The Vagabond Hotel
A 1953 MiMo motel on Biscayne Boulevard that hosted Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and the Rat Pack — and then sat abandoned for 20 years before being restored.
The Vagabond Motor Hotel opened in 1953 on Biscayne Boulevard, part of the Miami Modern (MiMo) architectural movement that defined mid-century Miami. The neon sign, the kidney-shaped pool, the cantilevered canopy — it was the height of postwar glamour. Frank Sinatra stayed here. So did Sammy Davis Jr. and the rest of the Rat Pack.
The Vagabond Hotel is at 7301 Biscayne Blvd in the MiMo District. The hotel is fully restored and operating. The pool bar is excellent. The neon sign is original. The MiMo District runs along Biscayne from about 50th to 77th Street — the Vagabond is the anchor of a stretch of extraordinary mid-century architecture.
The hotel sat abandoned from the 1980s until 2014, when it was restored by the same team behind the Wynwood Walls. The restoration preserved the original MiMo details while making the hotel functional again. The ghost of the Rat Pack era is still there in the bones of the building.