for “little sugarcane”) restaurant, which anchors the hotel. The restaurant opening marks the concept’s third location. The original debuted in Miami’s Bayfront Park area in 2021, followed by a second in Kendall last year.
La Cañita’s bar pours rum cocktails like the Mojito, Daiquiri, and Cuba Libre.
“To me, Casa Cañita began as a vision of a home somewhere in the Caribbean, shaped by memory, culture, and gathering,” Nicolette Bernstein said in a statement. “From sugarcane comes rum, from rum comes music, and from music comes connection. This project is about bringing that story to life in a way that feels layered, personal, and entirely immersive.”
Michelle Bernstein explained that La Cañita is inspired by Caribbean rum culture and is a celebration of the foods and flavors of Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Puerto Rico, along with some influences from Central and South America.
“From the design to the live music, it’s an expression of these cultures, and their confluence in Miami, our home,” she added.
She said that it’s been “a dream” to expand the La Cañita concept into a hotel and to partner with her sister.
The restaurant features a lush tropical design inspired by Caribbean rum culture.
The restaurant is 5,200 square feet and seats 150 diners, and it’s filled with tropical prints, bold colors, and lush greenery. It’s open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, and hosts a daily happy hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the bar.
“We’re really proud of the whole menu,” Bernstein said. “There is something for everyone, from a quick and casual empanada or croqueta at the bar, to a lechon asado, parrillada, or whole local yellowtail to linger over. Our Haitian pikliz is a delicious highlight, and the conch fritters are based on the recipe I grew up with, made with my touch — tons of fresh conch, powdered sugar, and chilies.”
Other dishes include ceviche, Yucatán-style shrimp cocktail, ropa vieja, a Cubano sandwich, oxtail lasagna, and a shellfish stew in a tomato-based seafood broth.
The bar program is centered around rum and other sugarcane-based spirits and features drinks like the Mojito, Daiquiri, Cuba Libre, and the Hotel Nacional, a Cuban classic made with rum, apricot liqueur, pineapple, and lime that’s named for the historic Havana Hotel.
Each evening, La Cañita features live music performances, with guitars, maracas, and flutes. Hotel guests can add special curated experiences to their stays, like private cigar rolling lessons, cocktail-making classes, and dance lessons.